Ilsa - The Maggots Are Hungry 12"

After hearing their latest LP, "Intoxications", I've been hooked on Ilsa. They've been my new favourite band so I felt I should really try and get some more of the releases. Lucky for me the latest A389 bash saw the re-release of "The Maggots are Hungry" on 12" vinyl, Ilsa's first self-released CD-R. Originally released back in 2009, this album contains 7 tracks just surpassing the 30 minute mark. It may not be quite the masterpiece that Intoxications was, but is still a really great album. The vocals are incredibly vicious and all the elements that made the latest album so great shine through. Have a listen to the whole thing down below.

At the A389 bash this was the (or perhaps one of the) limited item up for sale. I'm not sure how many were for sale, but that version was on clear vinyl. I've just had a look and there are a few copies of this left over up for sale in the store now. My copy however is part of the mailorder version. 75 of these were produced on white vinyl, although mine is clearly more than just white. There is some sort of beige colour mixed into the vinyl in a ring, and there are even a few black patches whisked in there too. I'd be interested to see if any others have ended up like this.

Also included is a nice simple lyrics sheet with a picture of a cat/bat on the bottom. The back of the cover has the track listings in a shape of the outline of a coffin.

I also couldn't resist picking up a copy of Ilsa's next album, which was available through A389's distro section. I'll post about that one soon...

striVVe #4 Tape

I'm not even sure how long ago I got this now, I really should try to post about things sooner to when they arrive!

Anyway, this is (rather obviously) a cassette, released by striVVe recordings some time last year. It features 9 songs from the likes of Shade of Mankind, Thee High Priestess, Black Feud, Horders, Oede and RVeVV, broadcasting strikingly different spectras of heavy music.  

The tape is probably best described as baby blue, although it was most likely produced to match the blue fading over the top of the 4P artwork. It's certainly a nice touch though, much more interesting than a standard store bought cassette.

This particular tape is probably just about the most limited release I've got. Only a ridiculous 10 were produced, and mine was lucky number 5!

Extras, it almost doesn't seem right when I get something without extras anymore. Luckily, this has got it in bucket-loads. To start things off there is a massive cloth patch of the artwork on the tape. That's the one on the right, and on the left there is a cardboard print of the same image.

Next up is this zine. I'm not really into any religious things, and don't want to get into any kind of debate here about the pros/cons, but it's definitely an interesting booklet. There are a few interviews, one of which is with Hans of Liar fame. At this point he was the replacement vocalist for Rot in Hell before for whatever reason things didn't work out and Lecky stepped up.

For a small time label, striVVe definitely put out some interesting things, all with great packaging. They are definitely worth checking out

Gehenna / Apartment 213 split 7"

This split had been sitting on my wanted list for quite a while now. I actually got it ages ago and just kinda forgot to write a post about it, but here it is now.

As it seems to usually go, I was really only interested in the one side of the split. If you've seen some of my previous posts you should be able to figure out which one this is. It's not because I disliked Apartment 213, it's really just out of shear ignorance for this band. I feel stupid not finding apartment 213 earlier, they play three great powerviolence tracks on this split. Gehenna play two songs, which feature on "The War of the Sons of Light and the Suns of Darkness". It is quite interesting to hear how the band has developed over the last ~20 years, their sound has become considerably different since these early days.

There are heaps of different versions of this record, I think with different artworks and different ink colours on the inserts. From what I've seen there are two artwork variants out there; the one I have and one with seven-headed serpents. In my opinion this one looks far superior, the scythes look incredibly sinister while the serpents look a bit amateur.

From what I gather it is this insert that signifies the variation in the versions. My copy has red ink on the Apartment 213 side and blue ink on the Gehenna side. It'd be nice to know what sort of pressing information is associated with this, but information on the internet seems to be a bit spotty at best.

The inserts themselves are rather interesting. The gehenna side has a picture of the writing just beneath it; a high priest holding a beating heart as part of sacrifice. At first I thought this would be Mayan, but it is mentioned the sacrifice is to Kali, which must be Hindu related instead. On the red we also have a quote from Henry Lee Lucas. That's definitely more intriguing than purely a lyrics sheet.

Integrity - In Contrast of Sin 7" again (and again (and again))

Most people who have looked at my site are probably also familiar with the superior site; Records With History and Future. I've been a fan of the site for a while now, and it was part of what got me started with this whole blogging thang. Anyway, recently I received an email from Willem from RWHAF saying he'd seen my post about Integrity's ICOS. He also kindly asked if I'd be interested in acquiring a few more of the versions of this infamous record. His offer was really quite generous too, so I couldn't really resist.

In total I now have another three versions to add to my record collection. The first is the clear blue version belonging to the first pressing of the OCR re-press, limited to 1,035 (so not really limited). This isn't all that different to the first one I got, so I won't go into detail about it.

The second belongs to the same 1st press as above, but this is a bit more special.  Although inside it remains the same as the other OCR versions, this comes with an awesome additional cover, designed by Stephen Kasner. It appears to be a re-design of the witch from the original artwork.

This version is clear with black swirls, limited to 320 copies (although it seems to say 300 here). Mine is towards the end of the pack, being number 278.

Lastly is a copy of the first repress (it's a bit confusing I know). Of course the initial record came out on Victory records, but this version was released by Dwid's own Dark Empire records all the way back in 1993. The artwork is completely different to the other versions, and is probably my favourite version of the four I have. The back of the cover has some cool band photos in action too.

And here are all my versions next to each other. It's ridiculously far from being complete, there seems to be hundreds of versions lurking out there. I even saw a copy of an extremely limited early version with an interesting cover sell for something like $800 the other week! But thanks Willem for this generous offer.

Pulling Teeth - Witches Sabbath III 7"

A while ago I realised I had said I'd set out to get all the Pulling Teeth Witches Sabbath series. It doesn't seem that long, but that was four months ago and I hadn't made much more of an effort since then. Well I decided to change that and hit up Discogs for another of the series. Much to my luck, number III was up for sale for quite a low price. 

There really isn't a lot to say about this record. Much like the rest, it's a single track reverse grooved onto a one-sided 7" record. Also like the others it is limited to 300 copies, but this was sold during the band's 2008 European tour. This time around the band cover "Alan's on Fire" by Poison Idea. As per usual it's a great wee cover, but would you really expect otherwise from a band of this calibre?
One thing of interest is this is the only one I have so far to have a small record hole, instead of the annoying large hole that requires an adapter.

So that is half way there now, although this is probably the easier half really. I did also pick up number V which I shall post about soon.

Integrity 2000 12"

Integrity 2000, the time most a lot of Integrity fans seem to easily "forget" about. Before this album was the might "Seasons in the Size of Days", which everyone loves to pieces. But this album sees the band live through a line-up change and takes quite a different musical approach. At some points it seems as if it may start reigning blood, but the basic Integrity elements are still lurking in there somewhere. 

 Perhaps to go along with the change in musical direction, the artwork seems totally different to other Integ artwork up to this point. It's a man sitting in a chair with a completely blurred face. No I don't understand it either. I don't even wanna get started on the back.

This was an unopened, sealed copy, so came along with the original insert in perfect condition. On the front is an unusual version of the classic Integrity skull. It's a more realistic looking picture than the usual cartoon, with eyes full of total despair. On the back is a picture of the group at the recording studio.

Although this isn't the most loved album, I'd been wanting it for a while, even if only to have a copy of every Integrity album. A seller on Ebay came to my rescue and had a copy with a fairly low buy now price. I got it thinking it'd probably just be a regular black pressing, but when I opened it a lovely grey marbled record came out. According to someone of deadformat, this is limited to 512 items. I haven't the faintest idea how reliable this is, but I'll go with it. A purple version also exists out there, limited to 309 copies.

 It may not be the best they've put out, but it's still Integrity so it's important to have. Although I must say I'm glad this style didn't hang around too long...