Music is my passion. I need it at all times. The influence it has had on me is undeniable. My record collection is much more than wax and cardboard. It is who I am. This documentation captures new additions to my collection. This is my addiction.
Mean Season were one of those 90's hardcore bands that I lost track of over the years. I really enjoyed their Bleed To Me 7 inch, and their comp tracks, in the early 90's, but I never had much interest in their Grace LP . As Marcus and I were wrapping up our conversation from the Initial Records first five project, he threw a few recommendations at me. He knew how hard I fell for stuff like…
This is my final post for the Initial First Five project that Marcus and I did. Initial Records number 5 was the This World Rejected 7 inch. Another Initial release that I'd never heard before and I kind of assumed that it would be some kind of tough-guy hardcore that would leave me unimpressed. WRONG. While this might be a little "tough", this record is so fucking good. Easily my favorite…
Initial Records number 3 is the Guilt 7 inch. This was really the only record from the first five that I was really familiar with. I'd originally picked it up around '93, and I assume that it was listed somewhere as "features members of Endpoint", so I quickly grabbed it and immediately loved it. It has been many years since I've really sat and listened to that Guilt 7 inch, but as soon as I gave…
Initial Records number two was the Ricochet 7 inch. I only discovered this band last year, when Marcus posted about their record. It always surprises me when I find a record like this that I'd never heard before. I liked to think that I was pretty knowledgeable about obscure 90's hardcore, but more and more I'm finding that I still have a lot of work to do. Thankfully, that tip from Marcus last…
When I posted a Beck record here back in June, I mentioned that I'd gotten into it because of a monthly music project that I've been doing with my friend Sarah, where we tackle an album from 1996 that neither of us are familiar with. I've found it to be a lot of fun to do my music homework each month, and then the two of us get together to discuss our thoughts on it. I was recently talking about…
Scheme Records is my go-to label for good music right now. I'm not interested in all that the label releases, but if it's on Scheme, I'll definitely be checking it out. So while, I'd never heard of either Square One or Turn Of Phrase, when I saw that the label was releasing split 7 inch featuring both of those bands, I figured that I'd at least give it a quick listen to see if it interested me.…
When I was in the Metal Blade shop picking up the new Armored Saint, I was surprised to see that they had a new Dead Heat album for sale as well. I mean, I know that I haven't been paying attention to discover new releases, but still, I thought that I might have heard along the way that Dead Heat had a new album out last year. The new Dead Heat was an instant buy for me. I didn't bother to preview…
I'm not gonna lie... it has been a bit of a struggle with new metal records this year. Hell, it feels like it's been a slow year for new music in general... but for metal especially. Here we are now seven months deep into 2026 and this is only my second new metal release that I've picked up. Has the year really been this dry, or am I just stuck in the past listening to old 90's hardcore records…
Touche Amore are a band that I've wanted to get into, but they just never clicked. I initially heard them described as having that 90's emo sound (which I love), but when I checked them out back in 2011, I didn't hear it and quickly moved on. I know that my blogger bud, Doug , was really into them at the time... but I didn't get it... and in recent years, I've heard a Touche Amore song here and…
Somewhere along the way, I saw that New Age was going to be releasing a record from a new band called See It Through . I was hot on New Age a few years ago, but then they suddenly just dropped off my radar. I really liked the Decline record they released back in 2022, but after that... I basically just stopped caring. Nothing the label was releasing seemed interesting enough for me to even check…
Pulling another New Wave Of British Heavy Metal record from Tim's collection. Demon are a strange fit in the NWOBHM as their debut, Night Of The Demon , feels a bit dated for its 1981 release. It feels like it crawled out of the mid 70's and fits better alongside more straight forward rock bands like Kiss, instead of the frantic energy of Iron Maiden and Raven... and because of this I kind of…
My collection for The Smiths consisted only of their two compilations, Hatful Of Hollow and Louder Than Bombs . While I was happy to pick up those two comps, it kind of triggered me to enterain the thought of collecting singles for The Smiths... and I feel like that could be a dangerous road to start down. Still, when the opportunity landed in my lap to pick up a couple of singles, I didn't…
It has been a while since I dipped into more of the records that I've picked up from Tim's collection. It took some time for Jeff to prep the next batch of records he was selling from the collection, and then I put stuff on hold with him and didn't rush to pay for it and pick it up... but I've got a little stack here now, so let's start to chip away at them. I really love New Model Army. When I…
There is something about obnoxious snotty punk that just feels perfect for summer. Yeah, warm weather and an "I don't give a fuck" attitude just go great together. I discovered Stiff Richards last year with their GFC 7 inch and very quickly I decided that I needed more than those two song. I decided to check out their State Of Mind album and it instantly became part of the soundtrack to Summer…
You know I'm a sucker for 90's hardcore right? And the more obscure the better. Like I should probably be out chasing Unbroken's Life Love Regret on blue vinyl, or something else that is equally important and crucial, but instead I'm over here grinning like a nut because I was able to pick up a record from 1992 that I imagine maybe a total of three people care about in 2026. A few years ago I…
When I was buying a couple of New Wave Of British Heavy Metal records from a UK seller, I figured that I might as well add to the order to try and make it worth the overseas shipping fees. I already own the one crucial Angel Witch album, the self titled from 1980, but the band has a few early singles that I've always wanted to collect as well. The first Angel Witch single was for Sweet Danger ,…
Jameson Raid were a New Wave Of British Heavy Metal band out of Birmingham in the late 70's / early 80's. They released two 7 inches during their career and shortly after my friend Jeff put the band on my radar back in 2021, I obsessed about them for six months and I grabbed one of their records . Man, I love this shit... young bands that just love what they are doing. They probably made a bit of…
I haven't done a good job of keeping up with collecting New Wave Of British Heavy Metal records. I had been steadily picking up pieces but saw it come to a grinding halt in recent years. Picking up the Gaskin record from Tim's collection earlier this year was a good reminder that I needed to get back to it. I don't spend the time obsessing over the NWOBHM like I used to, but there are still a…
At the start of this year I saw that Scheme Records was releasing an album from a band called Feels Like Heaven . I'd never heard of the band, and if I'd seen this record out in the wild I would have most likely skipped right by it without a second glance... but because it was on Scheme , I figured that I should take the time to check it out. I listened to a couple of songs and was interested in…
I guess that Method Of Doubt's latest EP, Total Soul Ignition , technically came out at the end of 2025, but since we didn't see the vinyl release until early in 2026, I'll probably include it as one of my favorite hardcore records for this year. I don't get tired of listening to anything from this band. When Scheme released a second pressing of the 7 inch, I didn't to hesitate to pick one up. Two…
A few years ago I really found an appreciation for The Smashing Pumpkins. I'd been tentatively checking them out around that time, but once I started talking to my friend Sarah about the band, her excitement for them had me tear down any preconceived opinions I had. Going in with an open mind, I was surprised with how much I really enjoyed Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness ... but I got so…
I still check the list of upcoming Record Store Day releases each year, but it is more of an exercise in confirming that the event only releases a bunch of shit that I'm not interested in. When I checked the list this year and saw that there was a new Lost Tapes record from Motorhead, I kind of rolled my eyes at the thought. This would be the 7th in the Lost Tapes series of live recordings from…
Last year I picked up the Collateral 7 inch from Scheme Records. I bought it on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. It's a really good straight forward hardcore record, so when I heard it mentioned on the 185 Miles South podcast that Collateral had a new split this year with Burning Lord, I quickly tracked down who was releasing it and preordered it. Each band does three songs here, two new ones…
Back in the mid 90's I picked up a 7 inch comp called What Still Holds True . I bought the comp strictly because it had songs from Chokehold and Burst of Silence, but ended up disappointed that those songs ended up on the bands respecive 7 inches that were released around the same time... so the comp 7 inch largely went ignored. At some point years later when I was hungry to discover some 90's…
After the third Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell album, Keep It Greasy , in 2016, I started to get a bit bored with the band. I really wanted to love their stuff, but I just didn't find myself wanting to return to it very often. I guess that could be said for a number of newer bands that I get hyped up for and then let their records sit untouched and collecting dust on my shelf for years after their…