BINNED

Suffer- Discography 2007-2012 Tape (Asbestos Death)
First Edition, 2014
Screened Cover 25/30

Straight forward really, the final release for Perth's mighty Suffer, their discography tape, produced by Blayke White and his excellent new label, Asbestos Death. This collects all released material from the band plus a few extra tracks. Being that I got a little lazy with the group towards the end of it's life and missed their final cassette release, this has been a good way for me to catch up with unheard material. 151 tapes in total, 30 copies with this limited screened cover. Blayke seems to be on a roll at the moment with a handful of excellent releases under his belt, and more great stuff on the way.

SALTING THE EARTH

Oblivionation- "Language Of Violence" LP (Antitodo)
First Press, 2014
Black Vinyl /250

Following on from the previous post, this is the latest offering from Massachusetts' Oblivionation. Their debut long player, "Language Of Violence", this is the Spanish pressing committed by Antitodo Records, and I'm almost entirely positive that Rock n Roll Disgrace were to be handling the US version of this album, but it's been months now since this version's been available, and even longer since I've heard any talk about the US pressing.
A premium offering by any standards, though I'm certainly struggling to maintain my initial excitement that developed following the bands demo. The recording faults I referenced with their previous EP in my last post have been addressed, but all ten songs here sound exactly the same, with the same intensity, and the same tempo, and the same lyrical themes, and following an entire catalogue of songs that are built around the exact same model, I've certainly found it a challenge not losing interest before having to flip this record over. In small bursts it's good, but it doesn't warrant full or repeated listens from me. With that said, I respect the shit out of any band that's willing to play such a style that's so out of trend with current hardcore tastes.

USE ONLY AS DIRECTED

Oblivionation- "Cult Of Culture" 7" (Man In Decline)
First Press, 2014
Black Vinyl /335

Newish EP from Oblvionation, "Cult Of Culture" following their excellent demo tape from 2012. I was really looking forward to new material from this band, and while this record is of a very high standard in relative terms, it doesn't really stand up to the excellence of the demo. I think the biggest problem is the recording; it's just not as loud and as punchy as the earlier material. All the attitude is there though, the energy in the musicianship and excellent lyricism is all present, it just isn't conveyed as well.
This is the wider American pressing from Man In Decline Records on black wax. Two limited colours on yellow and maroon were also pressed and various reports getting around detail how the pressing is 'noisy' and the sound isn't good at all thanks to various faults of the pressing plant. My black version seems to sound fine in those respects though. People may suggest that my issues with this EP are a result of the bad pressing, but I don't think so. The MP3's that the band put up on the bandcamp sound just the same.
A European pressing was handled by Hardware Records on white and black vinyl, and last I heard, MID were planning on re-pressing this US version at a new plant with a better quality end result. I haven't heard anything more about that though. Following this EP they released a full-length ("Language Of Violence", of which I will post about next) but over the last few months the band have more or less completely resigned from any kind of online presence so it's hard to tell what else they have planned this year. Their last post on Facebook back in March explained how they were writing for another release entitled "Eyes On You".

STREETS RUN RED

Battle Ruins- S/T 12" (Rock n Roll Disgrace)
First Press, 2014
Clear Vinyl 49/100

I think it would be reasonable to say that the excitement surrounding the new s/t 12" release from Boston's Battle Ruins has been documented extensively over the last six months on various blogs and websites. I wasn't a fan of the bands previous EP so when the promo tape release for this album surfaced in a hard copy and mp3 format last year I completely missed/ignored the boat. The two excellent tracks that were presented on that tape initiated a frenzy for those that missed out but I avoided committing the big bucks required to get second hand copies.
I did manage to snare one of these clear copies of the full album with screened red cover and screened poster limited to 100 copies when Rock n Roll Disgrace put them up for order back in May though. It required setting an alarm at something like 2am, but I got it. Word has it that this sold out in less than a minute and I know it's now fetching figures beyond $200 on various sales websites. And it's not hype. This is the real deal. It's the most original and seamless combination of hardcore, Oi!, and power metal that's ever been done. And it's easily the best long player over the last three years, if you can call seven tracks in barley 21 minutes a long player.

COUSIN KISSERS

Friends of mine play in a local Grindcore band called Coffin Birth. I posted about their demo tape not too long ago. Well they've just upped their new EP, "Necrotic Liquefaction" on their band camp for free download. 9 tracks. Solid stuff.

NECROTIC LIQUEFACTION