All Out War: Assassins in the House of God RSD 2012 Exclusive (Pink splatter vinyl)

The last of the Victory records that I picked up on Record Store Day was this All Out War: Assassins in the House of God. This is their 4th album, released in 2007, almost 10 years after they formed! I've always been a fan of these guys and this is one of my favorite records by them. A classic hardcore, metal crossover of the newer generation. Printed on pink/purple vinyl with a white swirl, it looks awesome.

Ringworm: Justice Replaced by Revenge RSD 2012 Exclusive (White Vinyl)

My favorite Ringworm release, Justice Replaced by Revenge!  This is the Victory Record Store Day exclusive white pressing. I think Ringworm really nailed it with this record. To me, it is really concise and heavy hardcore mixed with metal.  Straight to the point, well done and with no bullshit or filler.

Ringworm: The Venomous Grand Design RSD 2012 Exclusive (Orange Vinyl)

Victory Records had a handful of good releases available for Record Store Day including a couple of Ringworm releases. I am really happy to have picked up The Grand Venomous Design as its one Ringworm record that I do not have.  It is printed on some really cool looking orange vinyl.

Gojira: The End of Time Limited 7" (White Vinyl) & T-Shirt Package

This 7" was originally available over at Listenable records out of France, but with shipping and even with buying a couple of them to combine shipping, I couldn't get them to under around $15 each. I always go through the dilemma of getting stuff from overseas when the shipping is so expensive. I decided to hold off for a little while and it turns out the Volcom began to carry it!  I do not know what happened, but once Volcom had it on their site, Listenable did not any longer. 

Volcom packaged this 7" in a very interesting way.  It is packed in what looks like a 12" record sleeve, but it is just a 12x12 thin box that houses the 7" along with a limited t shirt.  It is a pretty cool package and I am glad that I can put this up with the rest of the Gojira 12".

The tracks on this 7" were originally released pre-Gojira in 1997 on the Possessed demo

 

Dead End Path: Blind Faith (Blue/Pink Cotton Candy Vinyl)

This is a pretty sweet record from Triple B Records. Dead End Path is a pretty solid hardcore/metal band out of Wilkes Barre, PA and I really think they are underrated. I got this straight from the label and this is from the 2nd press out of 100 copies with this color variation. This is some pretty straight forward, old school sounding hardcore.

Indecision/Shai Hulud: Split 10"

Some old school hardcore, a rare find in Seattle. I saw this sitting behind the counter, waiting to be priced at Singles. I have never much been a fan of Shai Hulud, but always loved Indecision and am happy to have this to add to the old school hardcore stack. 

Lesbian/Ocean: 10" Split

Lesbian, the Seattle doom masters along with Ocean out of Portland, Maine, what an awesome combination! Another used record that I found at Singles.  This is an excellent way to present a split. Side one looks like its a complete Lesbian release with the label, cover and insert all matching.  Flip it all over and it looks like a completely different release!  I love it. 

Integrity: Those Who Fear Tomorrow (Red vinyl)

Those Who Fear Tomorrow is the last of three Integrity records that I picked up used from Singles. I got really lucky to find all three releases together there and this one is excellent looking. The vinyl is an interesting shade of red and the labels look to be gold backed and have this antique shimmer to them.  Also, the watermark is massive on the inside of the gatefold (3rd picture) and another small one on the back.  Organized Crime did a great job with this one.

Integrity: This Blackened Curse 1st press (White vinyl) with poster

Again, from Singles I found This Blackened Curse on white vinyl. It is a very powerful release and has some grim artwork.  This is 1st press on Deathwish and comes with a massive poster. The covers have the ever present Integrity watermark on it that you can only see if you have it tilted in the light correctly.  It is an excellent touch that they put on their releases. I tried to get a photo of it below. 

Integrity: We are the end 7" with etched B side

After not having been to Singles Going Steady for months, I thought for sure I would find tons of stuff I was looking for.  I went through every record in the store and got absolutely nothing! It just so happened that a couple of days later I was going to be in the area and wanted to pick up tickets to the upcoming Sleep show there.  While I was waiting for a friend I decided to look through the stuff once again and I ended up with 5 records that he just got in! This one is on Magic Bullet and the B side is etched with the Integrity skull icon that adorns most of their releases.  

Nothing compares to an awesome, raw Integrity track. 

High on Fire: De Vermis Mysteriis Relapse Exclusive Colored Vinyl (Clear and Red)

Finally, the new High on Fire! These guys never seem to disappoint. There has been a lot of buzz regarding HOF over the last couple of years, as well as Sleep.  Relapse reissued the first 3 HOF records last year and Southern Lord is re-releasing Dopesmoker this year. Whatever has become of this scene, Sleep was the definer and High on Fire is, without a doubt, the present. This is put out on E1 Music, which seems to be an up and coming independent label/distro. Relapse and E1 look to have a great relationship because they released exclusive color copies in both red and clear.  Looks like each of these presses are limited to 500 and only available through Relapse pre-order.  If there are any left now that it has been officially released, I assume they will disappear very soon. 

Other than these variants, I was able to find an exclusive white pressing through Nuclear Blast and a general black pressing.  Finally, for the Roadburn festival, there were some very limited maroon copies printed that had the logo in blue and came with a poster of the cover. The same was printed with the poster and blue logo, but on grey vinyl.  These variants are for sale over at CMdistro (international).

Wisdom in Chains: Self Titled (Orange sherbert vinyl)

Wisdom in Chains has been slowly becoming one of my favorite current hardcore bands. I think they are pretty genuine and unique and they don't front with much tough guy shit.  They write songs about growing up, about being on tour.. even about their dogs.  Just everyday guys who are expressing themselves through hardcore.  Ghost of Buddy is a perfect example.

*around the 2:15 mark, the dog is playing tug with a Pocono Ghost 7"!  :(

This self titled record is some original material that they recorded a long time ado and with a different lineup.  It is a much more raw than the current material they release, but it still has the same energy and is unmistakeably WIC.

This is printed on some obnoxious orange sherbert looking vinyl, limited to 500 copies.  Rather than the sleeve being numbered, it came with a legal envelope, stamped with PAHC (Pennsylvania Hardcore) that has a label sticker and a little description of the history behind this record, which is numbered.

Isis: Live VI (Letterpress cover)

Another excellent looking record from Isis.  VI live from 2007 is a pretty straight forward double album, but it is housed in a very unique hand pressed cover.  The cover is made out of heavyweight french paper and all of the printing was done with an old school letterpress.  The flickr link below will walk you through each step of the painstaking process.  Very interesting way to present this. 

There are 3 printings available, black, gray and clear and I got the black on pre-order and a clear copy just this week. 

Isis: VI Letterpress Printing Process

Gorguts: Obscura! First time on vinyl from War on Music Records

One of my favorite albums of the genre, Obscura has finally been released on vinyl! War on Music records out of Canada has decided to print this record along with some other classics, including old school Cryptopsy (which I have a pre-order in for!).  One of the classics of the time, this record will always hold a special place in my collection. 

Printed on dual black, heavy vinyl and housed in a simple, gatefold sleeve.

Big Business: Quadruple Single (Purple marble vinyl)

The latest offering from Big Business, The Quadruple Single! It is great to see these guys continuing to release material, even if it is only 4 songs since 2009.  Pretty catchy songs on this one, including my favorite "Guns", a very typical Big Business song. 

Released on their own label, Gold Metal Records. This is printed on some sweet purple marble vinyl and housed in a heavy cover that looks almost like it should be 3d, with glasses on.

Acid King: Busse Woods (Transparent green/orange splatter)

This is my 2nd copy of Acid King: Busse Woods. I picked up the first copy from Kreation records a while back and he only had one copy left in black.  When I was placing an order through a distro the other day, I found that they had the splatter version that I had been looking for. Kreation is great with their color presses and this is a perfect example. The splatter coloring matches the cover really well and each side has a very different pattern to it. 

Side A

Side B

What a big difference in pressing. 

The same goes for Acid King" III.  The first copy I bought was on black and then Kreation had the splatter version in their store in Capitol Hill. Again, it matches the coloring of the artwork really well.

High on Fire/Valient Thor: Volcom Vinyl Club Split 7" (Red vinyl)

This is a pretty cool 7" that I got from Volcom. It's a High on Fire/Valient Thor split that is limited to 1000 hand numbered copies as part of their vinyl club.  It has some pretty unique artwork and it comes with an insert from Volcom with a download code and a bit about their club.

Merauder: Master Killer (OG Press and Dead Serious Press (White) plus Five Deadly Venoms (Green vinyl)

I am super excited to have finally found an OG press of Merauder: Master Killer. I found this from a Japanese seller, bundled with Five Deadly Venoms.  This kills 2 birds with one stone and I was able to get a good deal on the pair of them.

In the meanwhile, I ordered a copy of the Dead Serious repress from Germany.  The communication was rather scarce, but after a while it actually showed up.  Now, it was in a box that was way too small for the record and the record was actually squished pretty badly in the box. The cover has a lot of creases and was torn a little.  The record is ok and was not damaged.  It is a bit disappointing, but the guy over at DS said that he would send a replacement for me.  Now, I asked for red and they sent white, which is fine, but I did ask for a red replacement, which would give me both colors of this pressing.

All together now, I have these 4 presses of this record.  The OG press on Century Media, the Dead Serious press on white, the Deathwish press on brown/silver (limited to 100) and the bubble gum pink and black swirl!