Backtrack - Lost in Life Record Release

Last night I went out to Oakland for the "Lost in Life" Record Release party. Since I haven't posted anything in over a month and I'm officially a lame ass, I figured I would wait and post something cool. Last night Plead the Fifth, New Brigade, Take Offense and Twitching Tongues all played as well. Twitching Tongues is horrible... Take Offense was decent... New Brigade was awesome (I had never heard of them before, but they are the real deal), and Plead the Fifth was dope as fuck. Backtrack of course killed it and had the crowd going off the entire set. 

Now down to the record. I slept on the pre orders with Bridge 9 and didn't get any of the limited vinyl, and this is one of the copies on half blue and half white out of /700. It looks really awesome and is the same as their first press of "Darker Half" on half and half vinyl. The Spoiler cover art is incredible and sticks with the same theme from Darker Half. The back art is my favorite, as they sent one of the boys under a bridge or something to put up the track list on a wall. I had never seen this done that I can think of until earlier this year with Crosscheck.

So far, I can't stop listening to this record. "Darker Half" was, in my opinion, one of the best hardcore records of the last decade. This release may be even better than Darker Half, but it's hard to say after only a day of listening. There is no doubt about it that this is an incredible record, and may be the best record of 2014 by the time it's all said and done. The singer has gotten even better on this record and is more dynamic than Darker Half, and the band is tight and crisp and everything is hard as all hell. 

The record release version came with this cover, hand numbered out of 70. Seeing that the dates for the first two shows are crossed out, I am assuming they had /70 for all three shows (so /210 total?). That's purely speculation so I'm sure we'll find out in time what the real deal was with this. I scooped a couple copies, because one of these bad boys had Leeds, UK written all over it. My lazy ass even filmed the last song from the show and put it up on youtube, so check it out here!

Violent Minds & Violent Times

Here is my black copy of "Eyes of Death" by Violent Minds. This band is so under rated its silly. This thing is an absolute shredder. Angry and pissed as all hell and has a bit of an Oi! influence to it if you ask me. As far as I know this band has been inactive for the past few years which is a shame. Their facebook page says they are from San Francisco which shocked me. I cannot remember really seeing their name on any fliers or anything. Does anyone know the real deal about this band?

Where I think they messed up is by not having this Spoiler art from the insert as their cover art? To me, this is far superior. Listen to "Eyes of Death" below and try and tell me this doesn't shred.

My 2012 Top 10 list just got BENT (Life)

So this is a record that I've had for months and I'm upset with myself that it wasn't until recently that I pulled it out and gave it a few spins. Holy shit, what an incredible fucking record! Definitely going in the top 10 for the year.... well, shit. My top 10 list is starting to get pretty long. This is one of those records I knew I would love right away after the first track. Great vocals and music, bringing a kind of metal style hardcore like Terror but with a much fresher sound. Angry as fuck and totally awesome. 6131 Records really has it going on right now between this release and Ill Intent's "No Masters".

I pre ordered this from 6131 after taking one look at the incredible Spoiler art on the cover. If you didn't know by now, I'm kind of a fan of anything that Spoiler does for hardcore bands record covers. Here it is on a very nice purple but I'm not sure how many were pressed. I would assume this is the most limited version since it was a pre order. Apparently these guys are from Nebraska, sweet. I love seeing bands killing that aren't from big cities. 

This won't take my "#1" spot for 2012, because that is going to go to Sydney Ducks or Shipwrecked most likely, but this does take my #1 spot for cover art for 2012. I can not think of a record that has a better cover than this released this year, Spoiler strikes again! Check out "The Hard Way" from this release below and get ready to throw some shit around your house:

Backtracking to the '08 Demo

Here are my copies of Backtrack's "The 08 Demo". This is an EXCELLENT demo, BUT it is probably the weakest stuff that Backtrack has put out yet. I have read before that some people think this is their best stuff. I definitely listen to this regularly because I love Backtrack, but I feel like they've grown with every release. From this to "Deal with the Devil", to finally "Darker Half" which is one of the best hardcore albums to come out in the last decade. This band keeps getting better and better and I hope they stick to their winning formula and keep growing. The clear orange is a first press out of /350 (with /50 being on pre order covers) and the black copy is a 2nd press out of /400. 

Loud and Clear

Here's the Powered Records 2006 pressing of Loud and Clear on black vinyl (/550). This was also pressed on Six Feet Under where the "Loud and Clear" at the top is in yellow instead of red. I picked this up on ebay for seven bucks a few months back in a multi auction haul. I am really feeling this record, and I'm wondering why I wasn't messing with these guys sooner. I had downloaded this a few years back but honestly never really got around to listening to it. Really dropped the ball on that one because this one is a straight ripper! If you are a fan at all of Youth of Today, this is worth checking out. Since this is the most common pressing, I am hoping to add some more versions of this to my collection. Spoiler's take on the classic Abused art is incredible as well!

Way too much BACKTRACK

Since I'll be seeing Cold World and Backtrack tonight in Oakland, I wanted to post my copies of Backtrack's "Darker Half". I bought the black and white copy when I saw them with Trapped Under Ice last year. At the time I had never listened to them, but I was so blown away that I had to pick up the record and some merch. At the table I remember they had all four vinyl pressings, but I opted for the most common one on black and white vinyl (out of 1000) because I thought it looked so great and the fact that the album is called "Darker half". Then a few months ago I saw that Reaper had posted the pre-order green (out of 300) which was the most limited color and I had to scoop that one up as well. I'll probably pick up the clear and yellow copies if I can get them on the cheap on ebay or something, but I don't really feel the need to pay full price for them.

The artwork and layout is incredible. Another prime example of why Spoiler art is just untouchable. It seems pretty obvious that this is inspired by the Agnostic Front "Cause for Alarm" album art, not just because of the obvious devil connection and other similarities, but there's a dude getting choked out for christs sake!

Now onto the record itself... This thing is an absolute banger. I sincerely think this thing may be remembered as a classic from this era in another ten or fifteen years. This is one of those albums that I loved from the first listen and I can listen to every track. If you haven't picked one of these up, I would definitely do so immediately!

I also have slowly amassed a silly amount of Backtrack merch. I have never been that big of a merch guy. Do I have a shit load of band shirts? Hell yeah, I mean I've been going to shows on a regular basis for well over a decade so it just happens, but I've come to the point where I have enough damn shirts and hoodies that I rarely feel the need to buy something unless I absolutely love the design. It all started at that first Backtrack show, I got a Darker Half crew neck and the white "face" shirt with the vinyl. A few months after that I was ordering some stuff from Reaper and decided I wanted the Darker Half logo on a T shirt and also threw in the Spoiler devil and barking dog shirts while I was at it. Then I seen them again recently in Santa Cruz and bought the black Ape shirt and the black Darker half alternate "green" shirt. Then a few weeks ago, I see an update saying they have left over tour stuff for sale, so I picked up the windbreaker and Darker half hoodie (both in the front). Does the insanity ever end?? I'm going to have to try really hard to not buy any more Backtrack stuff tonight. So far the tally is (1) crew neck sweatshirt (1) hoodie (1) windbreaker and (6) shirts. That is by far the most merch I have of any band, and I feel like a huge dork for having so much. It just kind of happened and built up on me slowly... What can I say, there artwork and designs are just too awesome to deny!

Soul Searchin'

Here's the Bury the Blame 7" that recently came out on Triple B. Good release, pretty decent layout. Nothing ground breaking or original about these recordings, but sometimes thats a good thing. This came out on clear red, clear green and black, with 300 on red and 100 on green. There was also a United Blood sleeve (/50) and Tour pressing sleeve (/100). I don't think they ever had green available on their site unless maybe in a pre order, but after pre ordering the last Stick Together 7" I really don't think pre order matters at all, you're not gonna get that color unless you catch one of the bands early shows when they start their tour. Usually by the time East Coast bands come out to the West Coast they are long gone. However, there are actually a couple copies left on red if you hurry up! 

Here's a copy of Intolerable Weight, which I believe was their first 7". This also came on Gold vinyl, but besides that I'm not too sure about what other different variations there were. I love this cover art! As if you didn't realize by now, anything with Spoiler art is kind of a big deal to me. My only gripe is why did they not have him incorporate the "Intolerable Weight" text into the design? Having it just in a regular ass text underneath it looks like they added it real quick later on Microsoft Word. I mean what the hell, if you're having Spoiler do a sick ass cover for you why not go all out? Maybe it was his call? Either way it is a small gripe for such an awesome cover.

Love/Hate Relationship

I have a love/hate relationship with Trapped Under Ice and their cover art. I love TUI's music, but I really can't stand most of their cover art. To me, their 2007 demo pictured above is just atrocious. Why do they have their shirts off? When I first seen it I really thought it must be a joke or something, but then I opened it and said "Oh fuck....... Pitbulls......" and I just knew they were dead fucking serious. It's silly, but I'm over it. I love these recordings. Now on the other hand...

This is, in my opinion, TUI's best lay out on any of their releases (excluding test pressings). I really love this lay out, maybe its because I'm a sucker for Spoiler art? I love how that smoke or whatever is coming out of the eyes and mouth, the city scape that has a mouth under it, the red eye in the bottom corner, the knife, trashcan, random detective with the gun... it's just all together awesome. Plus a great color scheme. Please TUI just have Spoiler do your next release, I am really sick of all the emo artsy covers lately.

Before I leave for Backtrack...

...How about some more Backtrack?

Here's my copy of "Deal with the Devil" on Red, a fantastic release. In some ways I like this release more than "Darker Half". I know this is a second pressing but I'm not sure how many were pressed on red. This 7" has awesome artwork, I mean can you really go wrong with any Spoiler art?