This summer - thanks largely to a stable, well-stocked, local independent music store in
Omega Music - I have developed a great weekend ritual of vinyl acquisition, bolstering a segment of my library that has largely gone neglected since one of vinyl's earlier booms in my college years in the early '90s. I hope to dedicate some Sunday posts to some of these slabs of wax and am kicking it off with two of my favorite recent purchases:
Metal Blade's 2012 pressings of Electric Wizard's
Witchcult Today and
Black Masses, each limited to editions of one thousand each.
Each of the records are presented as double-LPs, housed in heavy duty gatefold sleeves,
Black Masses finished with a spot gloss on the album's title. Jus Osborn's cover art for these two most recent releases by the band complement one another and they really do make a nice pair. And, along those same lines, the interior artwork features plenty of lurid photography recalling the finest Satanic offerings of Hammer Studios, Jess Franco and the like (
Witchcult Today's cover image is drawn from the best of Hammer Studio's occult output,
The Devil Rides Out, a film that should be well-entrenched in the library of anyone enjoying Electric Wizard's music).
Black Masses is, in my opinion, the superior record of the two, though aesthetically the lesser package. Its first disc is split purple and black and the second purple and silver. The lyric and credit insert carries the purple through, also tying back to the spectacular group photo inside the gatefold.
I love
Witchcult Today's inner and outer artwork and, in terms of vinyl coloring, it's my favorite as well, with a silver and black disc paired with a silver and clear counterpart. While I am not planning to comment on actual musical content in these posts (that will remain the focus of the regular reviews), it's a good record but not one I will actually spin often.
Black Masses is an album I already own on compact disc and one of the few records for which I am willing to double-dip in this fashion. The sound for both is full, clear and warm and these are albums - and a band - really seemingly best experienced in the vinyl format. I have been a fan of Electric Wizard for years and would love to see Metal Blade reissue the earlier Rise Above catalogue, particularly
Come My Fanatics... and
Dopethrone. Perhaps if I offer my soul...
Also see the 7" from Serpentine Path - http://serpentinepath.blogspot.com/ - featuring members of Electric Wizard, Ramesses and Unearthly Trance. Pretty good stuff in the same vein with a bit heavier vocals.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna have to argue taking Black Masses over Witchcult Today though. It might just be because Witchcult Today was the first album I heard but to me it's way more listenable, especially Dunwich, The Chosen Few and Torquemada 71. I might even take We Live over Black Masses, which is kind of a jumbled mess. I dunno, prolly just need to listen to Black Masses more.
I will have to say I'm pretty damn jealous of this sweet vinyl. I wanted to pick it up but at nearly twice the price of a regular record seemed way too expensive for my usual cheap punk tastes. (but maybe that's just because of the exchange rate and worthless US dollar)
Thanks for the heads-up re: Serpentine Path. Ordered the 7" just now from http://www.allthatisheavy.com. They were pricey records, to be sure (about $25 ea), but I had some store credit from trades to finance my entire spree that included Black Masses and spaced the purchases out a couple weeks apart (stressing all the while that someone else would snag Witchcult). That lousy overpriced Devil's Rain still sits there and I basically have convinced myself that anything priced less (i.e., EVERYTHING) is affordable.
DeleteThis is one of my favorite posts of yours. Ever. I can't even tell you how hard it is for me to fight off the urge to purchase the beautiful Cattle Decapitation LP you posted on Twitter (And I never liked the band in the past.). But I've trusted your judgement and placed an order for the CD version. Vinyl may follow suit if I dig it...
ReplyDeleteThanks! Cattle Decapitation haven't traditionally been a favorite of mine but I fell prey to the LP-scale artwork and recent positive reviews. I was unaware the record was colored and it is actually one of the more beautiful combinations I have ever seen - a very pleasant surprise.
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