February in doom and darkness: GRČ “Sloboda Narodu” LP, PAUL CHAIN VIOLET THEATRE “Opera 4th” gatefold LP and PAUL CHAIN “Live a Cattolica 5.08.1988” LP are up for pre-orders!!
February here is usually one the most gray and depressing times of the year and for this reason we have decided to concentrate on this month not 2 but 3 of our darkest, doom-soaked releases to date. Those who have been keeping an eye on our previous works know that we’re not new to digging from the archives old and rare PAUL CHAIN recordings (remember the “Mirror” double LP collection), so now we’re ready to deliver 2 more gloomy classics of this Italian sonic wizard. And in addition we are stoked to introduce you to GRČ and their legendary “Sloboda narodu” (1987), by many considered as one of the best Dark/Rock/Punk albums from what was then Yugoslavia… So, to cut it short: pre-orders for GRČ “Sloboda Narodu” LP, PAUL CHAIN VIOLET THEATRE “Opera 4th” gatefold LP and PAUL CHAIN “Live a Cattolica 5.08.1988” LP are up now! More in detail about each vinyl offering..:
GRČ “Sloboda Narodu” LP (F.O.A.D. 088)
Unsung heroes outside their country for us one of the greatest treasures that the Yugoslavian Rock scene spawned in the 80s, GRČ were formed back in 1982 in the early Punk/Dark/New Wave scene of Rijeka, Croatia. Their album “Sloboda Narodu” originally released in 1987 only on tape represents one of the most gloomy and hopeless expressions of negativity that whatever you may label as Dark, Death Rock or Post Punk has ever conceived. It transpires blood, secular blackness and distress at its purest form. Their musical approach is a solid amalgamation of Doom tinged post-industrial Rock (think of early Swans and Young Gods) with uncompromised Dark Punk atmospheres. The incredible downtuned vocals of their ominous frontman Zoff consolidate a feeling of solemn black decadence that go hand in hand with wonderful lyrics, a desperate cry for freedom in a landscape of war, urban decay, social oppression.
With the opening track “Noćas se Beograd pali” (“Belgrade’s burning tonight”) they somehow predicted the bloody conflict that dismembered Yugoslavia few years later, and the mood is equally hopeless on the following “Blood is still running” or “Black gloves“. The album also includes a musical trasposition of the 2WW poem “Jama” (“The pit”) by Ivan Goran Kovačić, one of the strongest and harshest examples of anti-war poetry ever written. By releasing this masterpiece for the first time on vinyl (as back then there were no funds to go beyond a limited run on cassette) we are proud of making justice to what we consider a completely undiscovered classic representing an area that has always been vital in terms of musical creativity. Today’s newcomers of Dark and DeathRock should take their hats off to a band like GRČ.
Remastered from the original 1/4″ reels, housed in a special rough reverse board jacket including a 8 page booklet with lyrics (also translated in English), rare photos and flyers.
AVAILABLE IN TWO DIFFERENT VERSIONS:
Die-hard edition on smokey grey vinyl (limited to 100 copies)
Black vinyl (limited to 200 copies)
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PAUL CHAIN VIOLET THEATRE “Opera 4th” gatefold LP + poster (F.O.A.D. 090)
Official re-issue of this Psychedelic Doom Metal masterpiece originally released in 1987 and sold out (on vinyl) for almost 3 decades. This high quality edition has been entirely remastered and comes in a full glossy gatefold cover also including a two-sided A3 poster with the creepy “Death devours men and beasts” art + two poems written by Giancarlo Bolther. Paul Chain started out in the horror-shock band Death SS in 1977, a band that combined evil occult Metal and theatrics. In 1979 he formed Paul Chain Violet Theatre while he was still in Death SS. He later (1984 to be precise) left Death SS to concentrate on Paul Chain Violet Theatre, shortening the name to Paul Chain in 1987. The various Paul Chain incarnations released a large number of albums ranging from Traditional Doom (often coming close to very early Black Sabbath) to more experimental music, and gained massive underground fame in doing so. Amongst others, he has worked with Lee Dorrian (Cathedral) and Wino (St Vitus). “Opera 4th” is an apocalyptic journey into the most deviated realms of this genius’ creativity.
It starts with the 30 minute long experimental madness of “Our Solitude (Birth, Life, Death)” a space-doom nightmare dragging the soul into a cryptic universe of psychedelic synths and vocal echoes. The 3 songs on Side B bring us back to a solid, Sabbath-tinged (doomish) Metal approach that at times recalls Paul’s early steps with Death SS and at times develop into ’70s rock strangeness, like the closing “Resurrection In Christ“. All in all, Paul Chain is a musical genius and anybody into Traditional Doom and Metal in all its forms should check out his work.
AVAILABLE IN TWO DIFFERENT VERSIONS:
Die-hard edition on color-in-color electric blue vs aqua blue vinyl (limited to 100 copies)
Black vinyl (limited to 400 copies)
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PAUL CHAIN “Live a Cattolica 5.08.1988” LP
Limited edition of 300 copies on purple funeral vinyl. Ultra rare and never-heard-to-date live recording resurrected from the archives of Marco/EVERSOR that booked the show (known as “Metal Devastation: Live!“) at the time. This incredible performance offers us P.C. at one of the peaks of his unmatched talent, backed by a legendary line-up with even Sanctis Ghoram of DEATH SS singing on 3 songs.
After a sinister intro, this incredible set bursts through songs taken from “Ash“, “In the darkness” to the classic “Inquisitor” from DEATH SS‘ “Evil Metal” EP and as icing on the cake delivers 2 completely unreleased ones that never made it on any studio album. Hands down one of the most enjoyable live recordings in the entire PAUL CHAIN discography, the sound has that typical raw and intense feel of many 80s Metal recordings, and it has been specially mastered for vinyl at Toxic Basement Studio, for the best possible sonic impact. Includes rare photos, the original flyer of the show and a detailed liner note written by the Italian fan club of this genius!
