Pulse of the Maggots

Man, sometimes life gets in the way of doing stuff you really like doing. I barely have time to listen to records these days, let alone find the right lighting to photograph 'em and then write around the topic for a little while. But thankfully on this Sunday morning I've avoided sleeping in and found some time that isn't quite social enough to play records, but it's damn okay enough to write about them.

From this hype sticker I assume you know what you're in for here. This is the UK/Euro press of Slipknot's Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) on Clear 2XLP available on Record Store Day 2014. It also comes with a nice little RSD hype sticker too. 

Now this had been stuck on my want list for a little while now; but at the £80-100 going rate on Discogs currently, I was willing to push it to the background a little. Plus the fact that I bought both previous full lengths for a steal back in the day made this one a little harder to swallow. 

I'm not sure how common this is with this press but mine seems to have a black splodge or two mixed in with this clear wax. I quite like these little anomalies within pressings that just make for a marginally more interesting variant. All of the centre labels are different colours too which is pretty cool. 

Going from the harsh aesthetic or Iowa, it seemed like the band weren't quite as fucked this time around or at least quite as burned out. Although the record itself is a little less harsh on the ears, it seems to be the one I return to most often nowadays. Maybe it's just pretty fresh to my ears again for owning a copy on vinyl now, who knows? 

A lot of people also seemed to find a few issues with the sound quality on this pressing. To my ears it sounds fine; not spectacular or overly dynamic in any way, shape or form. But there are no huge popping or skipping issues? People on Discogs get on a rant about stuff sometimes right? 

Front and back cover. 

I've always preferred the reverse image here. The picture disc press has this as the C or D side and it fits well with the all black die cut sleeve too.

Insert photos are always a bonus as far as I'm concerned, and even more so here as they're super fun to look at. Almost nostalgic in a way. The inserts on Iowa are definitely something memorable too. 

The photo of the band together here is the most obvious image attached to this record. Up until this year, my only copy of this record was the deluxe 2XCD that comes with this image as a slipcase.

Oh, back to my original point on this point. I never wanted to pull the trigger on this while the price kept on going up and up. I actually found this copy in my local record store whilst having a little dig around behind the counter. It was offered up to me for less than the original asking price; and there's no way I wasn't walking out with it. 

Cheers!

I miss Witch Cult

Three post in three days, told you i'm making more of an effort! Today i'm talking about Witch Cult, and for those that might not be familiar with them, they were a Powerviolence band from the South Coast of England. They were known for playing guerrilla type gigs, often in balaclavas, disastrously short sets and they're now sadly missed. A great band. Of all their recorded output, this is the one that got the most hype around it, probably due to it being very good. And more readily available than some releases by them.

Holy Roar Records put this out on Halloween 2011. Holy Roar are a fantastic UK label, part of the Pink Mist Collective. They put out mostly hardcore stuff, but occasionally dip into math rock and other genres. A great independent label that put massive amounts of effort and attention to their releases. This was released on black vinyl only on a single press of 300. The cover art is a really odd, almost pixelated photo of two band members (I assume) in balaclavas, with a white inverted cross in the bottom right corner. The font for the band name on the centre label of the vinyl also has an inverted cross. Very goth. Also, everything on this release is black and white, not a dash of colour to be seen. 

The back cover is a neat quarter fold with the track-listing and label logo. At first it struck me as odd that the record didn't come in a dust sleeve, but it's all good. From an aesthetic sense this looks much better, and hasn't damaged the record in any way. Works to probably run a microfibre cloth round it first though before sticking it on your turntable. 

Oh yes. This record is also single sided (it's powerviolence mate, it's certainly no longer than 10 or 12 minutes), so the b-side has this really nice etching. The etching is of the Holy Roar logo, with a bit of a twist. The witch hat and broom have been added, I guess the whole Halloween/ Witch Cult thing really ties in here. I really love the little additions in this release. It's appreciated that they made the most of the extra space, and I'd rather have this etching over shirking down the format to a 7''. Where's the fun in that? 

As another fun little addition, the record came with a free copy of the album on CD. It kind of looks like a promo job; plastic wallet, card sleeve etc. I like it though, as they've taken the time to make a scaled down version of the artwork for the LP. Probably a 2 minute job I know, but most major(?) label vinyl releases that include a CD have this sketchy plain card wallet with no track-listing or art (Epitaph i'm looking at you). Also, it's way cooler than some download card that you spend ages looking for, just for it to be invalidated on Bandcamp. 

And here is the back cover, just so you know what it looks like I guess? 

Around a year ago, Witch Cult played their last show, and until then I think copies of this were still fairly easy to find (the label long ran out, but Amazon/ eBay had copies floating from time to time). However, it's not really in ready supply anymore; but have a listen here if you're so inclined (http://witchcultpv.bandcamp.com/album/s-t) and if it takes you're fancy, have a little hunt for it. I hope seeing how cool this release is aesthetically will entice you just that little bit more. 

I miss Witch Cult.

If you're 555

Well, I'm finally dusting off the keyboard and getting back into this. Downside: I've been away a minute or five. Upside: I haven't slowed down on buying records, so there's plenty great posts lined up.

I thought I'd start this up again with a cool one that arrived today. Iowa by Slipknot.

This was a truly great eBay score, not super cheap but not expensive either. Not in mint condition, but not bad considering the age (I think this was released in 2001, so it's aged well). The need to grab a copy of this really came from nowhere. I was talking to a friend about this LP, and they pulled out their copy and showed me how cool this was on wax, and an obsession started. I needed it; and I needed  a proper copy, not one of those corner cut promo copies. I remember sneaking out and heading to my local store for the midnight release of this (someone actually brought a goat to the proceedings, very metal.). Fuck, I must have only been nine years old. Either way, long story short, vinyl copies were available, but I had only saved up my pocket money to accommodate a CD copy. Worst part is I got busted anyway when my Mother strolled in my room to wake me up for school the next day and spotted the copy on my bedside table. So this wax is my 12 year wait in spoiled brat gratification. I'm rambling, on to the vinyl! 

Not too much to note here, plain black vinyl with the Nonogram logos on each side. Super cool, but there's way more aesthetically pleasing features about this records...

The front cover is super cool, I remember being almost afraid of it as a kid, and having it on this format now really brings home the menacing vibe of the whole thing. I believe Clown (member number 6 AKA Shawn Crahan - dude hitting the beer kegs on stage) named the goat Eeyore, but I could be wrong? The silver foil effect really adds something too. Apparently this stuff is prone to a bit of creasing, and mine has suffered a corner ding too. Apparently promo copies of this have a corner cut on the top right hand side, for those that wanted to know, and cut out half of the song 'The Heretic Anthem'. Lame. 

The back cover is more of the same, with the silver foil and super creepy goat thing going on. 

As you open the gatefold cover up, there's another great image of the Nonogram, along with individual photos of the nine members. However, the band members are assigned numbers from 0-8, and they're not in number order in this photo, still cool though. 

The next thing pulled out from the gatefold is this fold out poster of the band. Apparently an intact poster is quite rare, as they've often got blu-tac marks or pin holes from being up on the wall. That's even if a copy comes with it, as they're often forgotten about in the sale. Thankfully mine has none of that, and I love this image. It perfectly captures the band from this particular time. They would change masks and boiler suits for every album cycle and I vividly remember this one coming out, so it serves as a nice reminder.

For me the inner sleeves are where things get a bit weird. This side contains lyrics and some strange symbols and logos, the one on the far right looks like a construction of the Nonogram. The other side however:

To my knowledge that is a goat fetus. A bloody goat fetus, how messed up is that? The other sleeve contains another great group shot, and the text in the top left is a dedication to the fans which is quite cool to read. If anyone is super interested, I get that my photos aren't that great so I can type it out. Just comment if you want to know what it says and i'll drag it out...

Aside from a nostalgic purpose, this album really is something special. It got lumped in with nu-metal, but it's way more complex than that. It's up there with Jane Doe and We're Down 'til We're Underground with the most abrasive and pissed off sounding records I have ever heard. It starts with opener (515), which is DJ Sid Wilson screaming after the news of a family member passing, with samples and noises in the background. I try to not touch on the musical context of an LP too much with this blog, but this record is a true classic for heavy music. The history surrounding the LP is incredible too. Another factor to me hunting this down was the crazy background of this album; it was really born from a dark time. Do a bit of internet searching for the film 'Goat' (I'm sure it's on YouTube) and you'll understand it. 

I am marching to the beat... Part Holy Roar

Sometime in late 2010 (November maybe?), Touche Amore hit the UK and Europe in support of ...To the Beat of a Dead Horse. This occasion was celebrated with a one time UK pressing of To the Beat on Holy Roar records. Alex over at Holy Roar went all out on this, and it really paid off well, as it looks fantastic. There are tons of cool extras added in here, but more about that after we've had a look at the records!

As a one time pressing of 500, the colours we're split to 100 and 400. So here we go: 100 black/white split.

Next up is black/400. Out of the two I stumbled upon this copy first, completely by accident with a cheap Buy It Now deal on eBay.

That was kind of short and sweet right? Now on to the fun stuff! This pressing stands out because so much actually changed here, making it a really desirable variant for anyone interested in this band. First off, although a little hard to notice on a photo, this particular pressing was a 10'' as opposed to a 12''. It also contained 4 bonus live tracks from their hometown venue Chain Reaction, placing 15 tracks onto a 10''. For you audiophile nerds out there, at best those 4 tracks add at best 6 minutes to an album that clocks in at under 20 minutes, so the pressing wasn't affected in any way and still sounds great. But hopefully you begin to see what I mean by going all out on this one!

Now, on to the design changes. As mentioned in my previous post, the album cover has been re-drawn a few times over the various pressings/issues of the album to accommodate the amount of space Nick had to play with. I caught up with him after one of their shows last year and asked him about it. He said that the original had two much detail in the rain, and on a 10'' cover as opposed to a 12'', the rain merged and look messy so it was re-drawn.

Here are some close up's of the two covers to show some comparisons. Here's the 10''

And here's the 12'' . The rain is the most notable difference here, but pay close attention to the cloud shape, the figure on the bike; there are quite a few big changes here. There's something that really gets me about the cover being re-drawn; again it really makes it worth it for anyone with a 12'' copy for closer comparison. And the extra tracks are great too. Really capturing the live sound of this band, and how mental a hometown audience can get!

There are another couple of differences here that I completely forgot to take pictures of. For example, the massively oversized sticker on the 10'' cover... The 12'' copies in the first two presses also had these stickered sleeves, but the sticker were a lot smaller. There's probably some inside joke about the smaller record needing a bigger sticker or something. By the 3rd press however the gatefolds were too thick and so didn't come in a poly sleeve, so the sticker was dropped.

Also, from the first two photos, you can see that the lyrics and thanks are printed on the inner sleeve as opposed to an insert. This looks really great as both sides are absolutely plastered with information. With both records only being in black or black/white, this also provides a cool continuity with the colour theme. It just works, and it looks awesome. I've probably missed another thing or two I forgot to photograph, like the inclusion of the Holy Roar logo on the back cover along with the 6131/ Collect logos. And the oversized outer sleeve, but how many photos can a guy take?

Either way, this variant is definitely worth hunting down if you're a fan of this LP, it makes a great comparison to the 12'' and the bonus tracks are killer. I'm still missing the t-shirt that came with this pre-order. If anyone has one and wants to hook a guy up, let me know!

One more post on this one, and then we can move on to some other cool other stuff!
Thanks for reading! Kane

I am marching to the beat... Part 3

In this entry I'm going to run through the 3rd, 4th and 5th pressings. From the 3rd press onwards, the design of the sleeve has stayed consistent, but there are quite a few changes between these presses and the two before them.

But first lets have a look at the vinyl shall we?

The 3rd press consists of one colour, solid white /750. From the 3rd press onwards too, the record is pressed on 180gram as opposed to the 150 gram vinyl of previous pressings. However as a downside, there is no longer any 'element' tie-in to the colour scheme of the records, ruined my fun.

The 4th press is remarkably similar to the 3rd press. It comes in cream /1000.

Yes, believe it or not these two are completely different pressings. You have to see them in person to really see any real difference, but it's cool I guess. I think the label had caught on to the similarity of the two and so added a IV to the centre label of the 4th press.

Next up is the 5th press, clear/ 1000. I was a little worried about this one, as I heard some stories about this press skipping loads and having cracks or splits in the record. Mine took a little longer to arrive this side of the pond, but I have no complaints about it, it arrived looking fine and plays perfectly. As a bonus, it looks really nice too!

The HUGE design change here, is that the record is now housed in a gatefold sleeve as opposed to the standard sleeves of previous pressings.

The gatefold is great though. The huge two sided poster was dropped in favour of a printed inner gatefold, housing all the lyrics and thank you's etc. making it a lot more convenient for first time listeners who want to follow the lyrics. I love the poster that came with earlier pressings, but it's never a bad idea to shake things up design wise to keep things interesting for people that own multiple copies. Again, everything was designed by Nick Steinhardt.

Another quirky little detail is that the cd sleeve follows this pattern. I know most people don't give a damn about cd's but I think anything Touche related is worth buying. Plus, the cover of the album was actually re-drawn for the cd. In fact, to my knowledge, the cover has been re-drawn 3 times to fit three different issues of the album. But more on that later!

Thanks for reading! Kane

I am marching to the beat... Part 2

Okay so by now we should all know how I feel about this album. Here's when things can get a little more interesting. The second press had a couple of small but significant design changes. Let's have a look!


 First up is 2nd press clear green (herb) /420; nothing too spectacular to see here, but it's a great colour and continues the 'elements' theme through the pressings.

Next up is 2nd press of light blue (rain) /500. This one gathers a bit of interest. Due to the varying amounts of white splatter in the mix; I've seen copies that are practically solid blue and others that contain heavy amounts of white. I think mine is a nice mid ground; that isn't to say I would say no to a drastically different variation! This could probably be my favourite variant of this record. I managed to score both of these from friend and cool collector named Dan Flanagan, who's since taken tons of my money. The guy has a complete Full of Hell collection that is pretty damn impressive, have a look at fleshin2gear.tumblr.com

Now to the possibly more interesting bits, the design changes between the two pressings! I get real into nerdy stuff like this, not even a little ashamed.

The printed dust sleeve here came with the first press. I thought this was super cool at the time because it was the first time I had seen a heavily printed sleeve. It just looked great alongside the black and white art and looked very DIY, I still get taken back whenever I look at it. Whilst spinning this LP I still look at it, digesting all the information and marvelling at that great live shot.

However, by the second press, stuff got changed up a little! The printed dust sleeves were scrapped in favour of this insert. Again, this interested me as the insert has been cut down to an odd size. The layout of the text and photos is a bit of a weird one too. But what gets me more is the amendment of the information across the two inserts:

 One thing that immediately stuck out in the first press insert was the fact that no drummer was listed with the band members, although it does credit Jeremy Zsupnik under 'drum tracking'. Jeremy performed drums on the demo 7'' and To the Beat... but by the time the LP came to press he was no longer with the band. However, by the second press insert, Elliot Babin was added with the rest of the band members and a full time member of TA. Jeremy Zsupnik is still credited under 'drum tracking' through all of the pressings. There is also some editing in the thank you's; the inclusion of Pianos Become the Teeth on the second press insert is one I remember off the top of my head

Another weird little extra is the cd's that came free with the first two pressings of the LP. Some are white, some are clear, but they seem randomly mixed in. Both pressings contain both colours of the cd and I'm kind of stumped about it, so if anyone has any answers let me know! And yes, that is a heartagram tattoo you see. Moving swiftly on... 

In the first two pressings, there was also a huge two-sided poster included with every copy of the LP (as far as I'm aware). The only copy I own that doesn't include a poster is the brown/300 1st press. Presumably the seller kept it. I can't complain. I have at least 6 of them all in the sleeves that most likely will never get used because I'm far too precious about stuff like this. Maybe one day I'll hang one in a nice frame to go with my Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me (TA's second LP) print.

Front

Back

I apologise that these pictures are a little off centre. It's hard taking a photo of a 24'' by 36'' poster when you're a short dude armed with only an iPhone. It's a shame that these are just tucked away in sleeves, they look incredible. I love the artwork, and the lyrics printed on the back is a great addition (although a little awkward to try and read due to the size of the poster). Again, all of the design work here was done by guitarist and design guy Nick Steinhardt under the company name of 23in. The dude comes up with some pretty incredible design work. You'll see plenty of it in this blog over time!

Anyway, that about covers the second pressing and comparisons. Don't worry herbs I haven't forgot about the tour versions of the first two pressings, I'm doing a post on all the tour/special editions and linking it all in (in my head it seems organised but we will see!). My next post will tackle out the third, fourth and fifth pressing of this LP as they're all single colour pressings. And yes I'll get nerdy and weird over the packaging. It will be real fun though I promise. Only another three posts on this album and I'll be done! Maybe I'll take a little break from TA posting then (not for long of course), I've bought some super cool records lately that I can't keep hidden away for much longer...

Thanks for reading! Kane