Ran out of time. Forcing me down… deep into pain
First off, many thanks to all readers new and old for making last week a successful one. A lot of interaction and views of the material we made available. It warms our ancient blood.
On to this week… life has been super busy, hence I am the intro bitch yet again. Thankfully, Jake, Jim and Zahler have stepped up to the plate with contributions. Speaking of Mr. Zahler… he has a new book ready for consumption which we will touch upon at the close of this desperate, last minute rant. But before I depart, I want to leave you all with a topic of discussion… CD or vinyl? Are you partial to either medium? With the inflated cost of vinyl, do you find yourself buying less, or do you fill the gaps with CDs? Feel free to expound! -Marty
Marty Rytkonen Playlist
Panopticon – Roads to the North Master (Get ready folks… this one is a brain melter!)
Cemetary – An Evil Shade of Grey
Cemetary – Godless Beauty
Overkill – Horrorscope
Waldgefluster – Meine Fesseln
A Canorous Quintet – Silence of the World Beyond
Falls of Rauros – Believe In No Coming Shore (Again…. another mind blowing musical journey. Can’t wait for all of you to hear it!)
Coroner – R.I.P.
Darkthrone – The Underground Resistance
Dawn – Slaughtersun (Crown of the Triarchy)
Jim Clifton Playlist
Thunderwar – The Birth of Thunder
TrenchRot – Necronomic Warfare
Vàli – Skoglandskap
Vex – Memorious
Summoning – Dol Guldur
(and now, the old sh*t 🙂
Megadeth – Peace Sells … But Who’s Buying
Metallica – Ride the Lightning/Master of Puppets
Ozzy Osbourne – Tribute
Kiss – Smashes, Thrashes and Hits
Alice In Chains – Facelift
S. Craig Zahler Playlist
Sacriphyx – The Western Front (Clifton is right– this was one of the few best of 2013)
Vastum – Patricidal Lust
Crypticus – They Called Me Mad
Zombified (UK) – Backroom Eugenics
Offal – Macabre Rampages and Splatter Savages
Lymphatic Phlegm – Show-Off Cadavers
Now onto some exciting Zahler news…
S. Craig Zahler’s weird science fiction book, Corpus Chrome, Inc. is now available in paperback, hardback, and ebook editions from Amazon and other retailers. Here’s what it’s about:
Decades in the future Corpus Chrome, Inc. develops a robotic body, dubbed a “mannequin,” that can revive, sustain and interface with a cryonically-preserved human brain. Like all new technology, it is copyrighted.
Hidden behind lawyers and a chrome facade, the inscrutable organization resurrects a variety of notable minds, pulling the deceased back from oblivion into a world of animated sculpture, foam rubber cars, dissolving waste and strange terrorism. Nobody knows how Corpus Chrome, Inc. determines which individuals should be given a second life, yet myriad people are affected. Among them are Lisanne Breutschen, the composer who invented sequentialism with her twin sister, and Champ Sappline, a garbage man who is entangled in a war between the third, fourth and fifth floors of a New York City apartment building.
In the Spring of 2058, Corpus Chrome, Inc. announces that they will revive Derek W.R. Dulande–a serial rapist and murderer who was executed thirty years ago for his crimes. The public is horrified by the decision, and before long, the company’s right to control the lone revolving door between life and death will be violently challenged…
Worm Gear 
I’ve built my music collection around CD’s since I purchased an Iron Maiden 1st Ten Years CD and Sepultura’s Beneath the Remains oh so long ago. I do pick up vinyl occasionally (and a bit more frequently lately), but for releases that I’ve heard and really enjoy and move me. I try to only stick to gate-fold LP’s as they are cooler and, like Marty said the prices of vinyl are ridiculous. It is stupid to pay high 20’s for a non gate-fold single LP. Hardcore and Punk LP’s aren’t this expensive, most metal labels are manufacturing obsolescence with limited runs, so people pay more for them. Also dumb are vinyl releases with no digital download codes.
CD’s are cheaper, easy to transfer to the ipod, convenient for transporting, etc.
I stopped buying cassettes in about 1990. I will pick up a demo on cassette every couple of years…but no matter how hard people try to make a cassette comeback, I’m not going back. It’s nostalgia, which is okay by me, but not for me.
Playlist
Suicidal Causticity – A Spiritual Decline
Scanner – Hypertrace
Jess and the Ancient Ones – Astral Sabbat
Fyrnask – Eldir Nott
PS – The Sacriphyx demo compilation that NWN put out earlier this year is also very enjoyable.
I’m a digital download guy. I love services like bandcamp. Occasionally I will buy a cd if that is my only option.
Waldgeflüster – Meine Fesseln
Holly Williams – The Highway
Jason Isbell – Southeastern
The Lone Bellow – The Lone Bellow
Red Fang – Whales and Leeches
Peste Noire – La Sanie des siècles – Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
Peste Noire – Peste Noire
Ash Borer – Cold of Ages
Alcest – Écailles de lune
Absu – The Sun of Tiphareth
Patty Griffin – Go Wherever You Wanna Go
Noumena – Death Walks With Me
Cannabis Corpse/Ghoul – Splatterhash
Wolves in the Throne Room – Two Hunters
Altar of Plagues – Teethed Glory and Injury
Deafheaven – Sunbather
Woods of Desolation – Torn Beyond Reason
Ah, the Format Wars stir once more…
I’m a metal fan but also a second-generation record collector. I don’t have a big collection and don’t want one; I just buy the albums that I like, assuming I can afford them. However, I have no problem with CDs or mp3s in many cases. Whether I get the vinyl, CD, or a d/l depends a lot on what I consider the ‘original’ format to be. If an album was first released during the 80s, I probably want it on vinyl. if it came out in the 90s, I probably want it on CD, and if it came out in the 00s I might be alright w/ mp3s. There are lots of exceptions, a big one being genre. For example, I have no real interest in vinyl of death, power, or black metal; cd’s or mp3s are fine. For ‘trad’ and doom I’m more inclined to get vinyl. It also depends on how much I like the album. Atlantean Kodex is a new band, but they rule my world, so vinyl it is. ‘So Far So Good So What’ is alright but not something I play very often or consider collectible, so mp3s are sufficient. Having moved around a lot, keeping physical media collections to a manageable size has always been a priority, so even a lot of really good stuff (e.g., most of my Judas Priest & Iron Maiden albums) have gotten relegated to mp3s over time. the advantages of digital formats that someone described above are important; a lot of my listening time is now during my commute, so vinyl is limiting in that regard (my turntable can generate mp3s, but it takes some time to do so).
My collection is built primarily on cd’s and overall it is probably my preferred of the tangible formats. They are easier to handle and store than vinyl and vinyl is simply too expensive for me as my primary format. I do think vinyl is the superior as far as being aesthetically pleasing and in terms of sound quality, but at $25 or more a pop I can’t justify purchasing vinyl on a regular basis. I have a 5 disc cd changer and I like that I can set up a 5 disc playlist and play it continually versus having to change a vinyl album after each listen. I reserve purchasing vinyl for certain albums and sometimes I go on these mini vinyl kicks where I buy more vinyl. I find myself purchasing downloads more as time goes on. I agree with Cirkus-Lizard it should be standard for all vinyl albums to come with a digital download especially for the prices that are often being charged. I still own cassettes and listen to them on occasion, but probably won’t purchase them on a regular basis anymore, unless it was something rare or cheap. Although I have seen mini comebacks with cassettes over the recent years with certain underground and hipster circles…I’m not buying into it.
Waldgefluster – Meine Fesseln
Falls of Rauros – The Light That Dwells In Rotten Wood
Krypts – Unending Degradation
Black Sabbath – Heaven and Hell
Black Sabbath – Mob Rules
Faith No More – Angel Dust
Iron Maiden – Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Vinyl first. Cd Second. Tape third. Mp3 last. Standard cassette tapes certainly aren’t exemplars of sound, as they have typical high-end roll-off, thereby sounding a bit more flat or dull than a CD or vinyl. However, they are great and practical for demos and promos. I buy tapes for that purpose. However, as far as digital, it is my last resort. I want something tangible and real I can hold on to when i put money down for something. Everyone here that participates ‘buys’. That is meaningful enough. A lot of passionate suckers we all are!
Playlist:
Nickelback – Don’t Take any Wooden Nickels
Stevie Wonder -Haven’t I Seen You Before?
Ruins of Beverast – Rain Upon the Impure
Incantation – Mortal Throne of Nazarene
AEvangelist/Esoterica Split
Indesinence – Neptunian
Star Gazer – A Great Work of Ages
Zemial – In Monumentum
Coffin Texts – The Tomb of the Infinite Ritual
Kever – Eon of Cycling Death
Church of Disgust – Unworldly Summoning
If the album was recorded digitally, then going to vinyl or cassette means a loss of fidelity, and unless you want the additional loss or analogue noise that creeps in, it seems that things recorded digitally should be listened to on CD.
Likewise, analogue albums geared for two sides— from the seventies and eighties—I like to have on vinyl, since they were designed that way and have the warmth in the original masters.
And I concur that cassettes are purely nostalgic— like the VHS revival in the indie horror scene. I’ve never listened to a cassette that sounded better than a record, to compare analogue formats, though CDs also sound better than cassettes. The cassette rectangle also messes with the shape of the art—making it even smaller or chopping it—and there is often bleed from side A to B or side B to A in quiet spots. Really, a bad format that took off because it facilitated private recording and putting a full Aerosmith albums in your Camaro.
If somebody wants to bring back reel to reel tape that is taken directly the original masters, that might have some validity and sound benefits.
Zahler: Good points. “If the album was recorded digitally, then going to vinyl or cassette means a loss of fidelity, and unless you want the additional loss or analogue noise that creeps in, it seems that things recorded digitally should be listened to on CD.”
I would disagree –not in essence–but on a few points. I am not exactly sure about the analogue noise you speak of being audible. You can master from digital to analog with analog outboard gear and even better, final to 1″ or 2″ tape. That will create the dynamic warmth you are talking about, and also drop he finite bit rate max out. IMO better than the CD version, assuming the master for vinyl is specifically mastered for vinyl, and not just taking the CD press cut and using it for vinyl (big mistake and happens all too often).
in any case vinyl masters are cut to CD anyways, which is digital. Can someone get me some duct tape please? : _ )
this response technically a little beyond me, though i understand it theoretically, and like you, i wonder how many people do this. i can say that the other half of my band realmbuilder (jh halberd) does a separate master for our vinyl editions, and it’s a time consuming job.
also, on vinyl is the reality that after you go about 18 minutes on a side, you start to have a quite noticeable drop in sound quality. certainly, current albums are generally way over this time amount—not a lot of 36 minute albums these days—and there are reasons i don’t listen to my sons of northern darkness on vinyl. even shorter albums suffer some— by the time you get to shell shock on side 1 of battle hymns, things are less spacious/less separated. still, i do prefer that album on vinyl.
Yes! This is really a big issue that labels try and save money on. They squeeze 21 or even 23 minutes on one side! There is a huge reduction in gain. a 18 minute side is gonna have near a full 0DB signal while a 21 to 22 minute side is gonna have anywhere from -3db to – 6db! not to mention the loss in low end. yeah, my take on it is, if you are gonna release the album on vinyl, DO IT RIGHT. otherwise don’t do it at all. it is already expensive enough.
Physical/material items for the classics, the things that will always stay with me, mp3s for flavor of the week stuff/whatever’s currently hitting me. The goal is to move stuff from the latter category into the former. 🙂 Vinyl will always be the top for me, but I’m old.
Anal Vomit – Demoniac Flagellations
Anatomia/Necrovorous split
Corpsessed – Abysmal Thresholds
Elysian Blaze – Levitating the Carnal
Elysian Blaze – Blood Geometry
Eyehategod – Dopesick
Inferno – Omniabsence Filled By His Greatness
Irkallian Oracle – Grave Ekstasis
Lvcifyre – Svn Eater
Murmur – S/T
Praise the Flame – Profane Cult EP
Sacrocurse – Sulphur Blessing
Sheol – Sepulchral Ruins Below The Temple
Surrender of Divinity – Oriental Hell Rhythmics
Unholy Crucifix – Ordo Servorum Satanae
War Master – Blood Dawn EP
Zahler – BTW, should of said this from the start, but congratulations on your new book! Very cool indeed. Wish you monumental epic success!
Thank you. Corpus Chrome, Inc. is a weird one and very different from my brutal westerns, but should interest readers who dig authors like Ted Chiang, Gene Wolfe, M. John Harrison, PK Dick, and Ursula Leguin.
And I received the Trenchrot album in the mail from the label—- it’s very solid and enjoyable, one of the best traditional death metal releases since the second Hail of Bullets release a few years ago, On Divine Winds.
Thats weird, because after read the synopsis and saw the cover, that first author I thought of was precisely PK Dick. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? !
I am a CD man. I never got bit by the vinyl bug; it just never made sense regarding storage, weight , vulnerability, practical listening, etc. The only vinyl or CS I own are because I find the material to be exceptional and there is no CD version available. I certainly understand, and do not deny, the plethora of arguments and/or positive aspects of various formats; I simply find the CD to possess the best possible combination of desired attributes. Easy storage, relatively light weight, and durable; yet still retaining the crucial elements of layout, art, lyrics, and ‘physical atmosphere’. I dislike digipacks, oversize, sleeves. “Suspended Disc” jewel case with a great booklet is my preference. Thanks for the opportunity to voice an opinion.
Current Playlist:
Caarcrinolas – The Egg
Eald – Through A World Impatient For My Death
Parnassus – Demo II 1995
Waldgefluster – Meine Fesseln
Infected Virulence – Music of Melkor
Drygva – Son of Rod
Solstice – New Dark Age
Schammasch – Sic Lvceat Lvx
Cemetary – An Evil Shade of Grey
scarlet,
to clarify, i mention pk dick in terms of some of the larger than life characters & metaphysical ruminations & overall mind-bending approach, but my book doesn’t deal with artificial intelligence.
Re: cassettes- they were always a lousy format IMO, and I grew up during the height of the cassette era. Tiny, cropped artwork, easily damaged medium, couldn’t cue to the start of a given song w/o repeated fast-forwarding and rewinding….. sorry, no nostalgia here. I was more than happy to ditch my cassette collection years ago, having upgraded most of the material to better formats over the years. I’m amazed that some bands try to score some retro-kvlt-cool points with cassette-only releases these days. In my opinion it’s like a new movie bypassing IMAX and instead being exclusively released in nickelodeon machines. Some things really were inferior and deserve to be buried in time and dust.
I get that vinyl is not for everyone, but a few points re: the argument that vinyl is too expensive:
1. I’d say you typically pay ~ $8 extra for vinyl ($15 vs $23 for CD vs vinyl, respectively). Percentage-wise that is significant, though in absolute dollars it’s the price of a Whopper value meal.
2. Another thing to consider is resale value. CDs of most new releases are only worth a couple of bucks after you purchase them, whereas used vinyl retains a higher resale value.
3. Finally, if price is the primary concern, then one should choose mp3s over CDs since they are the cheapest option for obtaining the album.
Playlist-
Judas Priest- Sinner
The Stooges- Funhouse
Humble Pie- King Biscuit live ’73
JUST ARRIVED- Seidr- Ginnungagap
Nightsblood,
I appreciate what you are saying there, but I think your math is a little bit fuzzy on the price difference. $15 is at the absolute high end of the cd price range, therefore a little bit minimizing of the actual price difference. For example I just ordered 3 cd’s this week TrenchRot $10, Seidr $12, and Waldgefluster $11 for a total of $33. If those were available on vinyl and I purchased them at $23 a piece as you mentioned it would equal $69 which is more than double what the cd’s costs. That is a significant difference for me and my music spending budget and one of the reasons I don’t regularly purchase vinyl on a regular basis, but not the only reason. You are right that downloading is the cheapest if price is a major concern. The download itself is cheaper, plus you eliminate shipping and tax. Personally I have no problem with other people buying whatever format that works best for them though.
A lot of good feedback here. Many thanks for taking the time. Ultimately, this fishing for some sort of a pattern in music fans buying habits is as all over the place like it is everywhere else. As a label owner, it gets frustrating when you put out a CD and the feedback is, “When’s the vinyl coming? I’m holding out for that”. Release a vinyl and you hear, “When is the CD coming out?” It is tough to gauge these things anymore and ultimately, sales of tangible media across the board is in decline.
As for myself, I find that this past year I have bought more vinyl than normal, but still CDs reign in my world. They are durable and easier to store. And price is always a factor. You can get new CDs anywhere from $5 to $12 and a new vinyl release tends to be over $20. Often times, I prefer a record due to the superior art display and like Zahler said, old metal that was recorded analog, just sounds great. DIgitally recorded metal can also sound fantastic on wax… they master it purposely for that. But again, if I can get 2 or 3 CDs for the price of 1 LP release, I’m going in that direction. It’s the same mentality I had when CDs came in. They initially weren’t cheap and I would stick to buying 2 cassettes for the price of 1 CD. And what a pain it has been over the years phasing out the tapes in my own collection with CDs. At times, favorite releases of mine, I would own all 3 formats. Not a wise dispersal of $$.
The resurgence of cassettes… I have had too many great tapes eaten at the hands of shitty car stereos or a shitty boombox to ever truly like that medium. But hey…. they sure beat 8 tracks and yeah I’m old enough to have had a few of those in my time.
MP3… I get it. They save on space eaten up by a real music collection. Folks that live in tiny apts just don’t have the space to amass a sizable spread of music. I love bandcamp for the ease of checking out bands, but have never, and will likely never buy an mp3. I rarely download at all anymore. Youtube and bandcamp are 2 amazing sources to preview before you buy.
In the end, I’m from the generation that simply needs to buy an actual release and archive it away. If a computer dies, my collection remains intact. Someday when I’m dead and gone… well… then it’ll be something my son and wife will have to deal with. I sure hope Parker ends up liking “Daddies music”. haha
And I never figured out why the industry themselves seem all too eager to call out for the death of CDs. Production cost alone is enough for labels to hope it never goes away. Putting out vinyl is crazy expensive.
>But again, if I can get 2 or 3 CDs for the price of 1 LP release, I’m going in that direction. It’s the same mentality I had when CDs came in. They initially weren’t cheap and I would stick to buying 2 cassettes for the price of 1 CD.
Yes. 🙂
I think it would be challenging as a label owner to trend what format people are buying music in, especially when there are legitimate advantages and arguments for each of the 3 major formats. I am sure this is why most of the bigger labels release many albums in vinyl, cd, and mp3. For smaller labels that cannot afford to release an album in all formats I would think they would have to make a decision on what format to release it in and realize that they aren’t going to make everyone happy and miss out on some sales. Personally I am willing to buy an album in any of the 3 formats if I don’t have options to choose from. As a consumer I am glad I have the option of all 3 formats to purchase because it gives me a lot of flexibility in purchasing and I get to decide what format attributes are most important to me when buying a particular album. I don’t think the cd will ever totally die, at least within the underground. I think there are too many people in the underground that like to have something to hold on to with artwork and liner notes. The cd might die at the mainstream level where music is a little more disposable and less emphasis is placed on art, liner notes, etc. Vinyl has proven it will never die and may continue to resurge in popularity, which I am glad for. MP3’s are obviously here to stay for the foreseeable future. Honestly I don’t think it is very smart from a business standpoint to not have a digital download purchase option available on a release anymore. Whether people like it or not music purchases will continue to trend in the digital download direction.
I would like to comment as well, that within the digital download spectrum, one can also download FLAC or ALAC (Mac users). FLAC/WAVE is exactly the same as a CD. So the options for digital don’t limit a buyer to just MP3s which are just okay. I do understand ITUNES and the like don’t offer that, but in the Metalsphere we breathe in, there are a multitude (usually) of download options, mostly Bandcamp. But you know, if one can’t afford a decent stereo or a ready nice pair of headphones, then 320 MP3 is totally fine i think. You wouldn’t be able to hear the different on Apple Earbuds, or something like that for example…
A lot of which format is better really boils down to an issue of ones budget / economics. Not in all cases, but I think for Metalheads in general, if vinyl where cheaper, then people would be buying more of it. And the even bigger problem: if one goes for the true vinyl experience, the record player and preamp and speakers that go along with it are fucking expensive!!! Buying a $100 turnable with a cheap amp and average speakers is not gonna get any tangible sound results. You are better off sticking with CDs or digital. Real high quality record players start at a bare minimum of $500. Anything lower, well, no good honestly..But the whole vinyl industry that sells all products around this issue it is a fucking racket. They price everything so high that its just fucking ridiculous. The next level up from $500 is like $1500 or something. That is a huge fucking jump.