The Cratedigging Co-Op

This thread is any sort of music that fits somewhere on the hard rock or heavy metal family tree. This could be anything from Black Sabbath to Iron Maiden to Van Halen to Thin Lizzy to Entombed to Darkthrone to Monster Magnet and all points in between. Contemporary bands doing things in this general area are also welcome, as are obscurities, reissues from the vaults, etc.

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Heathen - Breaking the Silence CD



Late 80s thrash metal with a pronounced melodic edge. I found out about this band over 15 years ago when an older metalhead guy gave me a mix tape of mostly bands from the 80s. Both this album and the band's follow up (Victims of Deception) are great. If you want to track this down, be warned that any pressing (whether on CD or LP) is going to be very compressed and loudness war'd if it's one after the late 90s. My copy is a CD reissue on Century Media from 1998. Ideally you probably want to track down an old Roadracer CD or LP.

Discogs Link

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Only Living Witness - Prone Mortal Form/Innocents 2xLP



Putting this here because I don't know where else to put it, but it really doesn't totally fit in here either. Of course this is something that is not going to appeal to everyone, and I can see a lot of folks dismissing this as "grunge" or whatever, when it's the furthest thing from that if you listen carefully. OLW were nominally a post-hardcore band, but not the way that term is used today. If you've ever heard the 90s group Quicksand, that is the closest thing I might compare this band to (they were contemporaries) but OLW have a heavier sound overall and some different influences going on.

The first album in the set is more formative, but the heavier of the two. I didn't like this one too much when I first heard it, but it's grown on me. The real reason to get this is for "Innocents", which is one of the best albums of this heavy, melodic 90s post-hardcore genre IMHO.

In terms of this pressing, I wouldn't say it's the best but currently it's the only way to get either of these albums only vinyl AFAIK. The mastering is a bit overcooked, but nothing that would make it unbearable per se. If you see this for a reasonable price out there, it's worth grabbing if you really want these albums on vinyl. Otherwise I would say buy older 90s CD editions if you can. The remastered 2xCD comp of the two albums is basically loudness war'd, though not as bad as some CD releases these days. It does feature a nice booklet and some interesting bonus tracks though.

Jonah Jenkins Interview

Discogs Page

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^Interesting, I hear the Quicksand connection. I also hear the "grunge" thing you are talking about although you're right it's not really that style either.

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^I posted the interview so people could get an idea where the band was coming from. I tend to look at them this way: whereas Quicksand sounded like Fugazi meets Helmet a lot of the time, OLW were doing the post-hardcore thing with influences like Leeway and maybe Best-Wishes era Cro-Mags and Black Sabbath. Unfortunately at the time, anything with loud distorted guitars and melodic rock vocals would get tagged with "grunge" even if it had nothing to do with "grunge" at all. Take the Afghan Whigs for example, they often got lumped in with grunge although if you listen closely their stuff (particularly the incredible Gentlemen album) sounds like post-punk band with Stax-era soul influences.

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