Saturday, December 31, 2011

By Design Warning Signs

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM


The heaviest, most haunting, disturbing, and supremely awesome doom metal band ever(Burning Witch) has a new 4xLP and 1xDVD out. Southern Lord has put together a very impressive and thought out compilation of the band's entire discography; two 12" EPs, a 12" single, a live album, and a dvd with two shows. You really can't ask for more.




First up is the "Towers.." EP, recorded in 1996 and released as a demo tape. It was later given a vinyl release in 1998 and then a cd release by Southern Lord. "Sea Hag" is my personal favorite, but the whole record is just beyond fucked up and great because of it.



The best release in the tragically short Burning Witch discography is the above "Rift.Canyon.Dreams". This EP was recorded in 1997 and released the following year. Only 500 copies were pressed back then, so until now it has been extremely rare. Songs like "Warning Signs" and "History of Hell (Crippled Lucifer)" are such epic slow heaviness, with some of the most bizarre vocals. This EP is an absolute must for anyone into doom metal, or general weirdness.




"The Bleeder" b/w "Rift.Canyon.Dreams" 12" single. These two tracks were recorded during the "Towers..." and "Rift.Canyon.Dreams" sessions but for whatever reason never made it onto those EPs. As far as I'm concerned both songs are pretty great and up to the standards of the songs that did make it onto the EPs. "The Bleeder" was originally released on a CD split with Goatsnake in 2000, and the above is the only avaiable vinyl release of it. "Rift.Canyon.Dreams" was an unfinished track from the sessions of the same EP, but finished later and released as a split with Asva in 2003. 



"Live at the China Club 1996" captures this legendary band in their infancy, well before they had released or even recorded anything. This show is the second of two with original second guitarist Greg Anderson, and the band played the opening slot for At The Gates and Napalm Death. What I would give to have been at that show! Well I was only 9 years old so maybe its better I wasn't there. Well this is definitely the most raw piece of wax you'll find from these guys, not as perfected as the studio versions.


 No colored or picture discs here, just simple tasteful vinyl. Fittingly minimalist.

The box also has a huge 40 page booklet. Its pretty cool; lots of photos of the band, lyrics, and some seemingly random kvlt artwork. 





 And finally we have the dvd, which is housed in this weird sort of pocket in the booklet. I actually hate this design, I feel like I'm so close to ripping it.


Two fulls performances are included here, which have never been released in any format before. First up is a blurry, grainy, amateurish video of the band's first ever live show in Seattle in 1996. Interesting to see how raw and unrefined this band was in their infancy. I can't seem to find any youtube videos from this dvd, perhaps I'll upload one and edit this post.
The second performance is from a wonderfully low budget cheesy Seattle cable access show called "29 Live". This was broadcast in February of 1997, and it amazes me that this band was ever on television! We find better audio and video quality here, presumably someone got (barely)paid to film this. The band is a lot more practiced and puts on a better show as well.




 

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