New Column of Heaven Song!

For those who don't know, Column of Heaven was basically The Endless Blockade after The Endless Blockade broke up. However, now it just has the bass player and maybe the drummer. The released a tape EP last year exhaustingly titled, "Ecstatically Embracing All That We Habitually Suppress". Definitely a cult release that I didn't  hear a whole lot of people talking about. Well, CoH are now finishing up for a new release, and have put up an unmastered track called "Barghest Jugend" on their Bandcamp page. Fans of TEB should definitely find a lot to love here, it keeps the same basic sound they had, except with full-time vocals from the bassist. Noise, blasting, sludge break, it's all there. Give it a listen here and await the new release. No word yet on when it will be release. 

~VII

Pig Heart Transplant/The Endless Blockade - split Review

It's always sad to see a great band break up. Late 2010 saw the unfortunate demise of The Endless Blockade, one of modern powerviolence's most impressive and musically mature/developed bands(In Disgust and Thousandswilldie also broke up that year, endless bummer). This split with Pig Heart Transplant is their final goodbye, their swan song release, which will probably be a big deal to a lot of people, and be judged under that context. Going into it I expected TEB's contribution to be on the noisey side, given who their sharing this split with. Pig Heart Transplant(the noise project of Jon Kortland, the guitarist/vocalist for Iron Lung) give us a 3-part-mini-epic of droning noise with vocals and percussion thrown in. This is my first exposure to PHT and I have to say I was dreadfully unimpressed. I appreciate noise music, but this just did nothing for me. The piece just kinda stayed in build-up mode but didn't actually climax to anything. Sonically, it was unimpressive to. There was an early Swans vibe, but I feel that the 4 1/2 minute time limit PHT was stuck to hindered the song from developing more. So already half of the split left me unimpressed. The Endless Blockade's side is almost definitely left over material from a previous recording, possibly from the "Primitive" album. Only two songs from them, one being noise, and the "lead" track being a mid-tempo sludge dirge. Many, including myself, will be a bit let down by the lack of fast tempos. But looking at it again, it feels like the last song to any one of their albums; the slow climax after a career's span of fast songs. Unfortunately, it's not a very good one. After listening to it a few times, I still have a hard time remembering the song, it's just anti-climactic. I feel like the excellent 14 minute epic "Deuteronomy" from "The Red List" split with Bastard Noise would have been a more fitting ending to the band. Dissapointing finale, but at least we still have the rest of their discography to enjoy. 

Rating: 5/10

~VII

VII's Recent Purchases

I got a crap ton of records the last couple days, and more are on the way, but for now I'll only show some pieces that I'm particularly excited about. Unfortunatly, I don't have a turntable at the house I'm currently at, so I can't tell you what most of these sound like. First up is the Pig Heart Transplant/The Endless Blockade split 7" put out by Superfi records, black vinyl, 45 RPM. I purchased this from To Live a Lie.

Excellent packaging with super, super great artwork. The record is packaged in a 3-panel fold out, heavy weight sleeve with lyrics and more art printed on the inside. Definitely evident that a lot of care and effort went into this presentation. This is The Endless Blockade's official swansong release, and I'm expecting it to be more on the noisy side given who they're sharing this split with. Super excited to spin this. You can still pick it up at a few distros including Give Praise records.

Next up is the brand-spanking new Capitalist Casualties/No Comply split 7" released by To Live a Lie. Will sent me the "pill bottle orange" version (limited to 100) to review, so expect that sometime next week. The CC side is a live recording from 1994 and the NC side is taken from a split with Charles Bronson that sadly never happened. The orange vinyl one's are going fast so pick one up real soon!!

Gorgeous vinyl

Next up is The Endless Blockade - "Turn Illness Into a Weapon" 12" on black vinyl with a double-sided insert. I got this from Vinyl Junkie, and I just have to rant about this purchase for a bit because it was not a good experience. Now, I've ordered from them 3 times prior, all with good results, but I don't know what the fuck happened with this one! First up, it took about 3 weeks for my purchased to "finish processing", and I should have gotten Dystopia's - "s/t" LP with it, but apparently someone stole it, or it disappeared some other way. Which is weird, cause you'd think if someone ordered it, it would be taken off the shelves. Anyway, this record finally arrives, and I open it up to find no padding, no protection, nothing. Just the record in the LP mailer with a few random things thrown in. Major, major, MAJOR no-no!!! The record wasn't even mailed outside the sleeve, leading to the inevitable split seams and dents. Also, it had a big as fucking sticker on the cover(not advertised with this information), which I thankfully managed to get off without tearing, but still an unpleasant surprise. Fucked up order, but I got another order from VJ coming in the mail soon, and hopefully that one's better. If not, I probably won't order from them again. Anyway, here's the record. 

Lastly is the vinyl version of Fuck the Fact's - "Die Miserable", released by Relapse Records on clear vinyl with a double sided insert. Topon Das messaged me asking if I would be interested in buying a clear version off him(the clear Relapse records are limited to 100 and only given to the bands and the employees, not sold to the public), and of course I bought it right up. Thanks a lot dude!! I've talked endlessly about this album on here in the past, and let me tell you that it is awesome. Very awesome. Expect a full review in the near future!

By the way, here's a little fun fact; I own this album in all the 3 mediums it was released.

Fucking stupid.

Other records purchased:

• Magnum Force - "Self Loathing" 7"
• No Comply - "s/t" 7"
• Mesrine/Sakatat - split 7"
• Mind as Prison - "Maryland Grindcore" 7"
• Deathrats - "Give Up" 7"
• Jurassic 5 - "Power in Numbers" 2x 12"
• DS-13 - "Killed by the Kids" 12"
• Napalm Death - "Fear, Emptiness, Despair" CD

~VII