Practice Hatred

Here is the last piece of my recently acquired "Holy Grail" records, and I saved the best for last. Can't believe I own it, but here is the Man Is The Bastard/Crossed Out split 7", OG Press, black vinyl, 33 RPM.

I never ever thought I would have Crossed Out on vinyl, outside of maybe a compilation or two. The fact that I have this fucks my brain in half. Classic, classic, classic, classic powerviolence. Pairing two of my favorite PV bands on one 7", and being released by Slap-A-Ham, I'm just such a happy person right now. I shouldn't have to say what I think about the music, you all should know what these bands are about.

Everything is in awesome condition. No lyrics are included, which is strange to me.

~VII

Drugged Conscience

Holy grail #2, and the 2nd ANb record I acquired is the Enemy Soil/ANb split 7", black vinyl, 33 RPM.

You could say that this 7" is responsible for later day ANb and Pig Destroyer; JR and Brain of PD were in Enemy Soil during the time this was released, and Richard Johnson, who would collaborate with ANb and Pig Destroyer numerous times over the years.

The Enemy Soil side rips, it really makes me realize that I need to listen to them more. I can definitely hear some Pig Destroyer-isms with these songs. Good groove, manic vocals and some occasional weird chords. Brian's drumming is top notch as always. The ANb side is better than their "s/t", in my opinion. You can hear some familiar Scott Hull nuances starting to form; off-time grooves and interesting slower passages. Excellent split.

~VII

The Alcoholic Pain

I've acquired a couple holy grail records that I'm still losing my fucking mind about. Two of those are really early Agoraphobic Nosebleed 7"s, including this one. The very first ANb 7", some call it the "30 Song 7"", black vinyl, 33 RPM.

Pretty much a repress of their original demo cassette. Obviously, not their best stuff. They hadn't really developed and become full realized as a group yet. I don't even think J. Randall was in the band at this point. Typical fast songs, not a whole lot of groove, not very great lyrics, but still a monumental record to have. Very happy to have this in my collection.

Great album cover, everything is in pretty good condition too. The vinyl has a bit of surface noise though.

Discogs this, I did. I got mine for 10 bucks, I've never seen it for cheaper. 

~VII

Mentally Checked Out

I was really really really hoping I made my order in time to get this, especially since my fiasco with the Lack of Interest/Weekend Nachos split(still haven't gotten it). Anyway, here's the much hyped and mysterious To The Point - "Mentally Checked Out" 1-sided 7", black vinyl, limited to 100 copies.

Deep Six did a pretty good job keeping the details of this EP on the down low. They didn't say who was in the band or what it would sound like. However, I know that Chris Dodge, Bob Deep, the bassist from Actuary and Kevin Fetus Musically, it's pure Lack Of Interest-core. I know it was gonna be powerviolence, but these guys really captured that "Trapped Inside" era LOI sound really well. Maybe I was to naive and expected something a little more, I don't know, unique. But I love LOI and this type of hardcore/powerviolence, so I'm super happy to have this.

"Barn door" style sleeve, which I'm really not a fan of. Lyrics are included as well.

They said it was limited to 100 copies, but that just might be the amount that they were selling to the public. I got #88, as you can see. 

Apparently a split with Yacopsæ and another 1-sided 7" are in the works. Can't wait to snag those!

~VII

My Extortion Collection

Yeah, it's pretty small compared to my other hardcore vinyl blogger colleges. But you know me, I don't go after every variant. I'm obviously still missing the Demo 7", the "Get Fucked" 5", and the "Terminal Cancer" 7". Hopefully I'll get those soon!

~VII

Your Band Sucks

This is one of the newest releases from my friend, Eduardo's label, DIY Noise. A cassette and floppy disc (that's right) label that I'm a huge supporter of. Ed also plays in the band Sordo, who have a fuck load of new releases in the works. For now, here's the Sordo/Crutch split cassette, limited to 100.

Both sides tear it up, in pretty equal amounts too. Four songs from Sordo, making up maybe 2 minutes of music. Quite a cock tease, but the songs are total slammers. I really dig the stop/start riffs, of course. Five songs from Crutch, including a cover of Aus Rotten's "Fuck Nazi Sympathy". They sound a little more grindviolencey this time around, kinda moving away from the who straight powerviolence thing.
Great dubbing too, his new tape machine seems to work great!

I guess I got #3 out of 100?

This release is long sold out, but definitely keep up with DIY Noise because he has a shit ton of releases coming up. Including a couple that I'm helping put out. 

~VII

The Machete Twins

Got my 3rd Pig Destroyer vinyl record a couple weeks ago. I got it for a pretty good price on discogs, and in absolutely mint condition. It still even had the shrink wrap on it! Here's Pig Destroyer - "Phantom Limb", transparent red vinyl, 33 RPM.

A lot of Pig Destroyer fans really shit on this album, I guess because they went a bit more "metal" on this and write longer songs, blah blah blah. I think this is their best work, next to "Prowler In The Yard". Incredibly solid song craft, and ton and tons of great Scott Hull riffs. A good majority of my favorite PD songs are on this record actually. 

Absolutely gorgeous artwork from John Baizly. Some of the most left field and beautiful cover art I've seen on a grindcore album. I'm really not a fan of the logo and album title placement though. 

Printed inner sleeves with lyrics included, of course. Some of my favorite JR lyrics are on this album as well. "Girl In The Slayer Jacket" is a disturbingly realistic portrayal of a young life.

I think the red is the 2nd rarest variant. 

Discogs this for sure. I have a copy of "Prowler..." in my sights, so wish me luck! 

~VII

Island Of Clones

I am not an avid collector of test pressings, but I am a collector of Needful Things. And when I saw them in NYC a couple weeks ago, they happened to be selling test pressings of their new split 7" with Roskopp. The fact that it was a test(limited to 60) and a TLAL release only sweetened the deal. Black vinyl, 45 RPM.

I love Needful Things, we all know this. I think they're one of the most criminally underrated grindcore bands going right now. The three tracks on here are vicious and unrelenting, just how NT do it. I wasn't a huge fan of the Roskopp side at all. Pretty much just standard grindcore, but without anything exciting in it. I feel like I do need to pick up an official copy of this though, because a TP can only be played a few times before it starts to go bad.

Cool artwork from Aaron Nichols of Defeatist.

This should be released sometime soon.

~VII

Giving Her Death

Here's the 2nd Deep Six pre-order I got, and this one comes with a bit of a story. In my first order, I pre-ordered the Sidetracked split and the Weekend Nachos/Lack of Interest split 7". When I got my package however, they had sent me this Landmine Marathon 7" by mistake. I'm sure you can imagine my frustration when I opened it up and saw what had happened. Fortunately, the DS dudes said they would fix this. So, now I have the Landmine Marathon - "s/t" 7", white vinyl, limited too 100, 45 RPM.

I've never really been a fan of this band, mostly because I've never devoted a whole lot of time to them. Death metal, metal in general really, hasn't really been my thing as of late. That being said, the two tracks on here are enjoyable and pretty heavy. I can definitely see why this band has a lot of fans, and their vocalist is a monster! I definitely prefer the B-side track; good up-beat tempos and grooves.

This strange cover art was painted by Wes Borland from Limp Bizkit of all people. Isn't that curious?

I might be selling this later, who knows. 

~VII

One Of Them

MAN! It's been a while since I've posted on here. Main reason; I keep leaving my camera at the wrong house. Blah. Anyway, Deep Six recently released 4 records, and each one was put up for pre-order. I ordered all 4(with a little complications, more on that later), and got the color variant for each one. Here's the Sidetracked/Self Inflicted split 7", blue vinyl, limited to 100, 33 RPM.

I wasn't a big fan of the last Sidetracked record, "Forfeit", but the 10 tracks on here are A+! I'm definitely picking up on a lot of westcoast PV and hardcore, but put on fast forward, or course. Big, powerful production and heavy riffing. Jay's vocals also sound excellent. 

This is the first time I've been exposed to Self Inflicted, and I definitely like them. Definitely fastcore, but in more of a No Comment kind of style. The vocalist even sounds like he's trying to do his best Andrew Beattie impression. Interesting riffs too, kinda all over the place. Good stuff. On an interesting note, the center labels on my copy are reversed. I guess they must be all like that.

Not sure if the blue is sold out, but if it isn't, you better act quick. Deep Six!!

~VII