REFUSED - THE SHAPE OF PUNK TO COME 2 x LP

The Shape of Punk To Come is considered something of a late 90's hardcore classic in many circles due mostly to the experimentation the band showed on this record, something often lacking from the genre for better or for worse.  The bands previous album Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent is pretty much a straight up hardcore album, while this album saw the use of electronics, stringed instruments, melodic passages, riffs not typical of hardcore and the songs were generally longer and mid tempo.  This alienated some fans but seemed to gain them a lot more in the long term, many of whom were unfamiliar with the album until after the band had broken up.

This album has been repressed a few times since its original release but was pressed on a single LP and to be honest didn't sound great.  I have a copy of the original press but wanted to get the 2 LP for the improved sound quality.

I haven't had a chance to listen to it but word on the street is that it sounds much better.

The copy I picked up was from the Euro Kings Road Merch store on white vinyl limited to 300, which I believe is the rarest variation.  It also comes on blue out of 500 and black the numbers of which I'm sure are huge.

White /300

TRAP THEM - FILTH RATIONS

The latest release from Trap Them and their first on Southern Lord takes the form of a one sided 4 track 12" with an etching on the B-side.  I'm not sure when the whole one sided 12" thing took off but I'm certainly seeing it a lot more now than in the past.  I would have been happy with a 7" but this also works.

The EP features 3 new songs and one re-recorded from their first album for what seems like no other reason than to pad this out a little.  I do like this but the songs don't have the same impact as previous releases.  Still, the material is solid and I have high hopes for the next full length, whenever that will come out.

Black /???

BLACK BREATH - HEAVY BREATHING

Heavy Breathing is the debut album from Black Breath released on Southern Lord a few weeks ago.  Black Breath play an Entombed influenced style of metal that you could refer to as death 'n' roll if you wanted to but I always thought that term was kinda stupid.  The guitar tone reminds me of Clandestine era Entombed anyway.  This album is a lot more metal than their first EP too.

Some people will probably write the band off as an Entombed rip off but I'm into it.  Judging from the back cover photo the band don't seem to take themselves super seriously anyway.  Heavy Breathing is a great album that I'm sure I'll be rocking a lot over summer.

Blue /494
Clear /???

MESHUGGAH - ALIVE

I'm not really a fan of live albums and don't own more than 1 or 2 on vinyl.  When I left my last job I was given a £50 gift card for HMV which was a pretty good gift and I bought a book and LP with it the day after I received it.  Every time I went into HMV after that there was nothing I wanted for months on end so when I saw this I decided to pick it up as it was priced at £15 the exact amount I had left on my gift card.

For a live album, it's actually pretty solid.  The sound is decent and they play a good selection of tracks, the glaring omission being "Future Breed machine".  It's actually a rather similar set to the one they played when I saw them in 2008 so that adds a little something.

Double LP, one black, one white /???

COALESCE - FUNCTIONING ON IMPATIENCE

I own more versions of this than I probably need.  I first picked up a copy on black vinyl many years ago.  I then found a copy on blood red vinyl from the second press and not long after that picked up a copy of the first press on green.  I wanted a copy of the 6th, and at the time final, press on tricolor vinyl with the silk screened cover so picked one of those up.  Then in late 2008 the LP was repressed again for the 10th anniversary and I picked up a copy on blue which was the Blue Collar Distro exclusive colour if I remember correctly.


To be honest this is the weakest press.  The die cut sleeve is alright but the lyrics and other information that was originally contained on the inside is printed on the back so the original artwork that made the release look so cool looking is only partially present here.


If you don't own a copy of this and want one I recommend picking up one of the earlier presses with the cool art and additional vellum sleeve.

As for the music, I don't like this as much as "Give Them Rope" but Coalesce haven't released a bad full length so the content is still very good.


7th Press on blue with orange splatter /268