Deals & Steals: Call the Dealer

Now, the dealer in question might be to help with the pantload of stoner metal I just received. He might also deal in speed, sleaze, machinery or poisoned bibles by the looks of things. All prices $US.

High On Fire – Snakes For the Divine $5.59, Death Is This Communion $8.78, Blessed Black Wings $6.39, Surrounded By Thieves $6.39. I’m late to the party on these shirtless riffy wonders, so I pulled the trigger on the whole back catalogue. Awesome fun.

Destroy Destroy Destroy – Devour the Power $6.39. More side project silliness from the American core kids. I’m sure I’m meant to enjoy this Manowar parody stuff ironically, so, shhhhhhhh……

Lazarus A.D. – Onslaught $3.99. One of the finest young bands working in retrothrash today.

Scum of the Earth – Sleaze Freak $3.00. The Rob Zombie soundalikes actually made a second album. Not an original note on it, but kind of fun anyway.

KMFDM – XTORT $3.48. Because I’m a Chris Connelly fan. Also, this is a reissue that allows you to skip the stupid bonus track.

Anaal Nathrakh – Domine Non Es Dignus $6.99. Woah. Seriously nutty industrial black metal from the UK. Like Cradle mixed with old-school Earache Records.

Powerman 5000 – Transform $1.48. Can’t believe this radio-ready bit of nothing got released and Doomsday didn’t. Oh well, price was right.

And now for my new favourite thing:

Doomriders – Black Thunder $5.58 and Darkness Come Alive $6.39. This side project of Converge has a bit of everything good. At their best they sound like the entire back half of Iron Maiden’s Killers being performed by Danzig. If that description appeals to you, run don’t walk to see them.

Deals & Steals: More Cowbell Edition

  Lots of awesome junk in the pipeline these days..this order came from Second Spin, and the prices are in $US.

First off, it’s a bit of a before/after shot featuring Justin Broadrick:

Fall of Because – Life Is Easy $5.97. Ugly, messy and extremely vibrant pre-Godflesh (even earlier than Head of David) recordings from many of the guilty parties. This was a re-release, not that it matters because the recordings are so raw.

Jesu – Lifeline $4.49. Now in the post-Godflesh stage of life, Broadrick creates dream-pop, light ambient soundscapes. This EP features Jarboe on vocals.

Metalocalypse – Season 4 $15.99. Hard to find up in the Great White North, it’s always good to spend a little time with Dethklok.

Portal 2 – Songs to Test By $6.50. This four disc (!) set contains every piece of instrumental music in both Portal video games. I mainly bought it for the GLADOS-voiced theme songs, and I still wish they had made some room for a bit of in-game dialogue.

Psyclon Nine – We the Fallen $2.98 and INRI $3.48. Blasphemous electro-industrial with a hint of dark ambient.

Cubanate – Cyberia $4.47 and Antimatter $2.00. Coming at you from the soundtrack to every driving game from the 90’s. Guilty pleasure.

Finally, we have a massive back catalogue slab from stoner rock legends:

 

  Fu Manchu – California Crossing $2.99, King of the Road $7.99, In Search Of… $5.49. Start the Machine $9.99. So much cowbell it’s like I’m building a dude ranch.

 

Deals & Steals: That’s a Lotta Vikings!

  Bit of a Nordic influence this time out (again!), and certainly some good tunes found at good prices. This first lot was found at Second Spin:

Leaves Eyes – Vinland Saga $8.99. Moody conceptual stuff about Leif Eriksson’s travels and exploration.

Soilwork – Stabbing the Drama $8.99. Slowly filling in my back catalogue of these Gothenburgers and In Flames BFFs.

At the Gates – Slaughter of the Soul $4.49. Speaking of Gothenburg, there wasn’t an identifiable scene until this album melted everyone’s faces.

Dark Tranquillity – Character $2.49. One of their best.

Destroy Destroy Destroy – Battle Sluts $5.00. Actually an American band. But that title! Sounds like Cradle of Filth meets Manowar. Perfect touring partner for 3iob.

Not Viking but a bit Scottish (and awesome):

Murder Inc. – Locate Subvert Terminate: The Complete Murder Inc. $3.99. So nice to hear a remaster of this marvelous Killing Joke side project with Chris Connelly. Behold, Scot-industrial rap:

And in the super-bargain category, some finds from the local thrift store. Each were only one or two bucks apiece!

Green Day – American Idiot. Overplayed? True. Overplayed because actually very good? Also true.

Promonium Jesters – Time and Place. I once saw these Ontario industrialists open for Hanzel und Gretyl. Their recorded output has a steal-from-the-best quality to it, including some spot-on Skinny Puppy influence.

  Kraftwerk – The Mix. Worth it just to find out I’ve been singing the chorus wrong all these years. Still, fun fun fun!

 

Deals & Steals: Viking Swords and Mixing Boards

  Hey all, a big backlog of interesting finds from the past couple of months. All prices $US, Shipping about $15  altogether.

3 Inches of Blood – Battlecry Under a Winter Sun $5.59. Old school 3IOB is good times.

Dark Tranquillity – Haven $4.88. I’m trying to like it. Really. The riffs are there, but so is the baritone crooning. At least I didn’t turf it out the window like I did with Projector.

Lair of the Minotaur – Evil Power $4.19. This is currently one of my favourite things; a sludgy, fudgy Melvins-like fuzztone with an Entombed’s worth of aggression. Heavy, heavy shit.

Lonely Island – Turtleneck and Chain $9.99. The perfect thing for chilling and sippin’ on a lite beer.

Landmine Marathon – Sovereign Descent $5.99. Recent changes to the band can’t take away the power of this massive recording.

Imperative Reaction – Minus All $4.49. IR are that rare animal nowadays – traditional electro industrial.

Arch Enemy – Anthems of Rebellion $2.99. Their most ineffectual album to date, but the price was right.

Evanescence – The Open Door $6.99. File under stuff that I know is bad but listen to anyway. So terrible, so in my car all the time. I think it’s because Amy Lee’s voice reminds me of happy times chasing girls in college using Sarah McLachlan as bait.

And lastly, a record that reminds me of a fun concert story:

  Hanzel und Gretyl – Uber Alles $2.00. I have a soft spot for these Fako-Fascisto Funsters. They played my area with Slick Idiot last year (during Oktoberfest, no less) and blew out the sound system in the club about 20 times in a row. The result was terrible, but I’ll never forget mock-dominatrix Vas Kallas turning to Kaiser von Loopy, completely dropping character, and honking in pure Brooklynese: “This is gonna be one of them nights, eh Rob?”

Thank you, Rob and Betty.

Deals & Steals: Frantic Transatlantic

  Hey all, this installment is imbued with all  the usual bipolar vacillation between my metal and electronic obsessions. All prices $US, and shipping was $7.99.

Rob Zombie: Educated Horses $4.00. I finally get around to Mr. Z’s least-understood record. Not bad!

Powerman 5000: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Volume 1 and True Force, $$5.47 and free with promotion, respectively. I also decided to include the younger Zombie sibling on this order. The first album is an early-material re-release, and the second is their first EP. Considerable overlap; good thing one was free!

Covenant: Europa $6.27. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Europa is a love letter to Front by Front.

Sister Machine Gun: The Torture Technique $4.79. A friend recently gifted me with a SMG discography, but likely (and sensibly) held out on me by keeping this one, their best.

Fu Manchu: Action is Go $6.99. I Googled “What is Fu Manchu’s best album?” Who am I to disagree with the internet?

Scooter: The Stadium Techno Experience. Free with promotion. No comment.

And not-leastly:

  Metallica: Garage Inc. $9.99. What can I say? Still the best way to get hold of their extensive and well-chosen covers collection. This also allows me to retire my rare original Garage Days disc. I should also mention that the champs at Second Spin, having mistakenly sent me only one disc of the set, immediately shipped me a new set. One email, no questions. Gotta like that level of service. Anybody need a Disc One of this thing?

Deals & Steals: Something Old, Something Older, Something Jurassic

  Weird selection from Second Spin  (and my local places) this time around, but oh so fun. We’ve got games, remixes, compilations and collaborations. The S-S prices are in $US, and the Second Spin folks took another $10 off the top, which basically covered shipping. Onward!

Original Soundtrack: Mass Effect $8.99. The Mass Effect universe has been as much fun for me to hang around in as Hogwarts or even Middle Earth. I gave a damn about these games (we can talk about sticking the landing later) and it was due in no small part to the music. Very well executed stuff by Jack Wall and Sam Hulick, and a brilliant end credits song by Faunts that truly makes you believe you have saved the galaxy. In the eighties!

Fear Factory: Soul of a New Machine (Expanded Edition) $8.99. This fills a long-overlooked gap in my collection, and does it in style by including some great retrospective liner notes and the Fear is the Mindkiller EP as well.

Negativland: These Guys Are From England And Who Gives A Shit $5.77. This “Official Bootleg” brings a bit of closure to one of the world’s longest-beaten dead horses, acting as a final word on Negativland’s feud/collaboration/fascination/lawsuit with the world’s biggest band and America’s best known radio DJ.

Jello Biafra with Nomeansno: The Sky is Falling, and I Want My Mommy $7.99. Don’t know why I held out so long before getting this. It’s a bit like I knew I liked peanut butter and I knew I liked chocolate, but I didn’t trust this candy hybrid. Fixed now!

  Rush: Chronicles $21.99. Big deal, you say. Anyone with half a brain knows Chronicles is the non plus ultra of best-of compilations, representing perfect track choices and sequencing.  Ah, but what if you had to replace your worn-out copy? What if you had a chance to do it with a version containing an extra DVD full of the band’s videos? What then, smart guy?

Super big deal: Last weekend I was in Toronto and saw this, still wrapped,  in a used record shop:

 

Yup, that’s the full series of The Shield encased in a coffee-table picture book. I was going to pay the $99 sticker price when the clerk told me it was 20% off. Madness. I love you, place I don’t remember the name of. It’s across the side street from The Rex, if that helps.

It gets better; I found this at my local Value Village for twelve dollars:

 

It was a good week for scrounging!

Deals & Steals: Nuh-Wabbim!

This was the cover:

This was the track list:

1. Am I Evil? – Diamond Head
2. Riding With The Angels – Samson
3. My Number – Girl
4. Wheels Of Steel – Saxon
5. C’mon Let’s Go – Girlschool
6. Hellbound – Tygers Of Pan Tang
7. Backs To The Grind – White Spirit
8. Angel Witch – Angel Witch
9. Bloodlust – Venom
10. If I Were King – Vardis
11. Satisfied Then Crucified – Rock Goddess
12. Give ‘Em Hell – Witchfynde
13. Hard Ride – Raven
14. Killing Time – Sweet Savage
15. Lady Of Mars – Dark Star
16. Death Or Glory – Holocaust
17. Captured City – Praying Mantis
18. Down The Road – Bitches Sin
19. Blitzkrieg – Blitzkrieg
20. Name Rank And Serial Number – Fist

The price? $8.00 at Encore Records.

The Bliss? Indescribable.

Deals & Steals: Century Media Lady Madness

  Grasping at straws for any linking factors here; I really just let my mind run wild on Second Spin. Wait, four of the records have female singers and are on Century Media records. That’ll make a great title, right?

All prices $US, and I paid $7.99 shipping.

Lacuna Coil – Comalies and Karmacode $7.99 apiece. Just filling in some back catalogue for one of my current favourites. These are from the Waldemar Sorychta years.

The Agonist – Lullabies for the Dormant Mind $9.99 and Once Only Imagined (free with promotion). Featuring Quebec’s premiere girly-screamo band! Weird how In This Moment have already done Heavy MTL and The Agonist haven’t, but happily that’s being rectified this year.

Cemetary – Sweetest Tragedies (free with promotion). Nice best-of compilation from a band with an eerily similar career trajectory to Sentenced.

Excessive Force – Gentle Death Remastered $7.99. The original Gentle Death had the dubious distinction of being one of the worst recorded albums from a band I liked. Fixed now!

Metallica – S&M $11.99. Because in a post-Lulu world I needed to think of better times.

And, going for a lovely $8.99, submitted without comment:

 

Deals & Steals: Old (Medieval) School

  Occasionally, hidden among the tons and tons of gospel music and copies of Dance Mix ’97 at my local Value Village I find a rare gem, or at least a decent deal. Last week, a factory-fresh American Idiot turned up, and this time I doubled my fun:

Faith No More – The Real Thing $2.99. The big breakthrough record for these true innovators.

Mediæval Bæbes – The Rose $2.99. My hometown is such a strange place. Sometimes I think it’s hicksville, but then I find feminist/traditional/pop/madrigal albums at the ValVil.

  I also recently had a beer with a friend who was divesting himself of Kreator’s Endless Pain and Pleasure to Kill for $8 apiece. It’s a mystery why he would want rid of the two best Teutonic thrash records of all time, but I wasn’t going to argue. I smell a Classic Album Review!

Deals & Steals – All Roads Lead to Metal

  All over the place this time around – I really just wanted to fill up the order because I’d been looking for the Overkill so long, so I took a few chances. All prices $US, shipping $6.99.

Nomeansno – All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt $7.99. NMN is never a bad choice. Sometimes, it’s perfect.

Overkill – Under the Influence $7.99. OK’s punk/glam phase – a neat transitional record.

Cradle of Filth – Lovecraft & Witch Hearts $7.99. I got this compilation because I admire CoF’s balls-out weirdness but I can’t be arsed to pick up the whole discography.

Evanescence – Evanescence $8.99. Because I’m a masochist.

Wonder Woman $3.20 and Batman: Gotham Knight $5.10 – DC Animated selections. Because my discount coupon only worked on movies. Also, Keri Russel as Diana? I thought it was Samson who lost power with a haircut.

And the big deal:

  Lair of the Minotaur – War Metal Battle Master $6.99. Whoa. Is it Stoner Metal? Stoners aren’t this blood thirsty.