RAC/Oi!

Originally released in 1984, “Send in the Marines!” conquered the streets with its uncompromising anthems for the working class. This album is not a record for suckers, not music for blue-haired fringe wearers who leave the room triggered by every harsh note. Combat 84 expressed what they thought – without filters, without PR advisors, without fear of controversy, and if it went badly, they got punched in the mouth. The London band became a legend! And the album title is more relevant than ever when you consider the current riots by multicriminal gangs in Los Angeles and other major cities in the USA.  One of the cornerstones of the first Oi! wave, the band shaped the scene with their own distinctive sound: raw, direct riffs, captivating rhythms and lyrics that reflect the life of the working class. Every song is a declaration of war against hypocrisy, pseudo-rebellion and sham morals. Tracks like “Rapist”, ‘Poseur’ or “Trouble” slam hard, direct and uncompromising into your ears. No pretentious attitude, no overproduced soup trulli weight – just brutal, honest Oi! with the necessary portion of street credibility – served and performed by Chris “Chubby” Henderson on vocals (RIP, 2013).

RAC/Oi!

Finally available on vinyl again! The cult album by England’s most based punk/Oi! band from Ipswich in the county of Suffolk. With Condemned 84 you always know where you stand. Although all their albums sound somewhat similar, you can always rely on them to consistently bang the anvil like a hammer and take no prisoners!
For the 2023 edition, the cover has been colorized and minimally toned down. As most people probably don’t know, the original version of the CD and LP cover was indexed by the Federal Agency for the Protection of Children and Young Persons in the Media (formerly the Federal Review Board for Media Harmful to Young Persons) in 2014. On top of that, the judiciary in Germany also took a closer look at the cover, without going into more detail. But since this shortcoming has been fixed, the world is once again a fragrant meadow of flowers ;-)

Black Metal

This is where it all began, the 1994 debut which shook the European Black Metal scene upon its foundations.
Originally released on cult imprint Cacophonous Records, CRADLE OF FILTH first album is now available for the first time over a decade on noble vinyl but also on picture vinyl, digibook-CD and tape. While still bearing few traces of their Death Metal roots, The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh remains an unique sounding album to this day, drenched in gothic atmospheres and vampiric themes. A true masterpiece which immediately spawned many imitators, although none managed to match their intensity and undeniable British flair.

Black Metal

Although it had a very troubled birth, all detailed in the liner notes included with those different versions here, CRADLE OF FILTH almost-album-length 1996 EP V Empire, Or Dark Faerytales In Phallustein proved to be a superb triumph over adversity. Despite all their legal problems, line-up changes and insane pressure after the gigantic success of their debut album, the Brits nevertheless managed to write and record a slab of new even grander songs, next to a new version of the already classic ‘The Forest Whispers My Name’, some would argue even bettering their debut in the process.

RAC/Oi!

The Antifant grumbles, followed by the pseudo-patriotic bootleg traitor—but the upright collectors and loyal scene enthusiasts rub their hands together with a grin: Just under a quarter of a century after its debut release on Herbert Egoldt’s Cologne-based Rock-O-Rama Records label, the first and only LP by the Canadian Oi!/RAC band CROSS, “Rise and Conquer,” has finally awakened from its slumber and is officially available.
1992 was a year that resonated deeply within North America’s Oi!/RAC and skinhead scenes. One release from Rock-O-Rama Records in particular stood out and quickly became a true hidden gem: “Rise and Conquer” by CROSS from Montreal. Interestingly, by the time the album was released, the band no longer existed. Even before the album, the band recorded two groundbreaking demos: The first, featuring original singer Alaric Jackson (IXL-Store Toronto/Montreal), included “Canada Rise Up” and already showcased their potential. On the second demo, “Armed Rebellion,” the song material remained the same, but with a new singer, the sound gained significantly in power and clarity. Shortly before the studio recordings, the lineup was finalized: Sam (vocals), Mark (guitar), Thorsten (bass), and Chuck (drums).

Black Metal

Crucifixion Bell’s debut LP, “Eternal Grip of the Nocturnal Empire”, originally released on LP and cassette format in the US by Banner of Blood and Crown and Throne Ltd., and now delivered onto an EU version of LP format by Inferna Profundus Records for the eternally devoted legions that kneel at the throne of the The Astral Serpent. “Eternal Grip of the Nocturnal Empire” is a deliverance of seven blasphemies that each serve under the influence of old and new sounds of Raw Black Metal. Presented in the form of chaotic walls of guitars and punished cries that are bound to structures that resurrect the styles of Second Wave Black Metal and outside forces of punk, but summoning these influences into unique compositions that are devastating to all that it may consume.

Raw Black Metal

Aptly titled, Ctenizidae’s latest …Of Rotting Soil & Spine comprises six “songs” of vulgar dissection and red-eyed antagonism. With vocals utterly mangled into sheets of white-noise whisper and atonal riffs detuned into an eerily hummable buzz, the almost-laissez faire minimalism across this 19-minute EP almost faintly resembles “black metal,” but only after being left rotting in some outer-cosmos dungeon for many millennia. Wisely, Ctenizidae doesn’t overstay his welcome; his creations here are short, sharp, and shocked, and the listener is left stunned and bewildered, wondering how this could come from supposedly “human” hands.