Rot in Hell - Ruined Empire 12"

This record is something I've been excited about for a long time now. After the compilation record, Hallways of the Always, was released the band has always mentioned releasing a part two. Packed with all the great tracks from RIH in the last few years, Ruined Empire is finally here on a glorious 12".

As is the norm with Organized Crime Records, the packaging is superb, with another great cover artwork by Give Up. This opens up to a gatefold jacket with a very detailed image of a stone tunnel. Sitting just inside the right side of the jacket is an insert with the now infamous "Four-R" band logo. The reverse side has the lyrics to every track, which only just about all fit on the one page.

This was actually released a few months ago, as part of OCR's contribution to record store day. A part of me thought I might miss out because of this, but luckily they decided to continue releasing this record to the public. The version released as part of RSD was limited (not sure to how many), and was on grey and black marbled vinyl. This time around, OCR decided to release a more limited verison on a grey and black smoke vinyl, which looks outstanding. Only 111 copies were produced all together, mine is #34.

Of course no record can really be that good if all the good points are in the packaging, it has to have some great tracks too. Luckily, this has it in bucket-loads. Granted there are no new tracks on here, but every single one is brilliant in my books. Containing the tracks from the split VVegas, Integrity, Moloch and Wayfarer, the No Peace/War compilation, The Studies in Emerald 7" and the ever elusive Úlfhéðinn 7", the record really packs a punch. In fact the tracks from Úlfhéðinn were of special importance to me on this one, they were the only two I do not own, or have even heard before.
I did have high hopes for these, which were easily met. "A Vicious Joy", is a classic hardcore RIH track that is is perfectly encapsulated by the name. "Nitsua Namso Eraps" is quite the opposite, a much more experimental track filled with noise samples and spoken words. It is actually quite the perfect bridge between the strikingly contrasted two sides of the record.

Much like they did with the first compilation album, a pre-release of a special edition set of all the records contained in the record was made. I was a tad too slow to get my hands on this, but maybe one day it will work it's way into my possession much like the first one did.