Haha, I hear ya. I've been mindlessly focused on Japanese rock/metal for the last year and I've come across some real doozies for album covers (some would probably be traumatizing to most metalheads ) One thing I've noticed is the band (or just the vocalist) appears on the album cover far more often than over here. I think a lot of these covers are taken during the PV shootings, so it probably saves on money. I'm finding a lot of stuff is fundamentally metal (on a musical level), but the aesthetic is completely changed.

I'm finding that Japan is a goldmine for melodic metal these days - I'm discovering bands faster than I can afford them.

Perdition666 - you've seen my trade list right? I have two Japanese things in there that may be of interest.
I hope like shit I haven't said that to you before but forgotten

@ dreadmeat

I think you did, can't remember though. I actually haven't delved into 80s Japanese metal yet. I probably will eventually. The list of stuff I want (releases from the last few years) is a mile long, so everything else will have to wait. I do want the Blue-spec CD 2 pressings of Seikima-II one of these days though. If I did target stuff like Loudness and Anthem, I'd probably go after the SHM or HQCD pressings.

I see! that Metal Macbeth is an odd one...

Just got a good deal from RapeTheDead, Type O Negative's Bloody Kisses, Bolt Thrower's !Vth Crusade, Eyehategod's Southern Discomfort and As Fire Rains Down From The Sky and The Codex Necro by Anaal Nathrakh for $20 (plus shipping).

Yeah, last year I did a big order from them around the time of the Spiritual Healing reissue...same type of situation with poor communication. They sent it to my billing address not mailing address long before listed release date, and then tried to get me to pay shipping again when it got returned, which I only found out about when two weeks after when it was said it WOULD release, I got in touch with THEM (they never tried to contact me and they had the package come back weeks before, I later found out). Really disappointed me, because their physical product is top notch and I would like to be able to support them directly. Didn't seem to make sense to me that they seem to be great at every other aspect of what they do, but I've NEVER had worse mail order service.

I finally got my hands on Ghost Reveries and Watershed (the latter one a special edition) by Opeth. Two purchases long overdue, I got them for a mere 28 Canadian dollars. Sweet as fuck!

I bought Foster The People - Torches for $5 w/ free shipping.

Marillion-Sounds That Can't Be Made (2LP)

I now own all 17 studio albums by Marillion on LP, some of them are original 80's presses (the first five albums), most of them are reissues, and some of them (this one and the Happiness Is The Road records) original recent presses.

Japan is awesome for most things, im sure there is tons of great music from there. But if you look at video games and tv shows/anime, I think that aesthetic transfers over in many ways. I really enjoy Japanese culture and hope to visit soon + the women are gorgeous imo.

@Mojo Bundy sounds like the same exact experience as me, I had to contact them to point out their failures multiple times and even after emailing them it takes 2-5 days for a response that looks like it took 15 seconds to create.


Anyway just got a trade in from Warcrust,

Besatt - In Nomine Satanas MC
Besatt - Hail Lucifer MC
Bilskirnir/Hunok - Allied by Heathen Blood MC
Inquisition / Profane Creation ‎– Summoning The Black Dimension In The Farallones / Nema MC
Nargaroth ‎– Herbstleyd LP pic discs

Going to be a cold evil worshiping winter

The latest batch of CDs.

Apocalypse - Abandon Hope
Bastille - Electric Animation
Borrowed Time - Borrowed Time
Cyperus - Blow It Out Your Ass
Dead Lord - Goodbye Repentance
Guerra Total - El Armagedón Continúa
Longings Past - Meadows of Maseilya
Longings Past - An Angel's Tale
Lord Ryür - Pact with the Sinner
Realmbuilder - Blue Flame Cavalry
Sacrilege - Turn Back Trilobite
The Obsessed - The Church Within
Traitors Gate - Devil Takes the High Road
Uhrijuhla - Uhrijuhla

Unlight Dawn - Unlight Dawn
Luxuria De Lillith - Sucumbidos Pela Carne
Permafrost / Annihilation 666 / Menneskerhat (split)
Persekution - Demo II
Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
Death Mechanism - Human Error, Global Terror
Odor Mortis - Shining Substance

Moonblood - From Hell


Xasthur - s/t
Flauros - Suicide
Flauros - Third Curse
Circle of Ouroborus/Cosmic Church

Ok, part 1 of 3: a couple of MA deals, 1 purchase and 1 swap

MA purchase

Anal Cunt – I Like It When You Die [UK]
Autopsy – Mental Funeral [remastered reissue in a super jewel box, sounds good man]
Cathedral – The Ethereal Mirror [1996 US reissue]
Cruciamentum – Convocation Of Crawling Chaos [2011 Nuclear Winter, the church of Incantation]
Dark Angel – Time Does Not Heal [GER, 1999 reissue]
Deströyer 666 – Cold Steel…For An Iron Age [promo and it's not meant to be!]
Deströyer 666 – Cold Steel…For An Iron Age [Russian license, oops...]
Diocletian – Decimator [more insane black death, includes a Bolt Thrower cover]
Exhorder – Slaughter In The Vatican / The Law [2 from the vault]
Grave Miasma – Exalted Emanation [Digipak]
Impiety – Dominator [SIN, super jewel box + slipcase, wicked ep this one]
Macabre – Gloom [2001 reissue, excellent stuff]
Pestilence – Consuming Impulse / Testimony Of The Ancients [2 from the vault, optimal media matrix version]
Repulsion – Horrified [2 disc reissue, US version]
S.O.D. – Live At Budokan [GER, reissue]
Triptykon – Shatter [UK, EP with a couple of CF covers]
Vader – Sothis [Metal Mind reissue]

MA swap deal

Bestial Raids – Reversed Black Trinity [Polish black/death, ripping stuff indeed]
Deiphago – Filipino Antichrist [HHR jewel case version, I love this, recorded in Satan's armpit by the sounds of it too, a bit rough]

from today

Today's haul:


Donnerschlag "Silent Storm" (MCD) [power metal]
el-Ethnic Legist- "Anubis" (MCD) [folk/J-rock w/ power metal elements]
Satanic a la mode "Iron Girls' Power E.P." (MCD) [doujin ongaku / experimental power metal]
Hydrangea "Reverse" (MCD) [power metal]
Hydrangea "Left of Truth" (MCD) [power metal]
Hydrangea "Secrets and Deadly" (MCD) [power metal]
Iron Attack! "Fairy Tale" [doujin touhou / power metal]
Iron Attack! "Paper Moon" [doujin touhou / power metal]
Iron Attack! "Burn in Hell" [doujin touhou / power metal]
Iron Attack! "Star Dust" [doujin touhou / power metal]

part 2 of 3, from a mate here in Auckland

Asphyx – Death…The Brutal Way [CD+DVD in a slipcase, not for me]
Destruction – Cracked Brain [GER, repress]
Destruction – Mad Butcher / Eternal Devastation [GER, repress]
Impiety – Funeralight… [Digipak reissue]
Impiety – Terroreign (Apocalyptic Armageddon Command) [Digipak]

Death Angel-The Dream Calls For Blood (vinyl)


Speedtrap-Powerdose (cd)

My haul from Regimental Records' Ebay store. 15 cds, all new and sealed and I only spent $22 with shipping. Pretty much the steal of the century,and they also included a free cd with some stickers. Nothing but great things to say about this label.Definitely pick stuff up from them if you can. Here my list too:

HELCARAXE - Red Dragon
N.I.L - Neglect.Forget.Remember
OPEN GRAVE - Fear
SAD / SAPTHURAN - Black Winter of Desolation
YSKELGROTH - Unholy Primitive Nihilism
BUSTUM - Demonolosphy
FORLIS - Tissue of Life
GRAFVOLLUTH - Long Live Death
HEIMAT - Heem
IUGULATUS - Call of the Horned God
KAMA RUPA - Kama Kontra Kontrol
NIL ABYSS - Nil Abyss
OCCULTUS - Inthial
PESTIS - Yersinia Pestis
WARGRINDER - Erased Seeds of Ignorance
Sorts-Made in Nightonia

Riot - Born in America (LP)
David Bowie - David Bowie Live at the Tower Theater (LP)
Neil Young - Live Rust (LP)

New score this week:


Cradle of Filth - Dusk... and Her Embrace (Double Lp)
Cradle of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast (Double Lp)


Der Stürmer - Transcendental Racial Idealism
Der Stürmer - Areifatoi (7'' Ep)
Der Stürmer / Wehrhammer - Split (7'' Ep)


Troll - Drep de Kristne ( Gold lp + shirt)


Dissection - The Somberlain (Picture Lp)
Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane (Picture Lp)
Dissection - Reinkaos (Picture Lp)

Vinyl:
Unholy - Blood of the Medusa
Code Orange Kids - Love is Love, Return to Dust
Disembodied - Heretic
Orchid, Dance Tonight, Revolution Tomorrow

CD:
Path to Misery - Disarmament
Path to Misery - s/t
Pale Creation - Twilight Haunt
Skagos - Anarchic
Harvest - Living With a God Complex

Tape:
Arizmenda - Without Circumference Nor Center

Ulver - nattens Madrigal
Trillium - Alloy
Leave's eyes - symphonies of the night
Edenbridge - my earth dream
Epica -retrospect. (wow, Simone really isn't great live at all. After being a bit underwhelmed after seeing them last year, thought I'd get the DVD anyway as I really like them on the album, again disappointing)

Also got a beanie at the satyricon gig, as it's getting really cold here and I've already got a satyricon shirt.

Second leg of my "2013 catch-up" sprint, again c/o Dark Descent:

Beyond - Fatal Power of Death
Grave Miasma - Odori Sepulcrorum
Lantern - Below
Zemial - Nykta

Incendiary stuff all around. What a sick year.

Yes-Close To The Edge (CD/Bluray)

This is the 2013 Steven Wilson remix with the 5.1 surround mix on the bluray. SW did a tremendous job remixing the King Crimson catalog for surround, and he's now been commissioned to do the Yes back catalog as well, with this album as the starting point. Should be awesome, especially Fragile and Topographic Oceans.

And a few tapes in the mail today:



Circle of Ouroborus - Uskottomien kirkossa (Tape)
Circle of Ouroborus / Cosmic Church - Split (Tape)
Viha - Towards the Black Infinity (Tape)

Nice! I only got the split. How are those two others?

What on Earth is that green goo? I mean drink, drink... that's it.

I was gonna say the same thing. Looks like cancer in a cup. Or at least some brutal diarrhea waiting to happen.

HAHA!

looks dangerously a lot like an absinth-tonic mix, no? Come on Forestcorpse, metal archives is dying to know what you drink in your free time in your frostridden cabin of doom !

Is it not a moss smoothie?
Two things Norway has a lot of: moss and ice, although I'd prefer to look at them not drink them

I need to get my ass to Norway so you can mix me one of those... concoctions corpsie!

Avatarium - S/T (Leif Edlings newest band, with female vocals. Actually quite surprised I liked it, since femalefronted rarely gets to me.)
Benediction - The Grand Leveller (NB 1st press)
Brutality - When the Sky Turns Black (Metal Mind reissue digi)
Celtic Frost - To the Megatherion (2009 reissue)
Cemetary - Black Vanity (1st press)
Demigod - Slumber of Sullen Eyes (2006 Xtreem Music reissue w/ demo)
Inbreeding Rednecks - Abnormal Life Portayed (danish death metal, really cool)
Master - Collection of Souls (2009 reissue)
Non-Fiction - In the Know
Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise (1st press)

Some of my cds have arrived.



Maaäet has a 28 page booklet, which is just beautiful.

Good hauls!

For sure!

I need to buy me another copy of that Merciless reissue, since the one I bought a while back was actually a CD-R instead of a factory pressed CD... I know, bizarre, and even more considering it was factory sealed and the digipak has the red embossing and all of that. Life sucks sometimes...

... Which is why the opposite of the scale also occurs from time to time. Got my copy of Das Tor today, to which I was already prepared due to the photos posted in this very thread, but to hold it in my hands is really something else! And the detail of the black envelope bringing the Digibook inside is just...

Altars of Madness came with the Live Madness DVD and the other ones came with posters.

Obliteration - Black Death Horizon CD from Fnac. I'm picking up a lot of new releases thanks to the Fnac next to my work.

After my score from Regimental Records last week, I now bring you a copy of Desultory's Bitterness and Swallow the Snake, both first pressings. Also got a steal for these at $13 for both when Bitterness itself is fetching $30 and up elsewhere. Definitely one of my favorite melodeath albums i'm now very happy to own.