I miss Witch Cult pt. 2

I do love Witch Cult an awful lot. But this could possibly be one of the more pointless purchases I have ever acquired. Being completely honest I bought this because at the time I couldn't find the LP version, and wanted to buy a physical release. Yep, you guessed it:

The Witch Cult s/t Floppy Disk box set. Amps against Trend put this out some time after Holy Roar released the LP. It's kind of funny really because I was so enthusiastic about getting this, completely aware of the fact that I had no means of playing it. They could be blank, they could be corrupt, I don't know. But each one is hand-sprayed and each floppy disk contains a track. 

The disks are held in this funky little box and it sits on the shelf where my cassettes are held looking completely out of place. I do like the SCPV stencil at the top though, and you know, how else are you going to ship/store ten floppy disks? 

Inside are the obligatory free Witch Cult stickers. These things look cool, but in being super weird and anal about everything, they'll stay where they were put. They would only go on a drum case and get battered to the point of being illegible so it's for the best really. 

Finally the insert, which is all kinds of confusing as the writing is all over the place/ upside down. I only realised these were numbered when I was taking this photo, apparently I ended up with number 7/50. Should probably update my Deadformat with that really. Also, here you can see that the Floppy Disks form a track-listing according to how they're sprayed. 

Will this ever get played? Not even a little, I have the CD and LP so i'm not fucking about getting the old computer out of the attic to play these. Do I own more than one Floppy Disk release? Yup. Wouldn't let go of them either. Oh, pointless purchases.

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.