Yeah, it's totally mind-boggling to say the least. I don't suppose anyone saved pictures of the (now removed from Bigcartel) JI records, especially AASS? I want to add AASS to Discogs along with the Bigcartel 'press release' in the release notes so I can point out the obvious discrepancies between their promises of 'the highest possible quality', 'top quality vinyl release' versus the misprinted, cheaply 'designed' abomination that is the actual product. I have a picture of the front, but a picture of the back cover (and, if possible, pictures of the actual record) would be highly appreciated.

Shit, i thought I'd saved them among the screenshots of the then-soon-to-be-nuked threads, but it appears I didn't take enough care

I hate thieves as much as anyone.
I also really like the music of Nachtmystium. Regardless of how actually 'evil' the mainman is or was or shall be, I consider their albums from Instinct Decay forward as ranging from good to wow.
Anyone know if there is any firm release date for the comeback Resilient?

As far as I know and have read around the net, tracking is done and the EP is technically ready to be released. Prophecy even put out a release date that was supposed to be around early 2018.
From that point on, nothing from either the band or the label, who, in my opinion, took a huge risk signing Nachtmystium after the debacle with The World We Left Behind. What was Prophecy thinking?

As I have prefaced before, I also really enjoy Nachtmystium musically. Unfortunately, some of my opinion has been clouded by the "Blake Judd Circus"... but the band has a ton of music that I really enjoy.

That said, 'The World We Left Behind' wasn't good... 'Silencing Machine' was solid but not great. Apparently the drugs have wilted Judd's creativity. So, I'm not really expecting much from 'Resilient', if we ever actually hear it.

And it shouldn't have to be said, 10 pages in, but DON'T BUY DIRECT if it does come out!

Removed from Bigcartel, fortunately still available on Discogs! Buy now, or cry later!

Kinda surprised to see Discogs allowing ‘unofficial’ releases to be sold in this case.

Yeah - suprising as their usual policy is to disallow the sales of all unofficial releases.

I think someone posted that they need "official" confirmation that it's unofficial: so Sombre, Elegy, Red Stream, or Akhenaten have to officially announce it as bootleg for them to take it off.

I'm kind of in the same boat as you. Not to excuse what Blake has done at all, but as someone who has struggled with his own addiction issues and family addiction issues, I empathize with his struggle. I really loved Instinct Decay and Black Meddle Pt. 1 so I am still interested in what he has to say and am rooting for him to become a better.

Who the fuck pays 40 dollars for Judas Iscariot anyway?

Kvlt-ass collectors who care more about the amount of views on their unboxing videos than music.

I wouldn't mind having a few of those records on wax, but I can easily live without them as well - and I'm certainly not coughing up that much cash for a single lp, even if it were to be issued by a legit label. Too much format fetishism these days.

That's the insane thing... It's not even an officially sanctioned record and they're charging $45 for it! Not to mention that there is no way the sound quality on these releases are great, since everything is unofficial and without high quality source files.

The music files have to be as bad as the art files.

i thought they said they were going to stop selling on bandcamp? i still see them selling physical items on their despite "bandcamp's percentage being too high".

he's selling his band's unreleased album on there and the vinyl apparently has 3 different versions and each version has a different bonus track on it. i still see two JI releases on there also. he doesn't even have his own band's releases on bigcartel. WTF IS HAPPENING

Very erratic and incoherent behavior indeed. Wouldn't surprise me if both Bandcamp and Bigcartel told 'em to stop selling those JI bootlegs due to some legal notice or whatever, which would explain why they resorted to Discogs. I also wonder what happened to that ridiculous 'An Ancient Starry Sky' record, can't even imagine for a second that anyone who ends up receiving it thinks 'yeah, killer release, now that was a US$ 40 well spent, quality stuff here!'

I'm almost tempted to seek out a copy just for laughs.

i had cancelled my order once i realized i knew it was a bootleg. they claimed it had shipped and if it had shipped i could keep it plus my refund. i didnt get it though.

Well, don't get your hopes up..

It's most likely all USPS's fault!

What if all this time it's been an elaborate plot by USPS and various other shipping services to defame Blake and smear his sterling reputation. We're hitting some deep lore for sure.

I hadn't seen he was planning on putting out a new Nachtmystium album though. Honestly at this point I'm surprised that Prophecy hasn't quietly struck him from the roster. That being said, I'll be pleasantly surprised if it actually gets released, and suffice to say, I'll be ordering from Prophecy directly, even if the shipping from France is extra.

The notoriety and ridiculousness of this whole scandal may end of giving this release a wholly unexpected worth one day.

Oh, no doubt about it! Someone added AASS to Discogs and there's a statement in the gatefold that made me chuckle. What kind of idiot would even remotely consider mentioning something along the lines of 'hey you guys for real this not a bootleg no matter what those mean internet trolls want you to believe'. And what the hell is up with that 'thanks to Judas Iscariot for enabling others to build a career out of black metal' remark? These people seriously have NO clue at all!

What the flying fuck?!?!

When you think you saw everything...

"Intentionally high quality" hahahaha

This is my new favorite inlay statement. I thought Ildjarn's final statement was overblown nonsense. This on the other hand, is flat out lying and fabrication.

My favorite parts are "unleased" and "uni que."

Wow!

I have to say, the spelling errors alone prove that nothing about these releases was "intentionally high quality"... And using the liner notes to deny that this is a bootleg is pretty hilarious. They may not have succeeded in their intended scam, but at least they've given us a comedy goldmine.

is there a bigger/higher resolution version

All versions of "An Ancient Starry Sky" - including the Elegy Records version - are bootlegs, this is why the album is no longer listed on this site. Akhenaten owns all the copyrights to Judas Iscariot music, and any releases after "Midnight Frost" are unauthorized. This is directly from Akhenaten, not hearsay.

Honestly I feel bad for any of the fans accidentally being ripped off after reading this thread.

Not as far as I know, but here's what it says (including spelling errors):

"This LP is not a 'bootleg', nor are any of the other AMM reissues of Judas Iscariot's
select discography we have unleased in the year of 2018, contrary to internet hearsay.
Licenses and official documentation outlining the terms of these licensing agreements
were made and are on file in the business vaults of Ascension Monuments Media,
servicing as proof that the copyright holdiing parties,
in this case Elegy Records USA and Red Stream Records USA,
both gave AMM their full blessing for these uni que and intentionally
high quality vinyl reissues. Made by fans, for fans.

No corners cut, no price too great.

The music of JUDAS ISCARIOT paved the way for many to build full careers as
Black Metal artists from the United States... a concept once thought to be comical in the global
metal community. Some of us were there, and some of us will never forget what Judas Iscariot did
for American black metal.
Hail Akhenaten! Hail Judas Iscariot!
Ascension Monuments Media, July, 2018"

I feel bad that Akhenaten basically had to end his decade-plus long silence just to denounce this nonsense.

Between the Google image search cover art, amateurish layout, off-center "___/250" and now a typo-laden disclaimer saying "Don't believe the internet gossip this is definantly NOT a boootleg, furthermore, Judas Iscariot was a freaking great band" I absolutely wish I'd bought a copy of this legendary piece of garbage, lmao

Wow I just looked at the entire thing on Discogs and holy shit, even more egregious typos:



"After twenty yeasrs hidden away in the depths of the underground,
an unknown monument is unearthed...

American Black Metal legend JUDAS ISCARIOT'sl
ong lost 1998 album, ' An Ancient Starry Sky' is unleased.
Originally to be released on CD in 1998, this album was delayed
and put to the side to make way for
'Heaven in Flames' to be released, which was recorded in the very same year.
As time went on, the bands priorities became focused on new things and this
album was left to the wayside and kept safely tucked away in a
priavate collection...until today."

Did they even look at this shit before they printed 250 of them?

They had to keep it authentic. It's from his priavate collection after all.

you can really tell the level of care that went into these not bootleg releases. for fans, by fans.

i would be so confused as someone that didnt read anything about this debacle if i were to receive those jackets. it makes me laugh they they keep insisting on telling people that may not know shit about any of these posts to basically go out and find the posts and read them. then to have all these ridiculous amounts of typos in the jacket too, have free google artwork as the front cover and to misprint the /250 AND THEN TO SAY THESE ARE HIGH QUALITY. WHAT THE FUCK.

edit: just looked back, didnt realize it was for AASS. i can't believe they even felt the need to print out a glossy paper to slip inside the not bootleg sombre records. they are off their fucking hinges.

You know, there’s at least one thing he said that’s correct. If you were an American who wasn’t around when Darkthone released “A Blaze” or “Under a”, chances are you were turned on to black metal by Judas Iscariot. I never liked anything he did, but he did reach many Americans that missed the church burnings. I’m not so sure it’s a good thing, USBM has always been a really strange beast but some of it’s good. I can see why some would be nostalgic about the band.

EDIT: just tired listening to “a starry sky” on YouTube. Urgh. I don’t know what it is that makes my skin crawl when listening to that band. It said in the description it was actually a compilation of alternative track versions, not a real album. Blake is so funny.

You can almost HEAR the shaky junkie fingers clunking against the keyboard...



That's actually the most insane part of it all. 1) It proves that Blake lied about when he put the albums into production. 2) Tells people who may have no idea about all of this drama. 3) I also guarantee that they made double what they said they made... Just like we now know that he made at least 100 of the DiSN boot'd Sombre records because no one does an order for 40.

I do love how Blake/Erika-Noel/Jeff Wilson are flailing now. Pretty funny to actually see these janky records after all the drama!

I don't know whether this is true or not, because I haven't followed closely enough to know the timeline. But it takes about three months after submission for vinyl to ship from the pressing plant. Inserts like this can be done from a separate printing house and might turn around in as little as two weeks. We are currently having the inserts printed for a record that we haven't even sent off the plant.

Ball-parking, AMM would have sent the music files for this release to the pressing plant some time around the middle of May, most likely, assuming the vinyl just shipped recently.

But it's not an insert, that statement is literally printed inside the gatefold cover. It was probably printed somewhere at very short notice.. these became available early August and the statement mentions 'July 2018'. No way these records unexpectedly 'came back from press a month early'.

So I just happened to check their Discogs profile, and noticed that they no longer have anything for sale through that account. Was this a recent event? Did Discogs block them from selling or are they just trying to shut it all down while they still can?