Burn The Pharaoh

Got my preorder of thr new Taipan 7" "Ten Day Dawn" a few days ago, and I must say that it's pretty fucking good! Red vinyl of /50, there are 300 in total of this EP, the rest are on black. Six mental tracks from the Sydney daggers. I think that this is somewhat of a self release in the sense that the label that is responsible for this is run by one of the dudes in the band. Anyway, Disinfect Records is the name. The label also did the bands two previous cassettes.
It's really hard to make a good, accurate description of this band. One thing that's certain is that the meaty, metal end in their sound is very apparent. But it's not an average, run of the mill metallic hardcore approach at all. Plenty of tempo changes (without sounding at all PV), heaps of great blast beats (without sounding grind), heaps of mosh bits (without sounding wigga). It's a tricky one for me to describe well, you'll just have to hear it for yourself.
I think one thing that certainly makes this band stick out to an extent is the vocalists style. Just a dirty, down trodden sounding dude. Like someone has let loose a mental patient with a blow torch in the asylum. He grunts, he groans. He really sounds like he hates what he's doing.

Numbered 13 of 300.

There is alot going on with the layout and artwork with this 7" as I'm sure you can see with all of the photos. To be honest, I'm not a fan at all of it. It's way too cluttered and messy looking to me. I'm sure that it will appeal to alot of people, but I just can't dig it at all. I much preferred the bands first EP layout. I like things simple. It's a good thing that the music is top notch.

Rot In Hell/Wayfarer split 7"

Another one from one of the most prolific bands that I listen to: Rot In Hell's split 7" with Wayfarer. This is on white plastic of 100 copies, I got this on pre-order, white is long sold out now. This comes about thanks to Carry The Weight Records. I think that both bands are from the UK. I mean, I know that RIH are, and I read somewhere that Wayfarer are too, but on the latter bands myspace it says that they're from the United States, so yeah, I don't know. Someone help?
One new track from each band, both pulling heavy influence from Cleveland metallic hardcore of the 90's. Both songs are a little longer than the average hardcore song (exceeding three minutes), and both experiment a little with acoustic elements. The differences between the two would be that the RIH hell track is a dirtier production and that Wayfarer rely a little more on mid paced chug. Having never heard Wayfarer before this track though, I must say that I am impressed. The same goes with the RIH contribution, probably my favourite of theirs since the stuff from the demo.
Sturdy gatefold sleeve with a thick spine that makes the folded product quite fat. It's quality though and it fits snug inside it's sleeve.
Said gatefold does well to frame the brilliant artwork by Glynn Scrawled. Simplistic, dark and thorough. Every RIH related release gets nothing but the best in this department, always.
Very basic liner notes/lyrics insert. It's simple for a few reasons from what I assume. 1- the great artwork, who needs fancy lyrics? And 2...
...pre-orders get this; a cool little hand assembled booklet. I've said it before, these RIH guys must be collector nerds. Everything they do has something awesome like this.

The back. Hand numbered as you can see.

So this book has the matte cardboard outer sleeve (that was lightly glued shut I might add. I didn't want to open it, but like I said, it was light glue and I couldn't help myself, I'll glue it back together again at some point), and then inside it's plain paper that folds out into this eight panel piece.

And each panel on the reverse has these little hymns and riddles etc.

Band never fails to impress me. Keep it going dudes. And when is the "As Pearls Before Swine" LP finally dropping? I saw the artwork, it rules, but I need the tunes.

Cowards And Undeserving

I posted about Oaks first LP earlier in the year. That album came out in 2009. Total drone/doom chaos. Well, here's their new two song full length "ii". 35 minutes of music in total, you probably know what to expect after what I've just said. For fans of getting high and tripping out to epic soundscapes. This has been pressed by A389 Records. White wax of 100, 666 in total (the rest are on black).
Now apparently there was a bit of a cuffufle regarding the pressing of this white vinyl. When preorders went up they were advertised as 210g LP's. A week or so before mine arrived, Dom from the label sent out a bulk email stating that he had received some complaints from dudes whom had already received theirs, saying that their white LP's weren't 210g, and that apparently there was some problem with pressing on white at that weight. He suggested a peace offering in the option to also get a black copy (that was 210g) for free if you so desired, all the customer had to do was email him and he'd sent it out or something like that. I didn't bother with this though, I'm no total audiophile. With all of that in mind I have to say that this 12" is easily the heaviest 12" that I own (in actual weight and in the metaphoric sense). Now I don't have a set of scales accurate enough to weigh it, but if it isn't 210g, it is certainly not very far off it. Why people would complain is beyond me. It sounds fucking great.

Brilliant artwork. Simplistic, stark and bold. I really like it.

Gatefold LP as with the bands last offering.

Downside

Here's the rest of my recent Frequency Deleted Records order, the Revenge s/t LP from last year (or maybe 2008?). Anyway, like I said yesterday, the main reason I ordered this was because I had to beef out my order with the label because of their international postage policy. I don't regret grabbing this album at all though, it's not a bad piece of music if you're a fan of fast, angry, heavy hardcore, I was just never into their demo so I always assumed that I wouldn't be able to get into this LP.
I really like the artwork, it ties in well with the bands anti-chrisso lyrical theme, even if anti-chrisso themes and lyrics are for angsty 16 year old boys.

Reoccurring Dreams

Without any shadow of a doubt, this is the surprise 7" of the year for me. Before two months ago or so when the Toxic Breed blog uploaded three tracks from the upcoming Colony s/t 7" I had never heard of this band. Immediately I was into it. Brutal heavy hardcore with mild PV influences. This makes me think of Rorschach mixed with Infest mixed with Assück. Even that description has its limitations, but it's the best that I can do. Fans of crazy heavy hardcore that experiments with funny tempo switches and the like shouldn't be disappointed. So yeah, here's the debut Colony s/t 7" on pink wax. This comes about courtesy of Frequency Deleted Records, the label that put out the Abraxis CD.
The inner fold out is just about the only aspect of the artwork that I like, the rest is boring as hell which is a bit of a let down considering the next level tunes on offer here. To be honest, I'm not at all fussed on the bands name either. Strikes me as rather boring. Good thing that this is going to be one of my top three EPs for 2010 regardless of those two short comings.

Back side that probably highlights the lack of creativity in the artwork that I speak of. It's possible that it just goes way over my head or something, maybe someone out there gets it? I sure don't.

Hand numbered as you can see. I'm happy with that one.

And this is the orange version. Now I had no real intention of getting this too, but when I ordered from the label they had a minimum international order policy, so I grabbed this and the Revenge LP (which I will post about later on this week). It's also hand numbered 90/351 but I forgot to take a photo. Who numberes the entire second limited press anyway? Another colour also exists of beige/brown far as I know and being the OCD fuck that I am sometimes, I'll probably try and get my hands on that too.
People please check out this band. I was so surprised by this record. Such a good release if you're into heavy, fast hardcore. Vocals from hell (possibly my pick of the year), a filthy bass tone, thick guitars, break neck drumming. What else could I want?

You Will Suffer

The second half of my RSR order that I started the other day with the post about the Extortion/C.E. split 7". This is the debut 7" "Sex Cells" by this new band from the UK, Sick-Fuckin-O. With that name I doubt I really need to go into detail with what this band are all about? Pure powerviolence mayhem ala Infest, Crossed Out, No Comment and the like. Duh. This is on a shitty red wax of 100 copies so Sandro tells me, but because of the nature of the shitty red, this photo does no justice whatsoever.

This one kind of does though.

For those playing at home, this band is fronted by none other than Lecky, of Voorhees fame and later on Meatlocker. His vocals are pretty ape shit here as this is probably the most consistently speedy stuff he's ever had to lay vox down for. He doesn't seem to have any trouble keeping up, that's for sure. They even make a good attempt at a Voorhees cover in 'More Violence' which I find hilarious/cool.
Interesting artwork that obviously ties in with the play on words of the EP title. All of it from the mind of a dude named Sergio Posada whom I have never heard of. It's also signed off in 1995, so I'm guessing this is old stuff. I have no idea really. Anyone cluey?
A little birdy told me that these guys have a split 7" coming out with none other than our (Australia's) own White Male Dumbinance in 2011. It's been a while since we've heard anything from WMD, and if this split happens, worlds will end. The stuff from their releases in 2009 was just about the best Australian music produced in that year. So excited to hear new music from them.

Doris

The kind of discordant, mis-timed noise rock that Shellac make isn't the stuff that I normally develop interest in, though the A-side of this record has been a favourite of mine for years, and yet I've only just picked up this single. This is the "Uranus" 7" by Shellac, a classic Touch & Go Records release from 1992. When I initially decided that it was time that this record was introduced to my collection, I thought that I'd have to go on a little bit of a hunt to get it. I mean, whenever I hear people talk of Shellac, the conversation normally reverts back to this EP and the lead track, 'Doris'. Though to my surprise I found this on the 'bay for a BIN price of something like $15 plus postage. Not fucken bad Johnny.
For a record of it's age it shows pretty good condition, the card hasn't aged in a bad way at all, and I am happy with that. Speaking of the sleeve, it's a rough matte cardboard job that folds up and holds together with these tabs. I hope the photos do it justice.
The vast majority of this bands catalogue post this EP is passable at best most of the time. I can dig a song here and there, but for the most part Doris is the only song that really excites me. The way it builds and progresses for that three minutes is pretty fucking dope, there's not too many words that I can use to describe what I think about it. It's worth the listen for sure.

Shut In

The band that released my top 7" of last year, Get Destroyed, have a new record out soon. New tracks on their myspace. Google is your best friend. Get excited, this band rules. FFO: Crossed Out and related early 90's Californian hardcore bands.

Stick Together

Picked up this Floorpunch LP a few days ago from my local. Now I am no total fanboy of this band therefore I have no real idea of the rarity of this record, though I doubt this is a hard find. Though this isn't the recent reissue, it's an original from Equal Vision record as far as I can see. Anyway, this is "Twin Killing", the compilation LP of two of the bands previous demos or something. I know virtually nothing about the 90's youth crew movement, but I know I like this stuff here.
And I don't think that I really need to say much more here that shouldn't already be known by most and that hasn't been said a million times on a million blogs. Hugely influential band.