New Year, New Finds

My local store, The Record Store, gave me some pretty cool coupons on black Friday to use in January and February. I guess the thought process behind this is to get people back into the store after the big holiday rush, well it worked for me. They were having a 30% off vinyl sale and the coupon gave me an additional 10% off, so pretty sweet deal. I picked up two records that I'd seen in the before, but didn't buy. This time I just couldn't pass up the price. 

Two classics, if a bit underrated, of British heavy metal above. Satan's debut, "Court In The Act", is one of the better NWOBHM releases. Lots of riffs, speed, and some pretty cool soaring vocals. Not quite as good as the other band that Brian Ross sang for(Blitzkrieg) but still quality shit. Next to it is Black Sabbath's seminal "Born Again", the 1983 album that features Ian Gillan on vocals! I love Gillan's work with Deep Purple and his vocals here are superb, a worthy replacement for Dio. Both of these have such 80s metal covers, just cheesy enough to be great. There is something extremely disturbing about that baby with fangs and claws.

I also recently ordered from the independent Wisconsin label, Gilead Media. I'd never ordered from them before, but their lineup of great bands has always piqued my interest. I've heard nothing but positive reviews of their service and their products, so I finally decided to place my first order for two Krallice records and the Thou/Leech split.

One of my top ten albums of 2011, New York's Krallice put out "Diotima" last April(this vinyl pressing came out in October). This band's third and best album; there isn't much more I can say about this epic prog black metal masterpiece that I didn't already say in my top 10 of 2011 post. Instead I'll talk about the record itself. A slightly different cover is found here than the original cd pressing from a distance it looks the same, but look at the full resolution image. I love the cover art, it just fits so well with the ambiance of the album, the sort of dark yet beautiful image of mountains peaking through clouds is exactly how the record sounds. The foldout image looks like Greek or possibly Roman ruins? It was used as the cover for the cassette version of the album(yes they still make those). This jacket, as well as the others from Gilead Media, are the best LP jackets I've ever come across. Really thick and sturdy, it feels like these are made out of something other than standard LP jackets.

The record comes with this booklet that contains the track listing and lyrics. A handy piece, as not even the song titles are anywhere to be found on the jacket. As for the vinyl itself, it's really high quality 180 gram heavy vinyl. A nice simple, yet effective label adorns the four sides. The sound quality is superb once you drop the needle as well.

Up next is another Krallice record, their 2009 sophomore effort "Dimensional Bleedthrough". I only heard this band for the first time maybe six months ago, but I quickly became a big fan. American progressive black metal is of the best scenes thriving right now in metal, and this band is in the top tier. While not quite as awe inspiring and epic as "Diotima", "Dimensional Bleedthrough" is a great album in its own right. Again I love the cover art, it manages to be very relevant to the music. The foldout image is interesting as well, I like trees so artwork involving them is cool to me.

Both LPs are 180 gram black, simple and tasteful with very nice art labels. The only thing that bugs me a bit is that the labels don't say which side is which, so you're left to drop the needle and listen to find out if you put the correct side on.

The last of this order was the ridiculously awesome Thou/Leech split picture disc.

This incredible split gives you just under 40 minutes of blackened doom. Slow, crushing, and eerily beautiful is how I would describe the music that Louisiana's Thou and Oregon's Leech play. There is just something about doom that does it for me, I have to be in the right mood but when I am the genre is perfect. This release is a must for doom fans!
The cover art for both sides is a picture of trees. I appreciate the beauty of nature and these photos really capture an awe inspiring scene, one which the music seeks to recreate. The foldout is a nice depressing art of what looks like victims of hanging, pretty damn doomy.

Side A is four Thou songs, and more trees.

Side B is over 20 minutes of Leech in just one song...and trees. Really a gorgeous record if I've ever seen one, something that really looks so nice as a picture disc. The record also came with this poster, which is very doom.

I also got a Thou/Leech patch and a Krallice patch, I guess they were part of the package. I have no idea what to do with all these patches I seem to get when ordering from labels, maybe one day I'll make a nice redneck metal head patch jacket.