Cut In Half

Fuck yes, the Extortion/Cold World split 12" is mine! I'm super fucking excited about this, because not only is it new Extortion, but this is the first record of there's that I pre-ordered directly from the band. and everything went great! It arrived a lot quicker than I had anticipated, and in great condition, except for some small tears on the top of the sleeve from it being shipped with the record inside. The band was selling the white vinyl variant, limited to 100, 45 RPM.

I'm very pleased to say that this is an excellent split. I was not impressed with their last two, and I can't really remember a whole lot about the "Loose Screws" 10", so I was really hoping this thing would kick ass. 11 rippers from Extortion, that waste no time and keep things fast and visceral. It really reminds me of their "Degenerate" era. Particularly in the vocals, Rohan hasn't sounded this intense in a while. Cold World is pretty great too. This is the first time I'm hearing them and they're a good pairing for Extortion. Fast fast hardcore, not very original, but definitely entertaining.

Pretty interesting artwork from Rohan this time around. Still trying to put my finger on the concept of this one. It's kinda Blade Runner/Terminator-y.

Two sided, glossy insert with lyrics from both bands.

Extortion are all sold out of white, and RSR is probably all out of their red variant, but I'm not positive. These will be in tons of distros soon!

~VII

Too Late To Survive

After years of coveting, and months of seriously searching, I finally came across a little unassuming Big Cartel site that was selling the Suffering Mind/Lycanthrophy split 7". I took a chance on it, and it really payed off. A crucial part of my Suffering Mind collection has been filled. 33 RPM, grey vinyl.

So yeah, ripper of a split, as I had hoped. Pairing two of the best European female fronted grindcore bands. The Suffering Mind side is a nonstop grind assault, not a lot of stops or breaks in their 5-song contribution, not their best stuff, but it's a great compliment to Lycanthrophy's side, which tears shit apart! I think this is actually the first record I own from them, and it's great stuff. Grindcore boardering on fastcore, with some excellent stops and a nice beefy production. Solid.

I have another SM record coming the the mail, hopefully today, that has been evading me for a while. Updates soon!

~VII

March Of Despair

Long time no post, been pretty busy and lazy these days, same old excuse, blah blah blah. But, I have gotten a lot of really great records lately, including a few that I've been after for a while. I'll try and get through them all. Here's one that I got from Hells Headbangers a couple weeks ago, the new EP from the mighty Coffins - "March of Despair", 33 RPM, transparent maroon vinyl.

Even though I'm not really into death metal these days, I've always had a special place in my heart for Coffins. Their album "Buried Death" was one that I used to listen to all the time, and they do the whole death/doom thing better than most. On this EP we get 4 new tracks and a cover of Death's "Corpsegrinder". All the songs on here are typical, awesome Coffins. The first 2 are a bit more upbeat with a lot of punk and d-beat drumming. The last 2 bring things down to a doomy level, so there's a nice even mix of both sounds. The first 2 songs repeat on the B-side, for some reason. Not quite sure why they did that.

Cool cover art, as is to be expected with Coffins. There's also a printed inner sleeve and an awesome poster.

Another interested thing is that Uchino doesn't do the vocals on this release. Instead, they're done by their drummer, Ryo Yamada. Who does a fantastic job, and has a disgusting, mid-range guttural growl.

I got the maroon vinyl variant, which I'm very happy about. It's the 2nd rarest pressing, and I was pretty surprised that HHR had that color stocked.

Try and get one of these quick before you have to pay tons of money for it. Buy or die, hail Coffins.

~VII

For Nothing

So, Matt, my friend who was kind enough to trade me Extortion's - "Terminal Cancer" 7", is also in a stupidly good bass/drum powerviolence band called Water Torture, who just released their 2nd EP, "Shellfire!" on Diseased Audio Records. Black vinyl, 45 RPM.

I was a huge fan of their "S/T" EP they released last year, and this new one is by far one of the best things I've heard all year. Unforgiving, heavy powerviolence, you can't fuck with this! The recording is much better than their last EP, the bass tone is a lot less murky and more cut-throat and bright. The songs are fast for the most part, but when they break it down to the slow and sludgy, it's punishing. Some noise and power electronics are thrown in for good measure. 

Great cardstock sleeve with a double-sided insert. 

The first 25 pre-orders got this sick back patch, which will be sewn on my hoodie very soon. Get wise to Water Torture right now.

~VII

Terminal Cancer

Not a few days after I posted my Extortion collection, my friend Matt hooked me up with a vital piece that I was missing (more on Matt and his band in the next post). He sent me the Extortion - "Terminal Cancer in a trade. Black vinyl, 33 RPM.

This is an interesting release for Extortion, mainly due to the fact that it's got a really rough recording. This thing was recorded on a crude little 8-track and it sounds, as the band describes it, "raw as piss". I really dig this release because of that. Fans of Extortion's other records might be shocked at how rough this one sounds compared to the rest of their catalog, but the songs are still there and they're tight and visceral as always.

Cool cover art.

Anybody know what the deal is with this yak?

Really cool EP, somebody sell me their demo and the "Get Fucked" 5"!!

~VII

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