Termini Terrae

It's been quite some time since I posted a ROT IN HELL record on here. Exactly one year, in fact. To the day. They used to crank out records pretty regularly, but then two members left and things went quiet. I was starting to wonder whether they had reached the end of the road, but fortunately they are back from the dead. What happened? Well, I don't really know the detail, but basically a foreign vocalist was recruited & things didn't seem to work out, so a local lad named Lecky (or 'electricity' if you're in Liverpool) ended up stepping in to fill the void. And there's probably someone else playing bass now too.

Well, as soon as the band was up and running again, there was a recording obligation to fulfill. A 7" for some label called Dark Empire Records. Yes, that's right - Dark Empire. Dwid's label from the early 90s.

I think I got lucky when the pre-orders opened. I must have been online quite soon after they went up, because I got in early enough to get a test press. Not sure who it is on the front. Some dippy tart.

The regular press looks far more badass. There were two colours available for pre-order - blue and white. Both out of 100 copies, and both now sold out.

My white record has a cool bluey purpley splotch on each side.

The cover is a tri-fold affair, and the artwork is pretty damn crucial, as usual.

If anyone was worried that the vocalist leaving would make the band sound very different, then you need worry no more. I imagine that anyone who didn't know the band changed singer wouldn't realise after listening to this. Musically this is also spot on. The intro to side b is fantastic stuff. I was expecting an acoustic song but it quickly upped the pace into a full on aural assault. I just need the mp3s now so I can listen to this some place other than sat on the floor in my spare room.

Larkin' With The Strangler

Unless you've been living under a rock for a few months, you'll know that pretty much the most hyped and sought after records of the year is the MUDLARK LP. Even though I latched onto the hype myself at some point, I don't really know where it came from. I would guess a hot demo tape and a few live shows. But regardless of the how, it seemed that everyone was eagerly awaiting the release of the LP. So unsurprisingly, when it came out, it sold out immediately. Not only that, but copies were going on eBay for insane amounts. And not a single limited version in sight. No colour vinyl, no limited sleeve. Just plain old black vinyl. Kinda cool that in 2012, where every record seems to have at least 5 different versions by default, that the most essential release of the year is black vinyl only.

Well anyway, I finally managed to get one, after months of consistently being too late. Here's the proof. Photos of my Mudlark LP:

I think the first place I tried to get a copy of the Mudlark LP was in The Essence records online store. Adam had ten copies and they were going to be available at 9am on a Saturday. I figured that getting one would be easy. I got up and had my laptop on at 8:50, and every few seconds I hit refresh to see if the LP was in stock. After about 100 clicks, eventually the LP appeared in the store as 'available'. So I clicked 'add to cart' to then be greeted by a weird message. It said something like 'sorry, you cannot buy this item because all items are in other user's carts'. Basically, the ten copies sold out in literally ten seconds. There must have been probably twenty more people doing the same thing as me that morning, and I just wasn't in the top ten of fast clickers. This was of course a flavour of what was to come over the next couple of months. Every now and again Mike would send me a message, or there would be a message on the Livewire board, saying "more Mudlark LPs available - check the Painkiller store" or "check the Grave Mistake store". And every link I followed lead to the same "SOLD OUT" mesage when I got there. So I gave up.

Then finally, a couple of weeks ago, Mike sent another message linking me to the Fun With Smack online store. They had a few more LPs in the store. The only slight catch was that you had to buy it as part of a combo package where you were forced to pay $16 to get the Mudlark LP plus some bullshit record that nobody has ever heard of by a band called Boston Strangler. This is either the biggest con ever known to man, or a genius way of selling leftover copies of a record that nobody cares about. One of the two.

So yeah, I got sent this Boston Strangler LP that I would never have bought if I wasn't forced to take it as part of this package deal. As you can see, there's a whole lot of BS going on here.

As it turns out, I have to say that this LP is alright. I have played it & I did enjoy it. Maybe this idea of being forcing people to buy a record they couldn't care less about isn't so bad after all.

The Crushing Wheels Of Samsara

Once again I'm showing how up to date I am with another new release. This is a 7" by a UK band called INHERIT. To be completely honest, the only real reason I picked this up is because I know the vocalist, Adam. Dude has always been good to me. We have that 'old dude at the show' thing in common (well, on the rare occasions that I actually venture outside the house). So I wanted to check out his newest band.

This is the band's second 7". The first was released by Reflections and I missed it. This 7" is called 'The Crushing Wheels Of Samsara' and is a split release by The Essence (Adam's own label) and Control Records.

The first thing to say is that the packaging is top notch. The artwork is nicely done and printed on some fancy ass paper. I don't know what kind of paper this is, but trust me, it's rad. I got one of the green vinyl copies numbered out of 100. The vinyl looks lighter in real life, but it was really difficult to get the green to come out well in a photo.

If there was a hardcore band scale then I think they'd probably sit somewhere between Burn & the Cro-Mags, although I have to say that Inherit is a bit futher into the metal/thrash/crossover zone than I would usually venture. I wasn't really digging this on the first play, but I've stuck with it & it's one of my current gym favourites. I'd definitely be interested in seeing them play live... although seeing as that would probably involve going out of the house then it seems unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Youngblood Ketchup II

Part two of my Youngblood Records catch up order. This time I'm focussing on the 7"s. Not sure how to tackle these so I'll just go for alphabetical order...

First up a test press of the Coptic Times 7". This is, in my opinion, a really great and underrated 7".

Next is the recent Face Reality 7" on blue vinyl. I think blue must be the more limited colour as I haven't seen this one anywhere other than on Mike's blog. I wasn't so into this 7" at first, but after a couple of weeks this has become one of my gym hits. Love it.

Oh, and I also got a test press of the same Face Reality 7" too. It comes with a standard insert but no sleeve. Hopefully a sleeve will come in time.

I also got a gold vinyl Far From Breaking 7". Not sure why as I didn't ask for it and already have one. Anyone want this spare, get in touch.

This one's not so interesting to look at. A test press of the Give 'Flowerhead' 7". Again, no sleeve, but in time I am sure it will come.

And finally, a few more copies of the No Tolerance 'No Remorse, No Tolerance' 7". First up is the gold vinyl. I'm guessing that this is the most common colour as I have seen this one more frequently than the other colours.

Then there's the blue vinyl version. This was, I believe, a second pressing made for This Is Hardcore 2012.

This has a slightly different sleeve to the first press. The first press sleeves are black card with white lettering. This one has silver lettering. I tried to make it show up in the photos but am not sure it does.

This sleeve is also a folded sleeve rather than pocket sleeve. Not sure those are even the correct terms to be honest, but I'm sure you will know what I mean. Also, I tried to get a photo comparing the white and silver lettering.

And finally, a test press of the No Tolerance 7". Yup, I feel pretty lucky to have bagged one of these for sure.

I was feeling pretty lucky with this haul, and then I read Mike's blog and realised that somehow I managed to miss the red vinyl copy of the No Tolerance 7". Ugh. How irritating.

Youngblood Ketchup I

So last month I received an order from Youngblood Records that I had been waiting on for about eleven months. No sooner did it arrive than I sent Sean an email and had more stuff sent out. This is part one of that order... the 12"s.

Last order I received the release show edition of the Police & Thieves 'Fracturing' 12". No idea on the pressing info though. I guess I should try to find out. Anyhow, one copy is on green vinyl:

And the other copy is on white vinyl:

And a black vinyl copy with no sleeve. Otherwise known as a test press. I think the sleeves have now been made, but they weren't when this was shipped. Hopefully I can still get one at some point.

I also picked up this screen printed version of the Justice 'Escapades' LP.

I really like this LP and think it's actually their best release. Ok, so they were trying hard to be Supertouch at this point, but they actually pulled it off pretty well.

Part II (the 7"s) to follow...

Converge / Napalm Death + 2 Oldies

I got an email recently from Miles in All Ages Records telling me they'd got a few records from a collection in to sell. He kindly sent me a list of some of the items and I was able to find a couple of bits that I wanted. Nothing too exciting though.

Hard Stance 'Face Reality' 7" on green. I have one of these on blue but decided recently it would be cool to try to get all the colours. Clear and red still required.

Next is one of the early Lookout! Records 7"s. The 'Bedtime For Isocracy' 7" by Isocracy.

This is one of the first pressing copies with the numbered sleeve. I've owned one of these for years but the sleeve on mine went all sticky and generally fucked a few years ago, so it's nice to finally replace it / upgrade to a better copy.

And whilst I was picking up these I figured I would add take the chance to pick up a newish release, the Converge / Napalm Death split 7". This record comes on at least 58 different colours. Mine is gold.

During the late 90s I always used to compare Converge to Coalese. Both bands were at the heavier end of the spectrum, and both bands had names starting with 'Co'. Oh yeah, and they did a split 7" together. So I guess it seems fitting that Converge have now done a split with Napalm Death fifteen years after Coalesce.

Give & No Tolerance Tour 12"s

So I went to see Give & No Tolerance last weekend. I managed to miss Violent Reaction, which I was bummed about, but both Give & No Tolerance were great. I was expecting to be way more into Give before the show, but in the end it was No Tolerance that blew me away the most. It's bands like these that remind me exactly why I love this stuff.

I wasn't expecting there to be any records for sale, but each band had a 12" available compiling their previous 7" releases.

First, here's the Give 12". This is called 'Singles Going Confetti' and compiles their 7"s released to date onto one handy pizza size disc.

My copy comes with a nice little flyer for the 2012 tour, which is a nice souvenir.

If you want one of these for yourself, you can buy direct from Assault Records.

Next is the No Tolerance 12". This contains both the demo songs and the 'No Remorse, No Tolerance' 7" that Youngblood released but with re-recorded vocals, and there's also an extra song. There are only 100 of these on green, and this comes in what is the most glossy sleeve that I have ever seen. As I sit here now, I'm thinking that I should have bought ten of these things so I could flip them and retire. Unfortunately, I didn't. Ah well.

The green vinyl looks a bit boring, but when you hold it to the light it looks a bit more interesting.

It also comes with an interesting insert. I particularly like the 'forever and always' list.

This was released by Quality Control Records. I'm guessing that the green will have sold out on tour, but I don't know for sure. But I do have a friend who bought one of these & is looking to sell it. If you want it, get in touch with me & I will give you his details. I'm sure he'll give it up for a good offer. (EDIT - Now Sold! Sorry!)

Finally, I'm ending this post with a two minute video I shot of No Tolerance at the show I went to. I found them inspiring. Enjoy...