For God and Country

Here we fall into the section of posts I like to call 'look at all the cool stuff I got at Alan's'. For those that keep up with this blog, you'll probably know that Alan Beningfield runs Different Kitchen records and that every couple of month-ish I take a trip to his house and collect a stack of the best stuff. On this trip I bought back with me a mix of stock from his store, orders from labels that we had split and even a Discogs bag or two. I probably won't write about every record I bought else this set of posts would never end, but a few won't hurt right? 

So let's start with a band that I write about here every now and then, and this variant in particular looked so great I couldn't resist a second copy. 

Cursed - One (Reissue) - Deathwish Inc. - 1st Press - Clear W/ Blood Red, Royal Blue and White Splatter /300 

This variant sold out straight away when it came up for sale on Record Store Day 2013 I believe? Since then it occasionally pops up on the Bay, but I never went completely out my way to get one as I got the distro colour from this press (Silver /2000). However, a few weeks back I got the splatter version of 'Two' and since then I got a hankering to own this. Fortunately it tied in that Deathwish had some kind of warehouse clearance and found a few copies of this kicking around and put them up in the store at the same price they always were, and as Alan was putting an order in for the new Coliseum record (or possibly the Planes Mistaken For Stars reissue?) I asked if he would add this the order. Above and beyond man, thank you! 

Back Cover // B-Side 

The back cover used the original press front cover art I believe, and the front cover is from the Thrash Art press. People got a bit weird about this being called a 1st press as Deathwish had already put it out around a decade before, and then Thrash Art reissued it after. However, I assume that with the new art and the reissue tag, it got a remaster and the art is definitely expanded so it makes it a new record in it's own right I guess? I think they made completely new plates for this press too; as I never had a 1st press for comparison I'm just happy in the knowledge that this press sounds incredible.

Inside the gatefold. 

Chris Colohan draped in an American flag. O' Canada! 

As is the same with 'Two', the reissue came with a big double sided poster. However, this one comes on a glossy almost photo paper type material as opposed to card type stock in 'Two'. Both look great and you probably can't tell from a photo, but nevertheless have a photo of He Goat. 

The other side of the poster came with this photo of Colohan. The intensity of a Cursed show is something I'll most likely never experience but you can hear it in the record and you can see it in this photo. Forever envious. 

The small section of writing from the Colohan side of the poster contains all the lyrics and credits. It seems weird that there is so much space on this reissue and yet they were stuck in the smallest corner of a huge poster. It seems a little odd to me, but for how incredible this reissue is, I'm really not going to call this a fault. 

To put it simply, this band are fucking untouchable and I can't wait to hear what Deathwish does with Architects of Troubled Sleep. 

Cheers! 

Someone's Going To Get Burned

Wow it's been a little while since I have done a post on Cursed. There's a little bit of a back story here, so bare with me as it's probably not too interesting. 

Cursed II goes up for pre-order on Deathwish after months of two-ing (funny pun) and fro-ing. II has been bootlegged (much to the approval and amusement of Colohan) and getting a legal copy of this out was a huge hassle due to the financial backers from Goodfellow records way back in the day. The original press of this was not sufficient for demand right from the start and has only become more sought after. Anyway, I told myself that I didn't need this record, even though I was right there at the time of pre-order. The reason I didn't need it is because I have the original press on clear that you can read all about here: 

http://23rotations.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/more-cursed.html 

Not too long after I got complete regret over the whole ordeal, and that most limited variant got me all gooey inside as it looks incredible. So I did the whole eBay lurk, decided that paying through the teeth was stupid and hit up the 'notify when back in stock' button on the Deathwish store and held out a little hope. 

Cursed - II - Deathwish Inc. - 1st Press - Clear w/ Multi Splatter /315

After a bit of luck, and a good few weeks of being held in customs (no charge though so that's lit) this finally turned up. It's got a corner ding or two, but Deathwish are solid dudes and how this travelled isn't in their hands; it was packed well so must've had a pretty rough ride. 

Back Cover // B-Side 

Deathwish are incredible with the re-issue treatment (I can't wait to see what happens to Mercy by PMFS), and there isn't a lot of similarity in the two GFR and DW pressings. New front and back art, new variants and updated centre labels; all without even looking inside the gatefold (another difference!). 

Printed inner sleeve, made of sturdy thick card which looks great. This side contains all the lyrics and it's really easy on the eyes. Reading through all these lyrics, you see how explosive Cursed were, and probably pissed a lot of people off in the process! 

Live shot on the other side of the inner sleeve. Black and White imagery fills this record, and it really sums up the songs here. Not a lot gets lost in metaphor here, it's pretty in your face. 

Inside the gatefold

A few words from CC on the recording of the LP, the lyrical content of some of the songs here. Also, it adds more mystery to the story of Cursed. There is a popular opinion that a band has to be shrouded in mystery to be truly legendary, and this band really have that feel for me. They just imploded overnight, and even now very few words are spoken on the matter. 

This is the top image from the gatefold, I can only assume that it's from an old horror film. Deathwish also put this up on a shirt at Pre-order stage, along with some other great designs.

Finally, this record came with a huge fold out poster of Vincent Price. It would look great in a frame, but you know; parting a poster from the sleeve is something I just don't have in me. 

Deathwish did a great job here, and I'm glad I got a second chance here. Not only because it looks great, but because it sounds monstrous. I can't leave this record alone, and let's hope Cursed III doesn't have the time gap like this one did. 

More Cursed

This is probably the most important piece of my Cursed collection. Certainly the rarest and most valuable. It was also damn cheap, scarily cheap. Scored off eBay earlier in the year, and probably my favourite cheap score. 

Cursed - Two - Goodfellow Records - 1st press - Clear /300. Well it could be, Goodfellow were never great at keeping their Discography numbers up. The most I know is that there is a Black variant /700 and that regardless of variant, this thing is always is demand. There is a bootleg out there, as to date there has never been an official re-press of this. The debut had Thrash Art // Deathwish represses, and Architects of Troubled Sleep had a Euro press through Reflections Records. This album had no such luck besides the boot; Deathwish have had a re-press on the cards for a while, but there are some legal troubles with the financial backers of Goodfellow records.  

Back Cover // B-Side label. The white bars on the centre labels look to be fortune cookie notes. The A-Side is in French, and I don't have a clue what it says.

Close up of the back cover. As you can see, the layout is black /grey on black and kind of difficult to read. Also, my copy has a few scuffs and scrapes on the cover. Not a big deal for me, and it's not anything major, a corner ding or two. Also, on the back cover there is a Q Factor Grant logo which basically means that Canadian tax dollars funded the recording and pressing of this LP. Canadian band, pressed through a Canadian label and paid for by the good folk of Canada. 

Insert. The other side is plain black with no text so I didn't photograph it. The bulk of text is the lyrics, then band personnel, credits and Thank You. It's incredibly hard on the eyes, all of it. I can barely see at the best of times. 

All things told, I love this LP. It's abrasive in a way that no other Cursed material touches on, it just seems a little darker. The untitled track at the end is really odd too, especially the first time you play it and have no clue that it's there.

I had planned to wait on the DW press of this. I have had a CD copy for years, but when this came up on eBay from a UK seller I thought I'd try my luck. I put in a bid that I thought was way under, as it regularly goes for $100+, even for the Black variant. But either people weren't looking, or a UK bidder put them off as it sold for way less than my max bid. I don't even know how a clear copy ended up in the UK but I'm not going to ponder about it too hard, I'm just glad I own it. 

Hopefully DW will run through the re-issues quick as High Anxiety (Chris Colohan's label) // DW plan to release a box set at the end of it all with some cool extras. Not that I want to go down the rabbit hole of Cursed variant collecting, but I definitely wouldn't mind having a couple of copies of each release. Also, I'm a sucker for a good box set. 

Hell to pay.

With Cursed, I have been quite fortunate and fallen on my feet with most of their recorded output. Not that I own all of it on vinyl (missing Architects of Troubled Sleep), but what I have grabbed has been at a decent price for the most part. This is a record I picked up a few months back, but I have been fascinated with, for as long as I have known of the name Cursed.

Hell Comes Home. The cover art. The title. The content. All of it just appealed to me, and is the record I most closely associate with this band. Sadly, it took far longer that I wanted to find a copy. However on the upside; it was cheap enough and a semi-rare variant. 

Back cover. Hex Records put this out somewhere around a decade ago. The text below the track-listing are the studio credits and song writing credits. If you didn't know (although you really should) Search & Destroy is originally by The Stooges. It's an absolute banger, and exclusive to this 7'' (well, unless you have that 'The Rest' boot that surfaced a year or two back). I like how the labels are marked by 1 or 2 Baphomets/ He Goats, and the vinyl itself is cool. For the breakdown of pressing info it's: Clear /100 // Grey /200 // White /200 // Black /1500. All one pressing, no further presses. My copy is mostly Grey but there is some White mixed in too; and a little Black. Definitely an interesting variant to look at. It matches the art well too.

The insert is a double sided, single sheet deal. This side contains an etching by Spanish artist Goya, reflecting the view of a corrupt society. Looking at the lyrical content of Hell Comes Home, it's not hard to see why this was chosen. 

Reverse of the insert. Lyrics to Hell Comes Home. The refrain of When Hell Comes Home // There's Hell to Pay is still one of those moments that really sets me on edge. Such an important song. Right at the bottom are the ever extensive thank you's too. 

Finally, although I bought this copy used it still had the insert for the Achilles//Engineer split CD. I've always appreciated stuff like this still being in the sleeve. Hell Comes Home was HR009, and the flyer was for H10. 

It probably won't be long before I do another Cursed post. 

From Canada with Cursed

This is my first cassette entry, to my knowledge. Thankfully it's a really cool one, and one that i'm really grateful to have in my collection. The cassette press of the Cursed demo.

This really is the only way to have the demo. There was a CD press of this way back in the day, but the amount released is a mystery. Some say 13 copies exist, some say 66; I'm on good authority it's 13. No more than that though. So when I saw this I was excited. Until I saw it was sold out. In fact, there had even been a second press that I'd managed to sleep through. 

Not to worry though, as the good dude that runs Night Trap Recordings (who released this) answered a prayer (or email) and we got to talking about all things Cursed. Turns out he's a super nice guy, and just about the biggest Cursed/ Chris Colohan fan you could run in to. His collection literally puts any collection of any band ever to shame. It's impressive to say the least. A few emails and a Paypal payment later and this was on it's way to me. No fuss, a perfect transaction. I was given the choice of a 1st or 2nd press of this tape. I went for the first press as the black/ white split shell appealed to me (if you have sharp eyes you'll notice). 

As far as design etc. goes, I think the cover is a still image or promotional shot from the film 'The Devil Rides Out'. I think the Cursed 'Baphomet' logo may be from the same film? Christopher Lee was in the movie, I'm sure I watched it with my Dad as a child. Anyway; the stark black and white imagery against the black and white shell of the tape works really well, and considering this thing was released long after the demise of Cursed, it really fits in with what they were all about. I really appreciate the fact that someone took the time out of their life to give this the effort and attention it deserves. Standard jewel case, nothing sloppy but nothing fancy either, just as a demo should be. And that font, how could you not love that font?

As for the tracks, they're incredible. This version of Polygraph is punishing, and so abrasive. I love it. Three tracks that play on each side of the tape and every time I play it, it gets flipped straight back in the cassette deck to be heard again. 

Long live Cursed.