Mankind

Quick post about a classic record. Infest, a band that needs no introduction, and I'm sure we all know about their crucial part of hardcore's progression. Pretty much ground-zero for American powerviolence. This is their 2nd self-titled 7", a reissue by Deep Six and Draw Blank records, grey vinyl, 45 RPM.

I found this copy for an insanely good price on discogs, so low that I thought it was a bootleg copy. But nope, legit reissue. It's sometimes referred to as the "Mankind EP", due to the 10" repress which took on that name. Classic in every sense of the word. It's crazy how many bands are still replicating this bands sound today, it's just timeless! We've all been guilty of stealing an Infest riff, whether we realize it at the time or not. This copy is a little strange. There are many variants of this record floating around, mostly with different colored covers. The tan ones for some reason come with an over-sized sleeve. Not sure why this is, but it was a bit annoying to make a custom plastic sleeve for it. Collector problems.

Looks like screen printed covers. Comes with a lyric sheet too.

~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

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

Control

I added three new additions to the Extortion collection recently, which I'm very happy about. Most of them were re-issues, but that's fine with me. Here is the Extortion - "Control" 7", re-issuse on Deep Six Records, black vinyl, 45 RPM.

As I stated in my previous post, all the records I received this week I haven't actually spun because I'm away from my turntable. I have, however, listened to this EP and it's damn good. Short, powerful songs that rip and roar with powerfully violent velocity. Rohans vocals are devastating as well.

Excellent artwork as well, as always. Definitely not my favorite piece from Rohan, but I am in love with the colour scheme. The red and white just pop out so vibrantly. Definitely a solid cover design. 

Very good looking center labels too. The deep red is a nice touch.

I haven't seen this re-issue pop up in a lot of distros, but I bought mine from Rotten To The Core records. Go for it, I'm sure Deep Six still has some as well.

~VII

Drown

Another piece from my modest Extortion collection, and my 2nd favorite thing I own by them. The Extortion/Agents of Abhorrence split 7", first press, transparent blue vinyl, 45 RPM.

                            

Great split that I just revisited while taking pictures for this post. I had forgotten how incredibly awesome Agents of Abhorrence are. Like, they're really super great! I want everything by this band, they play grind just how I like it(Discordance-Lung-Iron-Axis grind). The Extortion side is awesome too, the songs are generally way faster than usual. The drums are all over the place. This was also reissued by Deep Six recently, pick it up!!

My absolute favorite Extortion artwork so far. I love the coloring and just the stark bleakness of this image. Incredible detail too, just an all around masterpiece.

Listen to Agents of Abhorrence!

~VII

Sick

I think every modern hardcore fan should have at least 1 Extortion record in their collection. My collection is modest at best, if only because people sell their OOP records for hefty sums of cash. Yeah, Extortion are one of those bands that have a large following of people who try to buy everything they've ever put out, thus Extortion have a lot of different varients and editions of their releases. Deep Six recently reissued a bunch of their records, which I should be getting in the near future. This record here has to be my favorite of their stuff that I've heard; "Sick" 12", black vinyl, 45 RPM, not sure which pressing this is.

Fantastic record! A good balance of old-school influence from great bands like Infest and Lack of Interest with some some new-school twists and turns. They manage to throw in enough interesting riffs and concepts into their music to save them from being a complete rehash band. Love it.

As always, brilliant art from lead singer Rohan. His artwork is one of my favorite things about Extortion,  it's very Raymond Pettibon-ish. Like how you can instantly recognize one of his pieces on a Black Flag record, Rohans art is that kinda reconizable. This cover art here is one of my favorites of his, but falling into 2nd place behind the Extortion/Agents of Abhorrence split.

Double-sided insert

Boring old black vinyl. Deep Six reissued this recently, so it's pretty easy to find now. If you want to see some REAL Extortion praise, head on over to one of my favorite blogs everrr SKULLFUCKED. There's a link on the right hand side of my page, check him out, his blog is way better than mine :)

~VII

Double Whammy

Here is one of my prized possesions, and so far the 7" that I've dished out the most money for. In my opinion this is an essential hardcore record, buy or die. Spazz/Lack of Interest - "Double Whammy" split 7", black vinyl, 33 RPM.

I was a fan of Spazz long before I picked this up, but this is the record that got me to fall in love with Lack of Interest. I love everything about the band, and their side of this split is pretty much perfect. Lovely, classic, crudely recorded powerviolence/hardcore blasters with some of my favorite vocals in the entire genre. If you do manage to pick this up, get it at least for the LoI side. I honestly can't remember much about the Spazz side except for their cover of "Hey Bob, What's Up?"(originally by Pillsbury Hardcore). I'll definitely need to get more familiar with their side in the near future.

*note: my records aren't really as dusty as they look. The camera flash does some fucked up things.

This record is usually not cheap, I've seen it go anywhere from $13.00 to $35.00 on discogs. I wouldn't suggest paying that much, but it was worth every penny that I spent on it. Classic and essential.

~VII