Gehenna - Funeral Embrace 7"

It took a wee while for me to get this record, but I finally have some brand new Gehenna in my hands! And it was definitely worth the wait, it has been round my turntable many times already and it really just destroys anything else out there.

To me it is really quite a change in direction for the band. The split with Blind to Faith back in 2010 saw Gehenna start down a path of psychoactive inspired tracks that have progressively gotten heavier and slower over the years. The split with Integrity 2 years ago brought us Amphetamine Psychosis which literally took us through a meth trip, and The Truth (released as part of a mixtape) was the band's most so slow that it almost hurt. An incredibly limited lathe cut 7" was released last year that did hint at a change from this direction. But this new 7" has cemented that change with what is quite possibly the fastest and thrashiest set of recordings ever released by Gehenna.

Amphetamine Psychosis starts out the record, but sounds entirely different from the Integ split. The vocals sound in less psychological torment, but severely more vicious instead. The distinctive riff from the end of that track is again featured, but only lasts ~15 seconds, rather than 2 minutes. It is then straight into "Into the Grave". This track is wickedly fast and features the same vicious vocal set, accompanied by a quick guitar solo in the middle.
After about a second break, we are launched back into "Serve the Cult". This starts with the most blistering guitar solo and doesn't stop for a single breath the entire time.
The aforementioned lathe cut then lends a track, which has now been re-branded as Savage II. Here the blasting drums don't stop the assault on your ear drums, and the vocals have been distorted in a way that perfectly encapsulates the track title.
Things then finish off with "Funeral Embrace", which once again doesn't hold back in the slightest either.
The whole thing gets you so full of energy that the only thing to do is to put it on again (and again, and again).

After Rot in Hell's Ruined Empire, this is the second release of the revived Dark Empire label, now run by Dwid's son. Several versions of this were released; a clear and black striped, a yellow, a green and a black. All of the fancy coloured versions were out of 100 copies, and the black/clear combo came with an additional poster. Mine is just the standard black version, which came from the HT store rather than Dark Empire.

The packaging is just as wicked as the tracks on the vinyl. Right at the top is the cover artwork, which is looks incredibly raw and vicious. When that is opened up we have the lyrics to all the songs, definitely a good read. Quite surprisingly for a Gehenna record, the vinyl itself has centre labels and some matrix etchings. Usually we are just dealt a very basic record with no trimmings.

Gehenna - Land of Sodom 7"

About two years ago, A389 did a re-release of this record that came with a CD copy of "Upon the Gravehill". Back in 2008, a small label called Hit the Deck records released the initial version, and from what I've been able to see online, it looks like very few copies of this record every made it into the hands of those who purchased it. I tried looking for the label online, and was only to come across this (somehow I don't think that is the one....).

I have no idea what happened there, but I have been trying to track down a copy for a while. Every time I checked the net there seemed to be copies available, but for reasonably high prices. With the alleged rarity of the copies available, I felt this was probably going to be a record out of my collection for some time. Fortunately, a couple of weeks ago I felt like having another look and a member on Discogs happened to be selling a copy for a much more reasonable price. From time to time a price that is too good to be true is not a good sign, but this turned up in near mint condition!

 The cover artwork on this is the same red tinted wasteland as seen on the re-release, although this original has the band logo and "Land of Sodom" printed on the front.
As with other gehenna records, the physical vinyl is incredibly plain. There is no centre label and no etchings besides the standard ones issues by the pressing plant. I do like this about gehenna records, it is just their like music; straight up and without frills.

 The same four tracks are here as were on the reprint, although they do sound quite different. A389 labelled the reissue as a "few improvements" to the recordings, but I personally think the vocals have ended up sounding quite different. Although perhaps it is not yet safe to mention gehenna and A389 in the same sentence....

Gehenna - The Birth of Vengeance 7"

Among other things, I have been trying to get hold of the earlier Gehenna releases for a while now. The opportunity to acquire this record has appeared a few times, but it had seemed to be either too expensive or at times when there were other things I just had to buy. A few weeks ago however, I was able to pick up my own copy from a seller on Discogs (I think) for a reasonable price.

Released all the way back in 1996, this marks Gehenna's second vinyl release, after their split with Apartment 213. It contains five tracks, that are really just as Brutal today as they were 17 years ago. Any of you that have "The War Of The Sons Of Light and The Suns Of Darkness" will have already heard the tracks, as every one made it's way onto that compilation 12".

As what seems the norm with Gehenna releases, the record itself is very plain. Just plain black with no labels. Although I have a feeling there is another version out there with white labels. What I know for sure is the existence of a version with different artwork. Instead of the shot of buildings, there is a picture of a snake (as can be seen here). Included with the record is a printed lyrics sheet.

I thought I would scan a nice high-resolution image of the artwork, as I wasn't able to find such a one on the internet to make my iTunes complete. When I was doing so I noticed a rather faint image on the back of the artwork card. It is mostly red, but I could definitely make out an image very similar to the artwork present on Pulling Teeth's Witches Sabbath series.

A quick scan and some dodgy image manipulation later, and I was correct. It is the same work as number V in the Witches Sabbath series. Of course the art itself comes from Compendium Maleficarum by Francesco Maria Guazzo. 

Gehenna - East Coast Tour 7"

Back in 2012 The Infamous Gehenna performed an tour of the east coast of the USA, and as part of that tour released a new 7". I didn't have a hope in hell of getting one at one of the shows, but thanks to the magic of the internet I now have my very own copy. 

While this is technically a new 7", it is really more of a compilation record than a new EP. It combines the tracks from the splits with Blind to Faith and California Love onto the one record. The difference between the two sides highlight the contrast in Gehenna's work. "Get Fucked Up" is much more like their earlier material, whereas "Disciple In My Own Image" and "Lord of The Witch" from the split with BTF is the first glimpse at the more psychotropic tracks of the later Gehenna. All three tracks are just great though.

This is limited to just 125 copies, which are thankfully all hand-numbered. Mine is almost in the very middle of the lot, number 72.

The record itself is very plain; black wax with no centre labels. However, it does bear one more subtle similarity to the aforementioned splits. Interestingly the matrix etchings on either side are exactly the same as in the two splits, as if this record represents an entire duplication of those 7"s.

In case you haven't heard these tracks, here they all are thanks to the band's bandcamp page.  

Gehenna have since released an even more limited 7" that has some new tracks, "They Begged For War". This is available to stream also. If only I were able to get a copy of this too. 

Gehenna - Self Titled 7"

As promised, here is the bonus 7" that came along with the magnificent repress of Gehenna's debut album. Simply entitled "Gehenna", the whole thing is pretty simple but of course was definitely worth picking up.

The record is clear red with black swirls, although mine really has a minimum of black in there. On the one side is same skull we've seen before, which links this nicely to the album.

This was pressed in a limited quantity of 300, along with the white version of the 12". I guess that means the white version of that album is also limited to 300 copies, but perhaps there are some versions of that intended for sale without this nice bonus. Mine is right towards the end of the 300 copies, #294. Whether this means I was comparatively late in ordering I'm not sure. I'd have hated to be a tad later and miss out entirely.

Three tracks are included on this record, two of which are from a compilation called "Definitely Not the Majors", with the other being an unreleased versions of a track we've seen before. Why I haven't heard these versions until now astonishes me, they are ridiculously awesome. "Covet" has never sounded as brutal as it has on this record, it seems to just want to desperately explode out of my speakers and destroy everything it resonates against. It also features a different version of the GG cover "Bite It". I think I mentioned this was replaced on the 12" repress by DRI's "Yes Ma'am", but I suppose you could say it is still really part of the record. This is a bit slower than the one on the original record, and such is about 30 seconds longer. Of course it's still a great cover though.

I was skeptical about this release being available to stream online, what with the limited copies and all. But no, the whole 7" is available to listen to via A389's bandcamp (and just below)! You don't have the option to buy digital downloads sadly, but that is really up to the band to decide anyway. ENJOY.

Gehenna - Negotium Perambulans in Tenebris 12" Repress

A389 has recently released a re-pressed version of Gehenna's classic first LP; Negotium Perambulans in Tenebris. I have already posted about an original copy here, but I thought I'd take the time to run through the differences between the two versions, there are actually quite a few.
First and foremost, the artwork. The album was originally released as a CD in 2000. When this was released as on vinyl however, the artwork was pretty much dropped in favour of a plain black cover with a raised Gehenna logo on the top. Thankfully this repress has gone back to the original artwork, which is far superior in my opinion.

The next important difference pertains to the entire sleeve. Whereas the original pressing was in a pretty standard sleeve, the new version has a somewhat more deluxe gatefold sleeve. 

The rear cover has got the least modification across the entire package. The same skull picture remains, the track listings have moved from the left to the bottom and have acquired the now standard gehenna font.

However, if you pay close attention you may spot one big difference on this side though. The original press ends with a GG Allin cover; "Bite it You Scum". This time however, the record ends with DRI's "Yes Ma'am", from the flexi they released a while ago. 

The actual record has received some upgrades this time as well. The first pressing was really quite simple, plain black vinyl with plain labels. Thanks to A389 this now comes in three colour variants; red, black and white (which came with something else special...). The centre labels are now fully equipped with the new A389 logo on one side and the skull from the rear cover on the other.

There is also a rather large difference with what comes inside the sleeve. Originally there was an insert with the original artwork. On the back this had the lyrics and usual words yo expect to see on a gehenna record. The repress has managed to top this once again with a nice 18" x 18" poster of the artwork.

As an extra extra bonus, I also received a copy of the latest Midnight Mass (#2). While technically not specifically included with this record, it does contain an interview with Gehenna so I'm gonna go ahead and talk about it anyway.

It may not be anywhere near as professional looking as the initial issue, but it is still a great little zine with some cool interviews. Evan from Total War conducted an especially interesting interview with Gehenna that finally sheds some light on the mysterious Fog Spectre! I've been trying to find some information about this band for ages as well so it's great to finally have some (if only a little).

What also didn't happen 13 years ago with the original version, was the complete album being available to stream for free. Some things have changed a lot since then, and hopefully we'll see more record labels following the example lead by the almighty A389.

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.

Cult of The Seven Crowns Mixtape I - Land of Screwdom

When I first heard (or perhaps read is more appropriate) this tape was going to be released, I was keen to pick up a copy a.s.a.p. Surely enough I ordered one as soon as I could, and it arrived rather promptly. Now I knew the sort of songs I'd be expecting to hear when I first played the tape. In this way the tape wasn't a surprise, but in another way I haven't been more surprised by a release in a long time. When I first played it recognised a beat coming from Mobb Deep, although something was different about it. It seemed painfully slow and distorted but soon enough the signature Gehenna-style madness flooded the speakers.

And that's what the whole tape is like really, it's great. It's an interesting take on the usual metallic hardcore, I'm not sure of another mixtape in this style that has taken this approach. But it certainly makes some of the tracks sound particularly menacing. To get a taste of what I mean perhaps try loading up Audacity and messing around with 83%. If you slow it down from 45 to 33 rpm you may just get an appreciation of what I mean.

As you can see we've quite a diverse range of tracks on this tape; ranging from Gehenna and Sangraal to The Discreet Doll Band and Fog Spectre. It certainly makes for an interesting mix of 'genres'.

Only a mere 100 of these tapes have been released in a joint effort between Idonuem Bello and Fuck Yoga, with mine being lucky number 72. It seems these are now all sold out, so if you're keen for some COT7C action you'll have to hit up Ebay in the hope some foolish person is willing to let go of their precious copy.

One of the more interesting tracks on the tape was the very last one, 'Fog Mistress' by Fog Specter. I've heard nothing of this band before, and can't seem to find much information on the internet apart from a rumoured 7". Even Evan (who has written a great review of this tape himself) didn't have any more information than that which was surprising. If anyone else can enlighten me on this band I'd greatly appreciate it.

Integrity / Gehenna 7" split

The stuff I haven't posted about seems to be piling up a bit lately. I usually try and write my posts in the order I receive them, but sometimes things just take a higher priority than others. Of course this is an example of that, I'm just too excited about this record to not write about it straight away. Anyone who has read my blog knows of my love for both of these bands (To be honest, I sometimes feel I talk about Integrity so much that this is basically an Integ worship site). So for them to come together and collaborate on a split is just about the best thing I can imagine, and of course it doesn't disappoint at all.

A wee while, HT records put up an ad for their releases on their Facebook page. On the bottom left-hand corner is a rather different artwork for this split. While I think that one would have been cool as the artwork, I suppose this one is more fitting with the theme of the music.

 This split consists of three tracks; two from Gehenna and one from Integrity, all of which are gold. Gehenna starts things off with "A Parallel Hell", which starts agonizingly slow as it builds up to a state of Gehenna-infused madness. The whole only lasts just under 1:30, which then makes way for "Amphetamine Psychosis". This is reminiscent of the psychedelic train ride present in the split with Blind to Faith, and ends with the slow riff from the beginning of the first track.
If this side of the split hasn't left you in a catatonic state, you can then turn it over to hear the latest offering from the almighty Integrity. "I Know VVhere Everybody Lives" again starts out very slow, in fact it always reminds me of the beginning of "Before The VVorld VVas Young" from The Blackest Curse. The slower pace is kept for a while, but it doesn't take long for the track to burst open with the blistering speed Integrity manages so well.
For a more in-depth review of the tracks, check out this great post be Evan at Total War.

 In total, five different versions of this have been pressed. The version I managed to get my hands on was the pre-order version, limited to 200 on pink vinyl which is now sold out. I don't know about the other versions, but the pink comes with colourful flower patterns on the centre labels. There are also band versions (clear for Gehenna and black for Integrity) that have 100 copies each. If you were lucky enough to witness the European tour (or have someone you know go, like this lucky individual, or this one) you would have been able to pick up a copy of the green version, with just 100 copies as well. But if all that has failed, there is always the regular distro version on blue. This is still available to buy from the new and improved HT vvebstore.

 Inside the front cover we have some more artwork and the lyrics to all three songs. It took me a while to figure out just what was going on in this picture, I think I'll let you have the same fun trying to guess what it is.

 What's more is this completes part of a puzzle in splits between various metallic hardcore bands. I'll try and figure out a good way to photo exactly what I mean soon...

Midnight Mass / I Know VVhere Everyone Lives

I'm going to do something different here. Instead of talking about my latest music pickups, I'll be talking about a magazine. It's okay though, it's still a music magazine, A389's music magazine in fact. That's right, for those who don't know, A389 has recently released their debut magazine entitled Midnight Mass. I'm not gonna be providing every page here, you can order one of the many awesome A389 releases and if you're lucky, you'll get one for yourself. 

On the front cover is some amazing artwork from the rather talented Brianvdp. 

On the first page we are greeted to a heart warming photo of Dom and his child, with words thanking the reader for keeping all this alive. I find is somewhat ironic that he thanks us, when really we should be thanking him for all he has done for this community. Hell, most of this blog wouldn't exist if it weren't for all A389 has done.

The first article in this magazine is an interview with Countdown to Oblivion. I can't say I'm terribly familiar with the band, although it was still an interesting read. In fact for those interested, the interview is up on cvltnation to read, as well as a stream of the band's discography.

Next up is a collage of live photos from the latest A389 bash. There was literally a plethora of bands playing at this event, and the photos just make it look fantastic. I truly wish I could have been there to witness it all. That'd require some serious travelling though sadly.

It seems A389 has been ridiculously busy as of late. Not only have they put out this printed material (on top of their busy release schedule), but they recently released a 52 track digital mixtape all for free. This magazine contains the official companion to this mixtape. As I mentioned in my post about it, there were a few curly tracks on the mixtape, so it's great to definitely know what they all are and where they all come from.

On the left-hand side of the page is an advertisement for the infamous Holy Terror records, showing off their current releases. If you look closely you can see two yet-to-be-released records, namely a new 7" by Broken Cross, and an Integrity split with Gehenna. Broken Cross released a new song for the mixtape curated by Oede, and if that is anything to go by, this 7" will be amazing. Integrity has also released the song from their Gehenna split, and is available to buy from their bandcamp page. Of course this song is great, so I'll embed it at the bottom for you. Oh, and if you've slept on this, I'm sorry to inform that the pre-order has already sold out. I have a feeling it just took two days, but not all is lost. Yours truly is awaiting a copy so I'll write about it when it arrives.
Anway, back to the magazine. The subsequent few pages contain an interview with Integrity discussing David Araca and Integrity in the 90's. Seeing how big this band has become,I'm sure most people would be interested to read this.

Next up is another interview, this time with Szymon Siech, a creative artist behind several prominent releases. I was actually unaware one guy was behind the artwork for the releases you can see below, but now I can definitely see a link between these artwork pieces. He mentions how collage techniques are his favourite, and they certainly turn out great.

And there we have it, the end of Midnight Mass vol. 1. It's not exactly the longest magazine in the world, but I certainly believe in quality over quantity. And quality is something this has in bucket-loads.