STALE

Hygiene- "Void E.P." 7" (Rain On The Parade)
First Press, 2014
Black Vinyl /?? - Green Cover /50

Not entirely familiar with this band, though I know they're from Canberra. Ripping PV stuff influenced heavily by Infest and similar, along with a handful of the modern classics. Nice and clean recording and interesting cover art. Landed a copy with a limited green cover. Regular wider press was printed on a regular black and white cover.

SELF EXECUTION

Violent Outburst- "Survival Signs E.P." 7" (Agitate/Tension Head)
First Press, 2014
Black Vinyl /400

One of the better EP's to see a release this year is the new 7" from Virginia's Violent Outburst, "Survival Signs". I've been sitting on this record for the better part of four months without a post on here, but it's been getting repeated spins on my player for the bulk of that time. Good, simple, stompy hardcore that takes cues from a handful of the early 80's east coast notables. Not too dissimilar to the demo they released in 2012, though with a fairly updated recoding quality in comparison.

SEE YA LATER

World War 4- 2nd Demo Tape (Self Released)
First Edition, 2014

Two years on from their debut demo tape, here's the second demo from World War 4. More of the same, and what I suspect fans had hoped for and expected. The hype certainly seems to have settled over the last couple of years with this band, though it's till excellent NY inspired hardcore.

SHIT DOWN YOUR THROAT

Shitgrinder- "Life Is Corrupted" Demo Tape (Castigated)

First Edition, 2014

Supreme new demo tape from excellent new Grindcore unit out of Brisbane, Shitgrinder, featuring members of various other well known local bands, the most notable to international readers being Shackles probably. Very tasteful, well written, gimmick free grind and possible contender for my favourite demo tape of the year. Mark at Castigated still has plenty of copies.

STRANGE LOOP

Vile Intent- LP Pre Production Promo Casssette (Self Released)
First Edition, 2014

I've managed to post about various releases from Vile Intent over the years. This is their latest material, the new promo cassette featuring roughly recorded versions of new songs to appear on their forthcoming LP. Six tracks as listed on the j card (but unless I'm going crazy, I can certainly only find five on this tape) of exactly what any fan of the band's previous material may hope for; blast peppered, sludgy, downtrodden Powerviolence. The band have rarely deviated from their chosen path of Crossed Out influenced hardcore since their inception and nothing's changed here. Of all of their recorded work so far, I'd say that their previous EP was probably their most abstract; that material utilising a heap more 'complex' and unexpected tempo shifts. This new music kind of reverts back to the more straight up stop/start feel that they perfected with earlier releases. Certainly one of the best current groups doing this style at the moment, and definitely one of my favourite bands.

SUICIDE NATION

At The Gates- "Slaughter Of The Soul" LP (Earache)
'Full Dynamic Range' Reissue, 2014
'Dead Sky' Blue/Grey Vinyl /300

The time I originally posted about "Slaughter Of The Soul" from Gothenburg's At The Gates at the beginning of the year I mentioned how the copy I had managed to pick up was that of an official pressing, most likely a 2002 reissue. The more I've thought about it since that post in January, the more I've suspected that the copy I did speak about was likely in fact a 2013 bootleg. There's no way to be entirely sure, as all reports I've read detail how the bootleg is more or less identical to that of official copies, but the two most telling factors would be that the copy I scored at All Ages Records in London didn't come with an insert, and that I paid around $26 for it. These days, copies of that 2002 official reissue rarely sell for anything under $90-$100 on sites like discogs, so it's unlikely that any record store would be selling such a clean copy off the shelf for such a bargain bin price.
This copy here however is an official 2014 reissue, another chapter in this 'full dynamic range' saga that Earache Records seem to be implementing to cash in on former glories. As I have questioned in former posts about records from previous Earache bands that have received this same treatment in the last two years, you have to be curious as to wether any of the groups are seeing any kind of royalties from Earaches latest efforts. I doubt it. This colourway obviously references the fifth song on the album, a similar story to most of the variants that were made of this pressing. 300 copies on 'dead sky', something like the third most limited version. I will admit that unlike the few albums I've picked up in the last couple of years that have fallen prey to this 'FDR' binge, the wax quality provided here is of a reasonably high grade. The sleeve is still dog shit though.
You have to praise Earache's market savvy. The label could have easily initialised this FDR bender years ago with this LP and made an absolute killing, aware of the mammoth popularity that it's generated in the last decade. They held off though, and have decided to unleash it right at the cusp of the media gambit surrounding the release of the newly reformed bands brand new album, the first in nearly 20 years. Smart marketing. Based off the bland artwork and totally uninspired album title, I'm betting that this new album will be pretty crappy though. Hopefully I am wrong.