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.

Rot in Hell / Wayfarer split 7" - 2.0

Back in 2010, Rot in Hell released an amazing split 7" with another UK band, Wayfarer. I have already picked up a copy of the more standard grey version, which I posted about a while ago. I knew several different quite interesting versions existed out there, but at the time that was all I could get my hands on. But then a few weeks ago I was browsing discogs and noticed one of the special versions up for sale. Before anyone else could grab it I put in my order, I didn't want it to get away!

This is still part of the grey pressing, but also comes with a special cover, limited to 25 copies. Overall 50 were made with special covers, and two different covers exist. One is entitle, "Northern Wolf", and this copy is entitled "Southern Dragon". These were sold exclusively at the release gig, and although the photo isn't doing it justice, it looks outstanding.

One of the other cool additions to this version of the record is a rune stone, which to be honest was part of the big draw for me to get this copy. I'm unsure if all the copies came with the same rune stone, but the rune on my stone appears to be kenaz, the rune of enlightenment (at least in Anglo Saxon). It's things like this that really make RIH releases stand out above all others.

Apart from these two additions, the packaging is the same as the copy I already owned. It was totally worth picking up though, and the tracks from both bands are still absolutely killer.

Rot in Hell / Psywarfare split 12"

I'm always excited for new records to arrive at my doorstep, but there are some releases that surpass all others in terms of anticipation. These may be ones that have been lingering in the land of rumour for some time, or ones that you without a doubt know are going to be worth their weight in gold when their tracks first make their way into your ear drums. In this case, it is certainly both.

 Rot in Hell have done it again with an absolutely stellar split 12". If that wasn't enough excitement for you, the other side of the split comes from a band that arises back from the dead after (almost) 14 years, Psywarfare. It is a combination that offers a little strange, but definitely FANtastic record.

Rot in Hell play three new acoustic tracks, "Parthogenesis", "Theodolite and Pendulum" and "Poetry of Worms". At times I feel the acoustic tracks are where Rot in Hell really shine, and these have affirmed that belief for me. In fact, I think that Parthogenesis is probably the best track by the band thus far. The guitar is incredibly ominous and has the perfect blend of POIs singing and Lecky's screamed vocals. It sends shivers down my spine.

 Psywarfare is of course something entirely different again. For anyone who has heard Psywarfare before, you will at least be prepared for the audial onslaught that this side bestoys upon you. For those you have not, be warned. To give those an idea of what to expect, the project is the harsh electronic brain child of Dwid Hellion. Supposedly comprising of four tracks (1 new and 3 unreleased from the 90s), this side takes you through a journey of intense static noise, voice samples, bass, distorted screams and all other kinds of noises you could possibly imagine. The name of the project says it all really.

 The packaging for this release is also top-notch. Both of the bands have artwork that take up one side of the cover. My favourite of the two though is the classic Psywarfare figure. It is as if this character jumps right out of the record grooves to destroy your brain.

Two colour variants of the record are (currently) in existence, white and clear. I opted for the white, and it turned out great. A pet hate of mine is when a bit of black gets smeared into the white from the standard version, but this is incredibly clean and looks great. I'm not sure how many of these were pressed, but they are currently available from the bands directly or through the Deathwish E-store. Strangely, this is Magic Bullet records release, but I am yet to see it for sale from them. At any rate, I doubt these will stick around for too long.

 

If you dare, the Psywarfare side is up for streaming and download on the Holy Terror bandcamp page. 

If you also have a look here, you might just find a couple of the RIH tracks too...

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.

Rot in Hell - Boxset I

The name Rot in Hell is synonymous with two great things. Not only is their music insanely good, but they also take so much care with the packaging of their releases that they really shine above anyone else. One of their more elaborate pieces is now part of my collection; The Cvlt of Khali box set. This contains the work present on the Hallways of the Allways compilation on a special 4 7" set.

The entire package comes tied in a customised cardboard box. The band logo has been cut into the back which reveals a familiar face just poking through.

As mentioned above, this set contains four 7"s. These are the original demo, the split with Brain Dead, the split with The Process and the split with Hordes. I did already have copies of all of these, so this is marking my second copy of each (actually third for the split with Hordes). These are the same as the standard copies of the record, except for the demo, Sins of Malice. The original had a hand sprayed process symbol on the B-Side, whereas this version has an Ouroboros scratched on instead. I think this is the better copy of the two.

There is also a bonus CD that comes tucked alongside the records. This covers the rest of the tracks that were available in the Hallways compilation. It is a bit difficult to see, but this also has the band logo printed very subtly on the topside.

In terms of music that is it for the set, but in terms of everything it is far from over. The first (and probably most special) part of this release is this print on black card.It in insanely detailed and shows just how much effort is put into these releases.

The next is this RIH t-shirt featuring a bird and a lamb head/rib cage, it is even in my size too. In some ways I wish I hadn't taken it out of the box to photo, it was difficult to fold it exactly the way it was to fit perfectly in the box. There was also a RIH badge/patch combo.

Lastly is this huge fold out poster. To get an estimate of the size, one of the square folds is the size of a standard 7", so it it really quite big. On the pack is the spray paint of de Grimston peaking out the front of the box.

Just beneath the giant head is a stamp showing just how limited this is. Only 35 were made all together, with mine being lucky number 7. This actually came out some time ago now, but a while ago I was lucky to be contacted by a fellow blogger who thought this might be of interest to me.

Overall a fantastic package. They have since made a second boxset which I'm sad to say I have missed out on. Perhaps one day I will be fortunate enough to get my hands on it as well....

Rot in Hell demo tape

Another day, another awesome Rot in Hell release. I must admit, I do check Ebay and the like relatively frequently for RIH releases, but I am still really quite surprised when a rarity such as this pops up. For whatever reason, I didn't have to bid particularly high to win it either. 

This is the original RIH demo tape. Their first release, all the way back from 2007. This has later been produced into a 7", and included on the Hallways of the Always compilation.

Although the side of the case contains lists only two tracks, the tape does contain three. These are exactly the same three that appear on the later releases, which includes "Final Word" in addition to the two below.

Even though the tape is the first thing released by the band, there is still the attention to detail put into the packaging that is present on the later RIH releases. The tape itself is plain black, but comes housed in a great cardboard sleeve, which has been given a sort of grainy effect. The whole thing has a lot of Process-themed imagery.

Inside the cover is an insert similar to what was inside the "Sins of Malice" EP. The same Robert deGrimston is used, although this insert folds out into a cross shape. The lyrics are printed below the picture, although they are quite jumbled and written over the top of one another.

I also noticed the card used to create the sleeve is rather interesting. I was expecting plain card, but there is definitely something printed in there. I could never cut it open, but I sure am curious to see all that lies within....

Rot in Hell - Studies In Emerald 7"

What I have here is probably the most exciting record I have received to date. As soon as I heard about it I knew I had to have it, but I wasn't quite prepared for just how fantastic this would be. Have I sparked your interest yet?

 From the logo (and well the title of the post) you have probably figured what band has put out this record. That's right, Rot in Hell are at it again with their super crazy, super limited releases. This time though they have decided to finally give some of their acoustic tracks the vinyl treatment, which has needed to happen for some time now.

I'm not sure what the best place to start is, but I guess starting with the packaging is as good a place as any. Everything comes inside the green paper sleeve with the band logo sprayed on. Inside is an emerald hard cover which looks great on my record shelf.

 Inside the hard cover is a hand made slip cover, which again is all in emerald (get it?). The front of this has a more detailed version of the band logo. I'm not quite sure of the significance of the left side of the image being black rather than green, but I'm sure there is one. This houses all the goodies inside of it, but I'll get to those in a minute.
A small booklet is part of the cover, with images and information about the recordings on orange paper. I'm almost certain that that is a picture of Dwid behind the fence...

 Continuing with the orange, the record comes in a bright orange dust sleeve with the band logo stamped on it. It's another really great touch.

By now you are probably thinking that there is no way for this to get any better. Of course everything I've shown so far has been great, it doesn't quite compare to the best part about the whole package, the record. The 7" is a transparent one sided lathe cut with an X-ray image of a fly. I haven't seen anything quite like this before, and I am completely blown away by it. It almost doesn't even seem like a record at all.

 Of course there are some pretty wicked extras too. Keeping with the X-ray theme is this x-ray of a foot. Surprisingly this fells as though it is on real x-ray image material. Perhaps it is one of the band member's.

 Then there are also a few paper based extras. There is a stencil of the band logo, a sticker and a much appreciated hand-written thanks note.

 In terms of the actual music the record is pretty great as well. It is an amalgamation of two previously released CDs. Aria of the Devil is a Theater of Hate cover which was originally on the mini CD on the left. Sixteen and Come Back are Johnny Cash and Misfits covers which were originally on the Studies in Emerald CD in the middle.
The record is limited to only 31 copies, which I think is now sold out. It's almost a pity that more people won't get to here these tracks.

So there we are, a truly amazing package that was just full of amazing surprises. RIH have really set the bar high for great packaging, if only more bands would follow suit...

Rot in Hell / Hordes split 2.0

About 18 months ago I posted about a fantastic split between Rot in Hell and Hordes. To this day it is still some of my favourite material from RIH and still gets regular rotation. I remember complaining about only getting a plain black version when a black and red copy was just as obtainable. Well, quite recently I stumbled across the opportunity to rectify that mistake with my very own black and red copy.

This also came with the original insert inside. I had somewhat forgotten about RIH's content on the lyric sheet for their cover of Integrity's classic "Kingdom Of Heaven".

Apart from the vinyl colour difference this version is exactly the same to the regular version. Did it then justify acquiring a second copy of? Of course it did, this baby is limited to just 100 copies and definitely looks way nicer than plain black. Plus the Phookas can sit and look at each other now.