Best of 2013

Before I start I'd just like to note that this site now also has a Facebook page so you can stay up to date and all that jazz. Feel free to jump over to it with the button on the right hand side.

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.

Kromosom - Nuclear Reich 12"

My blogging output has really been quite low this month, so I decided to get right into my next post. And what better way to do that than with the latest 12" from Kromosom!

This really came out of nowhere for me. Even though I don't really enjoy the experience of Facebook I find myself going back on it more than I would really like. In this instance it turned out to be rather beneficial though. After some mindless scrolling I saw a post from Kromosom announcing their new 12" would be released in the near future on Distort Reality. I hadn't heard of them but after a quick search I was able to find their online store. Of course I placed an order as soon as I could, and it arrived safe and sound (along with another goodie that I will post about soon) really very quickly.

Two versions were available to buy; the regular and limited version. I had no idea what was different about the limited version, but assumed it was a colour variant. Of course I was right, but after looking on discogs to see if their was information about the pressing I saw the limited version is stated to be on marbled orange vinyl. I don't know about you, but mine is clearly quite yellow with a hint of red and green marbled in there.

The artwork isn't quite as good as on 8 tracks, but certainly does carry that DIY cut and pasted charm. Inside the cover is two inserts, one containing the traditional ever so limited lyrics to all eight songs that has a band photo on the back. The other is a poster from their Nuclear Reich tour.

Musically, this is my favourite work from the band since their demo tape. The whole thing might only just last past the 13 minute mark, but it is seriously amazing. The whole LP is ridiculously fast and leaves you feeling like you've had a shot of adrenaline right to the brain.
For a preview, of sorts, watch the video below.


I've also just found out that the whole thing is online as well!
Enjoy

KRÖMOSOM - Paranoid 7" UPDATED

As promised, here is the latest release by Australia's KRÖMOSOM, paranoid. This is the first proper 7" EP released by the band, and their latest new material since the split with Isterismo. This time around they bring four completely new tracks of their patented style of furiously fast hardcore punk, although I must say the material seems to have a darker element than previous work. One thing that certainly hasn't changed is pure rawness you hear in their songs. You've just got to love it.

Much like the other Holy Terror 7" I recently wrote about, this too is the pre-order version on red vinyl, limited to 200. At least two other colour variants are out there, green and orange but I'm not entirely sure how those are available, possibly through the band on tour. And no I'm not sure if the traffic light theme was intentional or not.

The centre labels are nothing fancy, but then again, KRÖMOSOM is not exactly synonymous with fancy are they? Then again, that artwork may just be the exception to that rule. Compared with previous efforts, this is certainly a lot more detailed. It also highlights the darker sound I mentioned earlier. 

The rear of the cover is rather busy. It has a cool picture of the band members, mixed in with tons of writing, both Japanese and English. I did learn Japanese for a while, although was never proficient enough to decipher what is being said here.

The whole EP is up streaming on the Holy Terror bandcamp page, and is available digitally for just 50c, please show your support if you aren't going to but the vinyl. There isn't really much more for me to say about this. Perhaps keeping with KRÖMOSOM's short style, I'll leave it at that. 

As an update I thought I'd share this. I recently saw they had new shirts up on their Facebook page, so decided to try and grab one. I emailed Yeap who was more than helpful in ordering one. It literally arrived about two days after purchasing it, great right? Plus it's an awesome shirt design too.

Kromosom - Demo Tape

Here we have something which I've been trying to track down for months. There have been a few copies going on Ebay, but they usually went for more than I was willing to pay for them. Then I had the chance to buy from a private seller, but I find making an offer awkward, I never know how much to offer. Anyway, this copy went up on Ebay and I won it for pretty cheap.

This is the original demo tape by Australian punk outfit Kromosom. These were released on Hardcore Victim and sold out very quickly. I can see why, this demo is fantastic. I might even go as far as saying some of the songs sound better than they do on their 8 tracks LP. Lasting just over 11 minutes, this isn't the longest release in the world, but who cares about that? 

The artwork is pretty plain here, just the band logo. That does kinda fit with the band though; no frills, just straight to the point. That is one cool looking logo anyway.

On the inside of the insert we have the lyrics. There really aren't a lot of them in this release. But that is the beauty of Kromosom, they manage to get across so much with saying so little.

The word is these guys will be releasing a new 7" on Holy Terror records pretty soon. Be sure to keep an eye out for that one.

Kromosom / Isterismo split 7"

I found out about this record completely by chance. At this point I already had Kromosom's first LP "8 Tracks", and was keen for some more music by this band. Apart from the demo I wasn't able to find anything for a while. I happened to go onto Cyclone records  for something and I saw they were selling a new split featuring Kromosom. I didn't know if they would be carrying many copies, or where else to but this from so I ordered one pretty quickly. 

For one reason or another, I assumed this split was a live recording of Kromosom and Isterismo on a recent Japan tour. An anonymous individual tipped me off in the comments section that I was wrong, and indeed I was. The Kromosom side is awesome, I would have loved to go to one of these shows and experience the speed of Kromosom in real life. At the time of hearing this I knew nothing of Isterismo. They are in similar vain to Kromosom, playing very noisy punk. Their side is OK, perhaps I just need to give it more of a listen.

The artwork looks pretty cool on this record. I'm not entirely sure what it is exactly meant to be, but it really gives off the DIY charm.

Inside the cover, the bands give lyrics to their songs in English and Japanese. I love how simple, yet effective the lyrics of Kromosom are. They get a point across in such little words.

The vinyl is on plain black, and I don't think there are any versions but this. The centre labels just show the respective band names. 

A great insert was also included with this record. It is a decent size poster from the Japan tour!

Kromosom - 8 Tracks 12"

Here we have the debut LP from Kromosom, a band across the Tasman. I get a bit sick of genres, but I guess this is best described as noise punk. Whatever you call it, its awesome as. Since hearing their demo tape (which I do have a copy of now) I was keen to track down their LP.


This is the first press, which apparently the band rushed to produce to be ready for their tour and so is not quite mixed as well as they wanted it to be. They have the newly mixed versions of their songs on their facebook page, it is worth checking them out.

The record contains most of the songs released on the demo tape. They have all been re-recorded due to line-up changes since the demo's release.

I really love the artwork of this record. Too bad I couldn't get the pink version of the vinyl, it would have matched the cover nicely.