Children of God - Coup De Grace 7"

When I was ordering Ilsa and Nothing's latest releases from A389, I decided to have a quick look at the distro items for sale. Sometimes a couple of rare gems pop up that catch my eye, which is exactly what happened with this. I'd actually tried to get it before, possibly when I ordered their split with SSOS. For whatever reason I waited too long to order it and these were no longer for sale. I guess some more copies turned up or something.

The packaging is pretty cool on this one. The record comes in a DIY screen printed cardboard sleeve. Sadly I had a bit of trouble opening mine (as you no doubt have noticed below) and it is now slightly torn, no matter really I suppose. From opening it it turns out this is actually an old fedex package. It's great to see how well it has been reused, you'd never be able to tell from the front, it's professional as.

Released in 2011, this is COG's first EP, containing the below five tracks that don't collectively span to more than six minutes. Although it doesn't last particularly long, each song is full of the fantasticpowerviolence/hardcore monster that is synonymous with the band. It's definitely the rawest thing I've heard from the band thus far and is actually quite a stark contrast from the direction the band seems to be taking these days. This is pure human rage

Once I'd managed to open the cardboard sleeve I could release the record inside. It's on plain black vinyl, which to my knowledge is the only variant lurking out there. The centre labels are the inverse of each other, and most likely relate to the sleeve artwork.

But of course that's not it. Alongside this record was some of the good old A389 hospitality you've grown to love. Two stickers were included, one of which is the new pentagram logo. Next to these is a flyer for the amazing bash (that's just been and sounded awesome) and their latest sampler.

The entire EP is available to listen online for free courtesy of the band's bandcamp page.
Also, if you are a fan or even just interested in the band they have just released a brand new song. Treat yourself to that as well. I'm also pretty sure their new album will be seeing the light of day soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

Bad Brains - Into The Future 12"

The Bad Brains, everyone's favourite rasta punks  I'm sure nobody would disagree with the massive impact this band has had on music over the last thirty years. Granted some of their stuff in the 90's was really quite lackluster, but the music from their early years still surpasses 99% of the music out there today. In the late 2000's they came back with "Build a Nation" and late last year continued in a similar path with this, "Into the Future". It may not be in the same league as their self titled album, but it's still great to see the Bad Brains putting out some quality stuff after over 30 years since their beginnings.

This album has been released as a 12" LP in a glorious gatefold cover. The artwork obviously features the lion of judah, with the classic lightning bolt striking just behind him. The whole thing incorporates the three classic rasta colours and just looks really great, it may be my favourite Bad Brains artwork to date. The back has a cool photo of the band and the track listings. 

The version of the record I've got is clear with splatter, which has been done really well. Again red, green and yellow have been used for obvious reasons. I'm sure this was some kind of limited version, but I just can't seem to remember how many it was limited to.

Inside the cover are more photos of the band and information about the recording and such. On the left is the same photo as on the back, which seems a bit pointless to me, but at least the right hand side has something new.

As a nice little extra I also received a badge featuring the classic album artwork and a sticker with "Build a Nation"s artwork. When ordering I thought I may as well pick up a Bad Brains T-shirt while I'm at it. I mean how can you really go on not having one of these shirts?