Toybox

Another of my recent acquisitions is one of the original presses for Integrity's debut LP - Those Who Fear Tomorrow, but as you can see here, is titled, "...And For Those Who Fear Tomorrow."  Technically this is a reissue of the record, which was originally a CD only release.  Marcus at The Endless Quest did a really great write-up of this record a few years back, which is way better than anything I could ever put together.  It's all rather confusing, with the different pressing numbers, etc., but he does a good job trying to figure out what the facts are.  Check that out HERE.

There are several different cover/vinyl color combinations.  Mine is a red cover with white vinyl.

Included with this record is a little booklet that has lyrics, and Integrity's discography up until this point.  I like nerdy things like this.

In The Family

Admittedly, I had never listened to Final Conflict until about two weeks ago.  They were one of those bands I used to see mentioned/talked about but I never got around to listening to them.  When I was at my new friend's house doing my big record trade (which is where I got this) he played this for me.  After the first 30 seconds of track 1, I was kicking myself for sleeping on this band for so long.  Lucky for me he had a spare copy of this record he was willing to part with.

This self titled EP was originally released in 1983 by Reflex Records, then reissued in 2010 by Havoc Records.  This is from the original Reflex press.  Not to be confused with the Final Conflict from San Francisco, this is the sole release (I believe) from this Final Conflict.

The cover shows some wear, but that's to be expected from a record that is almost 30 years old.

Keeping True to the Blog

I realize that I've had almost 30 posts on this blog that I labeled as a "Hardcore/punk/metal record collecting blog," but this marks the first time I've posted about an actual metal record.  Sure, a lot of my posts are hardcore bands that have metal influence (Integrity, Ringworm, Like Rats, etc.) but this marks the first time I've posted an LP by an actual metal band.  The record I'm speaking of is Sepultura's third full length "Beneath the Remains."

Back when Max and Igor Cavalera were both still in the band, Sepultura was a force to be reckoned with.  I would count them among the top thrash metal outfits of the 80's.  The band's later releases strayed a bit from the straight thrash sound, and even went into some nu-metal territory with their current vocalist, but in 1989 they released this LP, which I would count among the top 5 thrash metal records of all time.

One

Yet another longtime want of mine, the highly sought Cursed - "One" LP.  Featuring members of Left For Dead, Chokehold, The Swarm, etc. what you get here (on this LP at least) is similar in style to those, but different at the same time.  I have a hard time describing Cursed, especially since all of their LP's sound different.  I'll just say that if you like "dark hardcore" (I don't like that term) you will like this band.

Deathwish handled the first press of this record but this copy is from the second press put out by Trash Art Records.  Nice, thick 180g pressing too!

On gray vinyl, limited to 500 copies.

Where's the Unity?

Another one of my long time wants I acquired through my trade; Infest's Slave LP.  I'm not going to go into any type of detail about the music put forth by this band.  If you listen to hardcore punk and don't know what they sound like, I don't know that I can help you.  Extremely influential to any band that plays fast hardcore (fastcore) or powerviolence that came after them.

This is from the Deep Six/Draw Blank Records reissue.  Does anyone know pressing information on this?  I can't find anything about this purple marble that I have.

My Favorite Season

About a week ago I had listed a copy of the Crazy Spirit Demo LP on eBay.  After a few days I get a message asking me that if this person won the auction, could they do a local pickup.  Since they only lived one town over I said yes and then proceeded to send them my full list of records.  There were a good bit more he was interested in, so we made plans to meet up at his house and trade some records.  What I came away with were some very big 'wants' of mine, and first up is Integrity's 'Seasons in the Size of Days.'

Seasons is what I consider Integrity's last great LP before their break up, however I love pretty much everything they've done since reforming.  With songs like "Rise," "Sarin," and "Diseased Prey Within Casing," this record is definitely a classic.

I was lucky enough to secure a grey copy through the trade.

The band looking decidedly nu metal here.  Surely a sign of things to come.

I ended up with a good many records through the trade with my new buddy, so expect a good many more posts about them.

My First

I mentioned in my previous post about Stress Relief that I had ordered a copy of their debut EP's test press. Well it showed up a few weeks ago but I am just now getting to it.  This marks the first test press I've acquired in my collection, however I don't really seek them out or care about them generally.  Sure, it's cool to have a really limited record, but at the price that most of them go for, I'd rather not.

Not too much to look at really.  Mine is #19/40.

I also grabbed a copy of the band's demo.  Another solid output by this band.  I hope they gain some attention, they deserve it.

 

Post-core

Upon first listen you may think DNA is from Boston because of the Boston hardcore vibe they put forth, but you'd be wrong.  In reality they are from Maine..?  Close enough to Boston, right?

Boasting members of Cruel Hand and Wake Up Call, DNA plays a style of hardcore different than both of the aforementioned bands.  Like I said, there is a Boston vibe on display here, but at certain points in the songs I hear crossover type riffs.  It helps further my crossover hunch that the band throws a gnarly solo in pretty much every song.  It's like if you took the current Boston style (a la The Rival Mob) and mixed it with old D.R.I. you'd have DNA.  I may be way off on that but that's just what I think.

Limited to 100 copies on black/white swirl vinyl.

There's A LOT going on here on the inside fold of the sleeve.

Forced Out

Yesterday's mail brings me what is easily in my top 5 releases for the year.  I'm talking about the new self titled EP from Liverpool's Violent Reaction, which is a split release by two labels out of the UK - Static Shock Records and Quality Control Records.  Taking influence from both early 80's US and UK hardcore bands, what we get here is fast, mean, ugly straight edge hardcore all written and performed (at least on the recording) by one man.  I really don't know what else to say that hasn't already been said by my buddy Sean in HIS REVIEW over at Skull Fucked.  Instead of repeating everything he said, I suggest you read what he had to say about the record since that's pretty much exactly how I feel about it too.

I had originally passed on ordering this since the shipping from the UK to the US isn't generally cheap, and I'm glad I did.  I was able to grab it from Grave Mistake for less than $10, shipping included.

From what I gather there are at least six different variations of the record sleeve color, and the dust cover.  Mine is a brown cover for the record, with a pink dust sleeve.  The first press is limited to 326 copies on black vinyl.

The lyrics are printed on the back cover.

Use and Abuse

Here's a band I had heard little to nothing about prior to React! putting up preorders.  I'm talking about the Toxic Fumes EP that Growing Stronger just dropped.  When the preorders went up I listened to a track from the band, and while I liked it, I held off on ordering a copy since I didn't have much money to spend at that time.

Fast forward a few months and I had forgotten about the band until I saw the EP pop up in Deathwish's distro.  I saw they had all three colors available so I ordered a copy of the rarest variant, and a few days later this EP was on my doorstep.

The first track I heard by the band I had liked but it didn't really STICK with me.  After listening to the whole record, which is about 6 minutes total, all I can say is that I shouldn't have slept on ordering a copy.  This EP is a ripper.  Fast DC style straight edge.  If you like bands like Coke Bust and Sick Fix, Growing Stronger is for you.

Gold vinyl, limited to 200 copies.

Another solid release from React! Records.

Face It

If feels like I preordered the new Face Reality EP, Strong Survive, ages ago.  In reality (see what I did there?) it wasn't that long ago but when you're looking forward to something a short wait can feel like it's forever.  Blah blah blah, enough with the whining about nothing.  Onto the actual record, which I think is my favorite release so far from this band.

While I liked the demo, Positive Change EP, and Self Titled EP, I think the band has really come into their own on this one.  Continuing on with the slight change in sound from Positive Change to the self titled, Strong Survive offers up 6 tracks of youth crew inspired hardcore.  I'd liken this band's sound more to Judge than to Youth of Today though, which is fine with me since I've always preferred the more ignorant styled youth crew bands.

Limited to 150 copies on "orange vinyl," however this came out looking a lot closer to red than orange.

The Spine Splitter

Today (or yesterday, really) brings what may be one of my favorite EP's so far this year, the Subhuman 7" from Spine out of the Midwest.  I say 'out of the Midwest' because members hail from both Chicago and Kansas City.

Spine features Weekend Nachos frontman John Caution on drums, and Sorry Excuse frontman doing what he does best on the mic.  You probably know what to expect here sound wise.  Fast, sometimes heavy hitting hardcore, not dissimilar to Sorry Excuse or Weekend Nachos (minus the heavy sludge riffs).

As with his other band Sorry Excuse, Antonio sounds overly pissed on this recording.  Like at any moment he could barge through the speakers and bash your face in because he hates you.  He's backed by a more than competent band that only furthers the anger in his voice.  This is the way hardcore is supposed to be played; fast, sometimes heavy, and fucking pissed.

My only complaint about this EP is the length - which is hardly a complaint at all.  Six songs in just as many minutes.  I'm not complaining about song length, I just wish there were more songs on this release.

An excellent first release for John Caution's new label Bad Teeth Recordings.  Seriously check out this band if you're a fan of Sorry Excuse or Weekend Nachos.  And if you don't like those two bands, chances are you're an asshole.

It's hard to see, but it says SPINE in dark green ink along the left side, and SUBHUMAN in the bottom right corner.  It was listed as orange vinyl for preorders, but this is more of a gold.  I think it was limited to 50 copies?  Not sure on that one.

Mr. John Caution on the kit.

Keep it Clear

Today's post is for (one) of Pat Flynn's newer bands, Clear.  This is the demo that released a few months ago pressed to vinyl.  Featuring members of Have Heart, The Rival Mob, Free Spirit, and various other Boston bands, you know what to expect here.

This demo RIPS.  Easily one of my favorite demos this year.  I know I'll get a lot of flack for this, but I'd say I prefer this demo to anything Have Heart ever released.  That's not to say I don't like Have Heart (because I do) but I just prefer this style of hardcore.

Boston straight edge.

Clear vinyl, limited to 300 copies.

More Than A Side Project

Chicago's Like Rats have just released a monster of a debut LP.  Featuring members of fellow Chicago based band Weekend Nachos, Like Rats takes a much different approach to hardcore.  Scathing, black metal tinged metallic hardcore is what this band does, and they do it extremely well - obviously taking influence from the likes of Celtic Frost, Hellhammer, early black metal, and even some early death metal/thrash.  Blending all of these styles into one may seem like disaster, but I assure you it works in spades.

While I'd say fans of metallic hardcore, older black metal, and d-beat will undoubtedly find something to like here, the only band that comes to mind for a solid comparison (to me) is Gehenna.  I don't necessarily think these two bands sound alike, but I think fans of Gehenna will definitely like this band.  Maybe it's the vocals?  Who knows.  Listen for yourself HERE

Like Rats is more than just a 'side project' of a bigger band.  Weekend Nachos is one of my favorite current bands, but if they broke up I wouldn't be totally devastated because I'd still have Like Rats.

This comes on oxblood colored vinyl.

There are still copies available at A389.  Do not sleep on this band.

Integrity Overload

Integrity is one of the best bands of all time.  Period.  That is not up for discussion.  So when Organized Crime Records decides to reissue one of their releases, I'm all for it.  The latest reissue is for Integrity's second LP, Systems Overload from 1995.  As with all of the reissues Clint does, there were several different  preorder packages to choose from.  I'm generally not one to collect 10 different color variants of the same release, but if they have different/special covers, often times I'll try to grab that as well as the standard.  Such is the case with the order I placed with OCR.  First up is the limited Stephen Kasner cover version.

Hand numbered, out of 320 copies.  Mine is #064.

On grey/smoke vinyl.  As you can see, the dust sleeve was stamped with the Integ skull and logo.

Next up is the standard cover.

The back and inside covers all have the clear text that is revealed when light hits it at the right angle.

White vinyl, hand numbered out of 225 copies.  Again, I got #064.  As you can see, the Integrity logo was stamped with red ink on this dust sleeve instead of black for the limited cover.

The back side of the insert has liner notes from Aaron Melnick about the writing/recording of the record.  I love reading stuff like this.

I decided to pull out my OG copy of the record to compare with the reissue.

Standard black vinyl.  The OG press has the same B Side label as the reissue, but the A side is different.

Also included in the reissue was a poster of the Armenian Persecution poster done by (I believe) one of the Melnick's, and a folder filled with old flyers for Integ shows.  I didn't want to add those photos since I feel like I've already got way too many in this post.

All in all, an excellent reissue from OCR.  I look forward to the future releases!