Black Sunday: Devil - Magister Mundi Xum (2010), The Noble Savage/Blood is Boiling (2011), Time to Repent (2011) & Gather the Sinners (2013)

Across the last month I have discovered - and devoured - Devil. Their throwback bluesy doom is easily digested alongside Sabbath and St. Vitus and their vinyl, from Soulseller Records, is nothing short of fantastic.

My first acquisitions were spur-of-the-moment record shop grabs of the 2010 demo 10", Magister Mundi Xum, and their latest LP, 2013's Gather the Sinners. Magister..., in its second printing, is one of 500 copies pressed to white vinyl (the original pressing was black) and is housed in a heavy white jacket with my favorite of the band's artwork. A slick insert collects band photos and the basics in terms of information on the recordings. It's an incredibly raw EP and the 10" format contains exactly enough to get a new fan salivating for more. Gather the Sinners, the band's second full-length, is listed as a "limited" vinyl edition and, indeed, the band's own official webstore appears to have sold out. It's not clear to me exactly how many were produced but the gatefold package and platter are as heavy to hold as they are to hear, no frills but no disappointment in any way, either.

I had to utilize mailorder to round out the collection with the band's 2011 7" single, "The Noble Savage/Blood is Boiling." This record also came my way in its second pressing, a deep chocolate vinyl from a series of 500, the first pressing again apparently black though limited to 100. I also imported the band's 2011 full-length debut, Time to Repent, another repress following an initial black run, this time in transparent yellow. One wonders if a colored variant of Gather the Sinners will pop up before too long. Each of the prior offerings complemented their jackets' color schemes and a 12" in maroon would look awfully nice.

Devil's design aesthetic is rock-solid. Each of the packages is beautifully detailed yet retain a Scandanavian simplicity that effectively communicates (and does not overdecorate) the utilitarian rock within. The largely monochrome packages are simultaneously rich and subdued. Center labels alternately complement and copy segments of the jacket art, leaving the entire catalogue feeling like an entirely cohesive whole. Credit must be due to Soulseller as well as the materials, from jackets to the platters themselves, are all top-notch. The recordings are clear and strong and play free of any noticeable defects. None of the albums feels in any way flimsy, which is a good thing as I have been pulling these records off of the shelf every few days and don't see myself stopping anytime soon.

Transparent Vinyl: Moving Mountains.

It's been a while. Sitting back for a second, though, as Cold Blue Mountain's eponymous 12" is freed to run rampant across this earth, I thought I may collect and share some thoughts from this go-round.

Following the (in my mind) successful Fister formula, I went down a very similar path with Cold Blue Mountain's record. Again we used Aardvark for cutting the lacquer, United Record Pressing for the vinyl and, this time, Holy Mountain Printing handled not only t-shirts but a jacket folder as well. The timeline unfolded a little something like this:

test pressing.

October 8, 2012: Cold Blue Mountain makes initial contact based upon our Fister project (then just in progress).
January 10: Cold Blue Mountain and Gogmagogical Records sign an agreement to release their self-titled debut as GOG-003.
February 1: Masters received at Aardvark Record Mastering for plating.
February 3: Finalized order placed with United Record Pressing. Aardvark has lacquers cut.
February 4: Aardvark ships lacquers off for plating.
February 28: Order placed for t-shirts and jacket folders with Holy Mountain Printing.
March 14: Test pressings are received from United.
March 20: Test pressings approved by the band, final order approval sent to United and release date set for April 19.
March 28: All vinyl - 100 blue/white splits and 200 black - received from United Record Pressing.
March 29: T-shirts received from Holy Mountain Printing.
April 11: Jacket folders received from Holy Mountain Printing.
April 12: The band's records are shipped via overnight mail for receipt for an April 13 show.
April 19: Cold Blue Mountain releases wide.

I have to say I am getting a little spoiled at this point. Cold Blue Mountain was absolutely a pleasure to work with. No one pushed, questioned timelines, nor argued any points. We communicated well and this was about as smooth as one could ever hope. I worked largely with Brandon Squyres but also maintained regular contact with Sesar Sanchez and Daniel Taylor. Additionally, there were zero problems with all of our manufacturing partners. Holy Mountain's jackets, in particular, are incredibly lush and I have yet to find a blemish on any.

The launch of the record has been relatively slow. Fister, as a counterpoint, was not. There are several factors in play here. First, Fister never listed their album for sale online nor did they hold anything "exclusive." With the exception of Encapsulated Records, to whom I traded 100 records for the jackets, I had zero competition for the product in the online world. I do not believe Cold Blue Mountain have listed their record online to date but we certainly have no agreement barring them from doing so (nor did I with Fister, for that matter). That said, the band is the exclusive holder of the colored vinyl and I expect many of their California-area fans are opting to purchase theirs directly from the band. Second, geographically, I am closer to Fister's fanbase. There are simply more folks nearby and in my admittedly limited circle of influence who know the band and wanted the record right away. It is very clear to me that I need to face the reality of my very limited exposure in a very large world. The band has partnered with The Black Birch for PR and I am extremely impressed with their efforts. Nearly every outlet I have contacted regarding review copies has already heard from them and I am now convinced more than ever that I need a PR firm myself. I'll be contacting them myself very soon.

I chose black vinyl as the second option and could have certainly chosen a more collectible color for the label to hold. That said, expenses were a factor as was consideration of the fact that there is an interest in "pure" black vinyl. I do not want the label to become a source of only colorful collectibles and feel strongly enough about the musicians I am working with to believe that their music alone is the draw and these sounds should matter more than the color of the platter on which they spin. All that said, if I were buying, though, I would opt for that blue-and-white beauty before black in a heartbeat. I am very, very confident that as word of mouth spreads and reviews begin to appear online that Cold Blue Mountain will pick up traction and succeed swimmingly.

Kingsblood's Trudging Through the Field of Crows is currently awaiting test pressings and will begin its sprint toward release any day. Once finished, though, the label will need to recoup some funds before setting out upon the next release. While Violence has broken even, two records underway at once has eaten into a couple thousand of my own personal dollars. I am hoping for GOG-004 to see the light of day in late 2013/early 2014.

Black Sunday: Cathedral - Gargoylian (2001) & A New Ice Age (2012)

As stoner/doom stalwarts Cathedral approach the end of their career (supposedly) with the upcoming The Last Spire, I've found myself revisiting their entire catalogue recently and, even with a few compilation items included, admire that the band have left a few choice tracks vinyl-only, at least for now.

This is it.

Sort of.

With today's post - a Black Sunday, Transparent Vinyl and more all rolled into one - I'm going to shift this blog, already slower in its second year, to a largely archival state, focusing energies and devoting fleeting free time to a successful launch and promotion of the Fister record on the Gogmagogical Records site, where most of my future posting will exist on the front pages dedicated to the bands with which I am working.

they grow up so fast... godspeed, hundreds of records.

Violence is nearly complete and back on track for a Christmas Day release. One-hundred each of five color combinations are in hand and I just shipped a share of the vinyl to the band and Encapsulated Records, who have created the jackets and will distribute a portion of the pressing as well.

A respectable percentage of my share of the records has sold already via pre-order, with wax set to ship out across the US and also to fans in the UK, Germany, France and Russia. Once I have jackets in hand I'll distribute some review copies and expect some positive traction there.

I'm entirely biased in my assessment of the record's sound but I am thrilled with both our mastering and the pressing in terms of lack of surface noise. There's a lot of sound in this small platter and it's a damn dense album. As far as colors go, my favorite disc so far is the blue version as it looks almost marble with its deep shades. I don't have any jackets in hand yet as printing is finishing up now but my favorite design as a pure graphic, most emotionally evocative for me in terms of the record's theme, would have to be Coby Ellison's design for "I. Forced Extinction."

artwork by Coby Ellison

Getting the actual vinyl felt like a feat in itself. Three-hundred - three of the colors - were delivered very quickly after tests were approved, by November 16. Then we waited. And waited. With delays expected over the holidays, I was surprised to learn after a status check that there had been a miscommunication at the pressing plant and that stampers for the record had been either damaged, discarded or destroyed. With new stampers ordered from the mastering and plating facilities, we did rebound very quickly and the plant stayed true to their word that we would receive expedited priority, with our final 200 delivered last Friday. We ended up only a few days behind our most recently estimated schedule. In order to turn around an order for t-shirts offered as a promo with pre-orders we'll close that promotion at midnight Monday, send an order to Holy Mountain in the wee hours of Tuesday morning and hope their production estimate holds true as well.

This has been an immensely satisfying and rewarding experience. The excitement hasn't waned yet and, just last night, I got word that another project in the hopper was progressing and, if all goes well, I'll be starting all over again soon with what I hope is another in a line of killer metal releases. I cannot express how very grateful I am to Fister to offer this opportunity and I am more than proud to be associated with them, especially with a recording this powerful. Likewise, contacts and connections made via this blog have been essential in getting this thing off the ground.

I plan to return to this forum as time and opportunities permit, to share a few live show experiences and thoughts on releases unrelated to Gogmagogical Records but, as time progresses, look forward to working with more bands to make records like Violence. I started this entire exercise to write about music and it is beyond any wildest dreams to, twenty months later, have a hand in producing records that rival favorites in my bins. This is where I want to be.

Thanks, all.