Best of 2013

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The year is very quickly wrapping up, and thus it is the time that everyone starts putting up their best albums of the year. I did do this last year, so thought I would keep up the tradition once more.
It has been a great year with lots of stellar releases, but these are what have stood out for me. Bare in mind that these were not all necessarily released this year, they have just been featured on the blog sometime in 2013.

Best Cassette Tape

I have been picking up a few tapes here and there again this year. A few honourable mentions include Rot in Hell's demo tape and the three tape Negromancy set, but my favourite above all is "Fonograms of Violence and Terror" by Brazil's Shade of Mankind.

The release was handled by Stirvve Recordings, so was of course top notch. The whole thing came inside a biohazard bag and came with badges, a massive poster and all kinds of other goodies. The tracks are also brutal as hell, with an incredibly wicked Integrity cover. 

These guys are on the cusp of releasing a new LP, check out the released tracks so far right here.

 

Best 7" EP

Last year this category was the toughest, because I definitely get more 7"s than anything else. There were still a lot to choose from this year, but there was one that stood out so far beyond everything else that the choice was actually quite easy. This was of course Studies in Emerald by Rot in Hell.

The tracks were actually released a while ago, on two separate CDs, but this year saw the band release them on 7" vinyl. RIH have always been known for their incredible packaging, but they really stepped up their game with this release. First of the vinyl had a transparent x-ray image of a fly which looked utterly fantastic. There was also a book, an x-ray insert (that appears to be different for every one of the 30 or so that were produced), stickers, a stencil which was all put together in a green hard slip-case. It just blew me away.
Funnily enough Studies in Emerald appeared on my list last year as well, it must show how great the tracks and the band really are.

Best split 7"

This is an other category that was relatively easy to choose as well. Of all the splits I acquired this year, I think I was most excited and pleased with the Cape of Bats and AVM split released around September. Ever since I heard the split AVM did with Integrity I have been trying to find more about this obscure band, desperately trying to find any more tracks. When I heard news of this split I was more than ecstatic and ordered it as soon as it was available.

I still listen to Devil's Last Dance much more than most other tracks in my library, I really just can't get enough. I'm hoping 2014 will see the group release even more..

Best 12" LP

Finally, we have my favourite 12" LP. This has to go to Kromosom's Nuclear Reich. For a release that went by relatively unheard of, this thing is fantastic. With this release they seemed to shake of the slightly darker tone to the music released on Holy Terror records and get back to the rawness from their original demo.

The energy captured in this recording is incredibly immense, I'm surprised the recording equipment was able to handle it all, just amazing.

That wraps up 2013. I must confess that things have slowed down here a bit in the last few months, but hopefully the new year can see it pick up a bit of steam once again. See you in 2014.

Shade of Mankind - Fonograms of Terror and Violence Tape

Shade of Mankind first caught my attention a while back with a couple of demos and the EP "Songs Thou Shall Worship", which features six really great cover tracks. They then released the track "Retribution" on the striVVe IV tape I recently posted about which also caught my attention. It was only natural then that I seek out some more of their releases. My search ended up back at striVVe recordings who have just released a series of SOM demos as Fonograms of Terror and Violence.

Again this is a super limited tape, but the packaging has really been stepped up this time. As you've probably guessed, the whole package has been shipped inside a yellow biohazard waste disposal bag. It's quite fitting really, the bag contains nothing but pure filth. The good kind of filth though. I'm lucky this didn't arouse any suspicion coming through customs.

The tape comes packaged with some skull artwork, and as per usual with this label, is limited to a mere 10 copies! In a way it is neat that I am one of only 10 people who will own a copy of this music, but it is a shame that more people won't get to hear it. I mentioned above the previous musical efforts by this band, but this tape blows all that out of the water. They've taken what they had from those releases and cranked the brutality level up 1000%. There are two highlights for me, the first of which is a brand new version of "Retribution", which sounds so much brutal and nastier than it did last time. The second is a terrifyingly twisted rendition of Integrity's now classic "Judgement Day", that is almost unrecognisable in some parts, but it's really great. Some of the recording is up online, and you can kind of piece most of it together from the band and label bandcamp pages, I'll embed down below for ease.

Also inside the biohazard bag is a set of three pins. They'll go straight into my bag of pins etc., but it's great to get something extra along with the music.

But of course that's not all folks. There is also an A3 print of some Shade of Mankind artwork that has the negative of the image on the back, as well as some other stuff from other bands on striVVe recordings.

Lastly, I also received a free bonus CD, along with a note thanking em for my purchase. The CD contains some more work from rVeVV, as part of striVVe recordings #2 tape. This is exactly the kind of music I'd come to expect from rVeVV at this point; slow and droning, but full of atmosphere. rVeVV has a unique way of completely altering my mood every time I listen, and I just love it.

Overall it's a great release, I truly appreciate the originality and effort gone into it.

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