One King Down "Bloodlust Revenge" 20th Anniversary Release

One King Down released their EP "Bloodlust Revenge" 20 years ago. Many fans still consider this to be their defining release but the record never saw a re-release.

Now, Equal Vision records will be reissuing the record with remastered sound, updated artwork and bonus content (which will be revealed at a later date).

The album is up for preorder now at the band's MerchNow store and includes new and classic shirt designs (Champion Basketball Jerseys!!!). You can preorder the record here: One King Down MerchNow Store

108 - Songs of Separation Zine

When 108 released their first official full length "Songs of Separation" (Holyname was an EP) in 1995, they also made a zine to go along with it. The zine featured the lyrics to all of the songs as well as the meanings behind the lyrics, photos and interviews with each band member. While some of these songs were discussed in the discography liner notes, the zine is pretty comprehensive and really gives a great understanding of where the band (namely Vic or Vraja Kishor Das as he was known) was at the time of the release. Definitely a cool idea and I wish more bands would take a note from this and create something similar for their records. A very big thanks to our friend and regular reader, Rob Mafia, for sending this to me so I could scan it. If you don't already own the 108 discography "Creation. Sustenance. Destruction.", head over to their webstore and pick up a copy. Otherwise, enjoy this trip back to 1995. I've uploaded the entire zine (34 pages) as a download which you can find below.

*NEW LINK*

108 - Songs of Separation Zine

Krishna Interview - Trustkill Zine #2, 1993

Here it is. The infamous interview that caused a huge uproar in the scene. Some thought it was funny, some hated it and still some others just saw it for what it was: a joke. The interview is not to be taken seriously so please read with tongue firmly inserted inside your cheek. Josh was nice enough to scan the original article for us as well as give us a look back on how he feels now about the interview. Here's what he had to say:

"I'm not all that proud of this to be honest. I wrote it when i was 19 and I thought it was hilarious back then in 1993, but looking back on it, it's just kinda mean. Ha Ha. No wonder Rob Fish, Vic Dicara, Steve Reddy, and everyone else wanted to beat me up. What did I even KNOW about Krsna back then? What I learned from Shelter albums? Seriously uneducated about it. Granted, the 36 year old me still hates all religions and think (know) they are the root of all wars, but you gotta respect whatever makes people happy right? As long as you aren't killing anyone or impeding on anyone else's rights, more power to ya."

This "interview" was original printed in Trustkill Zine #2, 1993. I've also included a download of the interview in pdf format if you prefer reading it that way. Big thanks to Josh for scanning this and allowing us to post it.


Krishna Interview - Trustkill Zine #2, 1993

Curse of Instinct: 108's Final Tour Video, 1996

In 1996, 108 decided to call it a day and embarked on a US tour and a European tour. Evan Jacobs, brother of our own Andy Jacks, was there to document the tour and the video was released via Equal Vision Records. Out of print for years, I had never actually seen the video until recently. Then my friend Geoff Mitchell of the band Deathbed posted up that it was on Google Video. Granted, the transfer is not that great and the sound is a little low but you get the idea. If anyone from Equal Vision or 108 has a problem with this being posted, please let me know and Ill be happy to take it down (this is not my upload). Enjoy!

xDisciplex Interview - I Stand Alone Zine #8, Summer 1997

Many people in the 90s (and very much so today) had/have mixed views on religion in hardcore. Many feel that it has no place in hardcore while others disagree and still some others just don't care one way or the other. In the early 90s, many kids jumped on the Krishna bandwagon with religion obviously being the focal point (see what I did there?). Kids supported Shelter, 108 and Equal Vision Records but as soon as the the topic of Christian hardcore came to the forefront, it was as if that certain elephant was in the room and everyone was glaring at it. I don't consider myself religious by any stretch but I respect what others believe as long as they respect me. A band like xDisciplex (and later xDisciplex AD) is a band that, though they were a Christian band, I gave 100% respect too. Extremely nice guys who didn't force their beliefs on anyone...more of a "hey we believe this and its cool if you don't". This interview was conducted by Adel Collins from her excellent "I Stand Alone" fanzine and was printed in the summer of 1997, right after the band released their "Scarab" 7 inch on Surprise Attack Records.

When Layouts Change: Records That Are Repressed With New Layouts, Part 1

This is an article I've been meaning to write for a long time but just never got around to doing so. A pet peeve of mine is when a label re-presses a record but changes the layout. Sometimes, this is because the band and label didn't have the money or time to put into what they originally envisioned or because a label has bought the rights to the record and re-released it, often with remastered sound. Half of me is alright with this idea at times but the other half of me, the half that is the nostalgic collector wants to have the original. Like I said, sometimes this is fine with me because the original layout may have been...well just not very good. Below are a few examples of records that were originally released by their respected labels and then repressed by either the original or another with a different layout. For now, I've just scanned the covers but Ill try to get the rest of the layouts scanned as well. The original is on the left and the repress is on the right.





















Shelter - Quest For Certainty (Original: Equal Vision, 1992. Repress: Revelation, 1998)
An early release for Equal Vision Records when they still concentrated on releasing only Krishna-core record, this records comes in a close second to Mantra as my favorite Shelter release. The original has a black and white cover with a nice sky blue firewheel while the repress has a new black and white photo but the fonts have been changed to red. This is a case where I'm alright with either release. Both have live photos on the cover and there isnt much of a difference other than the actual photo.




















Culture - Born Of You (Original: Conquer The World, 1994. Repress: Goodlife, 1998)
A record that created an incredible amount of controversy over the past few years, controversy that I am not going to go into here (do a search on here for "Culture" and you'll see). The original release features a picture of the famed "Portrait Of Pope Innocent X" by Sir Francis Bacon. While this cover is very representative of the time, I feel that the repress gives the album more energy with the cover depicting Damien handing out the mic to the crowd. Culture was very much about crowd participation and this cover portrays that to the listener. I only wish that the band would have used the logo that Guav created for that them as opposed to the logo on the repress.





















Doughnuts - Equalize Nature (Original and Repress: Desperate Fight, 1994 and 1996)
A much maligned band, Doughnuts were touted as the first all girl SXE band back in 1995. They released their first record with Desperate Fight out of Umea, Sweden and then signed with Victory Records in America. Equalize Nature, their first release, was originally released in a cardboard sleeve in 1994 and features the legendary "Naked SXE Kid" on the cover. To be honest, I'm not sure where they were going with this image on the cover but the re-release (also on Desperate Fight) shows a blurry live photo of the band. Perhaps Victory asked Desperate Fight to change the cover because they would have trouble getting the naked kid cover picked up in America. That's just my opinion, I have no idea if that's the reason. I have to say that the repress is an upgrade.





















As Friends Rust - The Fists Of Time (Original: Goodlife, 1998. Repress: Doghouse, 2000)
Now here's one where I prefer the original. Goodlife chose to use paintings by vocalist Damien as the cover as well as the insert. If you read the lyrics to the songs on this release, I feel that the cover really does a great job of capturing the mood of the record. When Doghouse released this in America, they included a track from the split with Discount as well as their Circle Jerks cover from the God Hour EP. This time around though, the cover shows a package addressed to the band. Not bad but to me, the cover of the original release conveys the band's message much better.

Check back soon for Part 2.

Boy Sets Fire Reforming

Three years after breaking up, Delaware post-hardcore outfit Boysetsfire (or Boy Sets Fire) has announced plans to reform. Details regarding the extent of said reformation haven't yet been disclosed, with the group only issuing the following:

"We were a band for over a decade. We decided that we wanted to try different things with our lives. So we stopped playing music together. It wasn't Noel/Liam Gallagher ugly; we parted as friends and we generally see or talk to each other all the time. I think we underestimated how much we would miss it. The communion, the intensity, the genuine outpouring of emotion- it just doesn't exist for us without BoySetsFire. So we are going to start playing together again. All we know now is that BoySetsFire is playing in Berlin on December 5,2010."

Prior to disbanding, the band had released four studio albums (in addition to a host of other releases) with Victory Records, Equal Vision Records, and Wind-Up Records.

Source: Lambgoat.com

Shelter - Quest For Certainty Tshirt

I apoligize for the lack of content lately. Ive been working nights as well as preparing for my wedding next month so its been a little hectic. That said, today I bring you a Shelter shirt I picked up on my last trip to Tokyo. If you ever happen to make a trip out to Japan, make sure to hit up Disk Union, a series of record stores which cater to different genres per store. The 3 floored store in Shinjuku has 2 floors dedicated to just metal...pretty amazing. Anyway, I managed to find this sitting on a rack, marked as Used in the Shibuya store. It only cost me about 800 yen which is roughly about $9 US give or take. This was printed for the Quest For Certainty record and features the original cover art that Equal Vision Records released. Back print has the record title...solid pick up for such a small price. Im a big fan of navy blue (sorry Brian) and the lighter blue I feel compliments it well. Ive seen this on Ebay every so often so hit up our friends the Tee Till Death crew and get them to hunt it down for you. Solid shirt from a great band.

Shelter - Quest For Certainty (1998 Re-Release)

I did a lot of research to make sure this record is no longer available before posting. Originally released by Equal Vision Records, this was re-released in 1998 by Revelation Records and has since gone out of print (again). You can buy a new copy through Amazon for $138 (!!!!)...don't even pretend that you entertained the idea. Maybe Rev is planning on making this available as a digital download through Itunes but as of now, this is unavailable. While Shelter was not the first hardcore band to include members who were Hare Krishna, as far as I know they were first ALL Krishna band. Lots of kids kinda scratched their heads when Youth of Today were broken up by Ray Cappo so he could become a devotee. Ray re-emerged with Shelter which was intended to be his last musical endeavor (it wasn't). Its a tough race between which is the best Shelter record for me...it always comes down to this and Mantra with Mantra just barely winning (hey that's just my opinion). I know labels are going strictly vinyl and digital downloads only but when neither are available, its a pretty big bummer. It also includes 3 tracks of chanting and traditional Indian music as well as a sermon.

EDIT: I was informed this is available through emusic.com so the link has been taken down.