Doom is it!

Over the past several years I have been impressed with the amount of thrash, doom, and sludge metal that has become 'popular'. Bands like Mastodon, Baroness, and even newcomers Howl or Black Tusk, have rapidly become the 'it' bands amongst metal fans. I will be the first to admit my admiration for metal, but it must have a killer drummer-or I turn my back. Metal is groove, and if you don't believe me you need a quick dose of any Pantera album.

So what happens when you take a bunch of consumer hungry metal fans and the re-submergence of record collecting? COLOURED LP'S!

Labels such as 'Relapse Records' have been around since the 90's, and have always had limited runs of their albums, but they rarely sold out. In 2002 I would use Relapse.com as my sole provider of metal new releases. I would buy an album a month after it was released, and I would still get an album limited to 500 pieces of vinyl.

Fast forward 8 years? Baroness albums on their third and fourth pressing. Same with Mastodon. And- to hit the collectors bank account even further, they were pressed in multiple colours. Below you can see a few of the recent Mastodon and Baroness releases.


The quality of artwork is most impressive. Baroness front man John Baizley has created all of their covers, as well as many other metal bands. Isn't it about time? Besides the odd filth oriented band, metal has produced some wonderful lyrics in its tenure. Epic covers to match these bold themes are to be expected. Like the power of Maiden, Megadeth and early Metallica covers, Relapse has done some top notch work.

Many of these LP's have held their value, and many early Mastodon albums can catch quite a bit on Ebay Let's just say that I'm glad to have started collecting before this recent wave of intensity!

Currently listening to:

Howl: Full of Hell
Black Tusk: Passage Through Purgatory
Baroness: Red Album
Baroness: Blue Album
Mastodon: Remission

Many thanks to 'Qua1l' from TMCC who hooked me up with these LP's.