Nine Inch Nails

In honour of today's news that Nine Inch Nails are now officially "active" again I'm playing their 1994 masterpiece "The Downward Spiral".

In a "note" Trent Reznor explains about some extensive touring plans for 2013 and 2014. I haven't yet seen the band perform live, so I hope I get my chance on this tour. And let's hope for a new album as well!

To sell, or not to sell?

I use Discogs.com as a database to keep track of my collection. What's really good about Discogs is that it's also a marketplace where you can have wish list and easily buy the stuff you want, as long as there is a seller who has it.

Last night I got an offer on this item:

It's the first demo tape from Amon Amarth. The offer I got was quite big, $180. I'm not really a collector of Amon Amarth it's just a cool item that I got when I bought a small collection of demo tapes some years ago. Selling it would would give me money to buy more vinyls so maybe I will?

Torche - Harmonicraft

It becomes more and more evident that 2012 was a brilliant year, record wise. I'm having a hard time putting a best of list as I have at least 20 albums that I want on a top ten spot...

Torche's "Harmonicraft" is one of them. This is really another one of those incredibly interesting bands that you can't put into one genre. There is equal parts Baroness, Mastodon and Foo Fighters, to name a few. I would probably call it sludge-pop.

It's a really cool vinyl edition with a lollipop coloured slip mat and the album is presented on a clear vinyl.

My Ljudkassett collection

This is a picture of my complete collection of Ljudkassett releases so far.

I've mentioned this brilliant new label a few times earlier. I was lucky enough to just have discovered the band Skogen Brinner when they were to release a cassette on the newly started label Ljudkassett. This release was the labels first and it was released simultaneously with number two, "Too Fast For Ove" by Massgrav. I was impressed by the two first releases so I decided to buy the next one as well. And that I'm really happy about! The third release was by the band Goat which grew extremely fast last year and eventually ended up releasing one of the most praised and best albums of the year. Since the cassette was a limited release of only 100 copies it has increased insanely in price. I got it for under 100 SEK and if you want it today it seems to cost at least five times that, for a cassette!

Since then the label has had a steady flow of quality releases in more or less any genre, which I find to be great! I have been lucky to not miss out on any so far, some of them seem to sell out within a day or two. The last one I actually bought while I was in my bosses office, waiting for her to set up for a meeting we were supposed to have. Luckily for me I got the Salem's Pot cassette as it was soon sold out.

I'm looking forward to more great releases from the label and I'll hopefully be able to get my hands on every single one of them!

Sacramentum - Far Away From The Sun

Sacramentum - Far Away From The Sun

I remember when my friend Daniel played this record to me back when we were living and studying in Hultsfred. I was really into death metal back then and had only briefly listened to bands like Dissection. He played a lot of this stuff to me and this record is one of the best from that time.

It is Sacramentum's debut originally released in 1995 just when Swedish death and black metal reached it's peak (if it just hasn't already). It was recorded by the infamous Dan Swanö who was responsible for a lot of great records at the time.

The music is best described as a blend of death and black metal with a melodic touch. The comparisons with Dissection is inevitable.

This record stands out as one of the best in Swedish extreme metal, but unfortunately it hasn't got the attention it deserves. Maybe now with this re-issue finally seen a release?

My Bloody Valentine - M B V

This morning My Bloody Valentine released their new album, entitled "M B V".

It was released digitally and to stream on Youtube. I pre-ordered the vinyl which also comes with the CD and an imidiate digital download. This is the first album they release since"Loveless" which was released in 1991(!). I've only had the chance to listen to the album once, but it sounds promising! This album sounds more "Loveless" than "Isn't Anything", I was maybe hoping for some more "IA"-stuff...

The closing song "Wonder 2" was the song that made the most impression on me on the first listen.