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Thursday, December 22, 2011

Nuclear Summer

Here's another record from my most recent order of To Live a Lie releases; the P.L.F/Downtrodden split 7", released on a few other labels in addition to TLAL, blue vinyl(limited to 100), 33 RPM.
Cool cover art for the P.L.F side, I think it's either done by Putrid or the dude who did Insect Warfare - "World Extermination". Honestly, I'm not too hot on P.L.F. They're a little to thrash-metally for my taste, but I enjoy a few songs here and there from them. 2 originals and 2 Agathocles covers this time around. If you like P.L.F, you'll like this, nothing new here. Though this recording does have a bass player!
Downtrodden I wasn't so into. Old-school style grind for sure, but they use a drum machine, which works pretty well. Nothing new or original and it's far from mindblowing. I won't be looking out for more of their releases. Pass.
Solid blue vinyl
Fold out packaging with a little lip on the end. Simple packaging, again nothing mindblowing. Lyrics are included.
Also, all copies of this split are hand-numbered, and I was lucky enough to get a nice low number. Of course, this means nothing in terms of quality of my particular record, but the collector snob in me is giddy.


~VII

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Decimation Cycle

This is something that I bought from SKULL master Eric Wood about a week ago, and I finally got to spin it yesterday. The Bastard Noise and Guilty Connector collaboration 7" "Decimation Cycle", 33 and 45 RPM, baby blue vinyl.
Probably the best noise release I've heard from BN thus far. Super dense, thick and harsh sounds. One song has a few lines of vocals from Eric Wood which are super brutal. Very nice copy too, pretty much as mint as a record can be. No bent corners or anything, which is incredible since the sleeve is just folded paper. 
Not a whole lot to talk about in terms of packaging. Just a simple folded piece or neon green paper with black lettering. It's an aesthetic I happen to like. Nice colored vinyl too, with one side being 33 and one side being 45. I'm now on the lookout from any Bastard Noise record I can get. Gotta boost up the SKULL collection in a big way!

~VII

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Baltimore Beatdown

Here's a recently releases beauty; the Eddie Brock/Lapse split 7" released on To Live a Lie and Hostile Input records, 45 rpm, red vinyl. Real good hardcore right here!
Tough hardcore with powerviolence influences from both of these up and coming Baltimore bruisers. First up is Lapse with 3 tracks in under 4 minutes. Definitely the faster band on the split, more blasting and a few well timed mosh breakdowns. Great snare sound too! Looking forward to more from this band.
The Eddie Brock side is 2 tracks with a more HC sound than their previous 7". Way longer songs this time around too, more refined songwriting. Definitely a band that throws down live and gets the crowd moving I'm sure. Somehow they got Scott Hull to master their side, so it sounds fucking great!! Definitely a band to look out for. 
Stark blak and white inner-sleeve picture and a double-sided insert with lyrics. A download card is also included but my computer can't unzip the files.
I got the red vinyl version, limited to 100 copies. Pretty vinyl, it's semi-transparent and a little bit sparkly, and a little bit of black got in there. Pick this up.



~VII

Monday, December 19, 2011

Slimewave #2

Wow, these pictures are shitty even by my standards. Fuck all. Anywho, I've recently acquired a few of the Slimewave 7"s that I've been missing from my collection. I now have all but the XXX Maniak/Throatplunger 7", and once I get that I'll do a collection post. Here's one that my friend picked up for me in Philly. This is the Cripple Bastards/Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition split(#2 our of the 6 in the series), 45 rpm, white/blue splatter vinyl.
For those who don't know, back in 2006-07 Relapse Records did a series of 7" splits highlighting some of the more extreme/perverse bands in the grind genre. The cover art to each one had a piece of a bigger picture of an alien autopsy that would come together once you had every one. It was a cool idea, and it made them very collectable. Of course they later did a CD compilation of all the tracks once the splits were OOP. 
Out of all the Slimewave 7"s I have, this one sounds the best, and I'm not sure why. The pressing is very clear and not noisy, which is very refreshing. Side A is the Cripple Bastards, who I'm admittedly not a big fan of, but their side has some choice cuts that would later appear on their incredibly "meh" "Variante Alla Morte" full length. These are some of the better and more straight forward songs from that record. Nice.
I haven't owned a SCD release up till this point, and I'm not in any real hurry to get another one. They play the groovy, down-tuned, 2-minute songs goregrind style and they do it well, but I honestly can't remember anything about their side. I know that the end of the 2nd track had a sweet riff, but even still I can't remember what it sounds like. I'll have to listen to it again I guess.
Exceptionally good looking vinyl right here. Very classy and delicious looking white with blue splatter vinyl. Love it to death!!
To the people who will find this last photo this last photo humorous, your welcome. Probably would have been a better fit for the Total Fucking Destruction split. Oh well.


~VII

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Resignation

This is the best EP I've heard all year, dead ass serious. Sea of Shit's self-titled 7" released on PRGNT Records/Idoneum Bello, black vinyl, 45 RPM.
I've only got their 7" demo before this, which I like, but it's far from mind-blowing. But this, this my friends is a masterpiece of filthy, disgusting powerviolence! Everything is distorted, the production is fantastically raw and LOUD, and the songs are non-stop blasters that I find super enjoyable. 
8 songs this time around, all fast, minimal slow parts. Even the 3 1/2 minute end track is fast; going from a twisted groove, to blasting, to ending in noise, and all songs seamlessly transition into each other. 
I'm a super big fan of this packaging too, it totally fits the ugly, filthy sound of the recording. Stark black and white images/text throughout with a black dust sleeve to boot. Dope.
I ordered their split 7" with Socially Retarded yesterday, when that arrives I'll do a post on that too! Sea of Shit 2011!! Purchase it here.


~VII

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Skulldozer

Here we have one of my most anticipated releases of this year, and boy was it worth the wait. "Skulldozer", the latest full-length from Bastard Noise has finally been unleashed upon the world courteous of Deep Six Records. This is the pre-order brown marble vinyl edition limited to 100. Gatefold packaging with a poster, 33 RPM. Beautiful packaging.
Eric Wood has said that this is the best BN release to date, and I might have to agree with him. Everything that made the previous album "A Culture of Monsters" good has been upped on "Skulldozer". The recording is fuller and louder, the songwriting is fantastic, the vocals are incredible, everything just sounds excellent. BN spent a lot of time on this record and it truly shows. 
Six songs this time around(2 more if you buy the CD version). All generally slow dirges, with the exception of "Seeing The Same Fate" which kicks things up a notch tempo wise. Also, the addition of Aimee on vocals is an incredible change to the band. Her presence is not subtle at all; full intensity all the time, and a great compliment to Eric's deep-trollish-growl. 
This will definitely end up in my top 5 of the year, without a doubt. A truly excellent album from this legendary group. Worship the Skull!!!


~VII