I know I say “this is it” a lot, but THIS IS IT! It’s not every day you get to work with your childhood heroes. I’m still kind of pinching myself. WV040S is none other than literally Knights Of The Abyss!
I know this band needs no introduction, so I’ll focus on the art, the audio, the process, and what this release means to me. I will also say that of course, Juggernaut is probably one of the most influential deathcore albums ever made. Hard stop. EVERYONE remembers the JFAC days, the KOTA overlap, the deep lore. The goodnight and Godspeed. The HADLOCK baby. Just honestly too much culture to even touch on. Its like, doing a WV release for the metal equivalent of The Beatles but good, you know? Like what can you even say?
At the very least, I will say that Juggernaut and DOTDA are like, formative to my tastes and musical development. The soundtrack to every breakdown video. The top post on every blogspot. One of the bodies of works that actually propelled me in to the music scene. I used to go on The Gauntlet all the time, and remember reading about DOTDA, getting hooked, burning a CD and hamming it in my car for 3 months straight, and then like DYING when Juggernaut came out. There was almost no better first material to debut album cycle from any band ever. Just absolutely seminal.
When I got ahold of Nick from KOTA and pitched it, I think the connection was immediate. He immediate understood what I was talking about with WV and wanted to max out on everything. I hit up Jamie, he hit up the rest of the guys, and we got cooking.
I knew I wanted to really play up the ship from the OG cover. Iconic. I knew this art would be hard to one-up while still feeling relatable and nostalgic. I’d seen some painting by Guang Yang and his gritty style and earth tones really spoke to me for this. He was immediately on board and let me go big on this. And when I say big, I mean BIG. A complete continuous painting stretching like, 30 feet. He had to cut it in to 4 sections and scan them in at like a museum archive center. Every part of the gatefold is a separate art that unfold to be 100% uninterrupted. Its BONKERS. It’s the deathcore MAHCIU. I can’t believe how good this art came out.
Not to be one-upped, Kai from Lab 13 did all the layout and formatting and really got this presentable. Placement, all the little touches and inserts just have such a sick level of polish. Thanks Kai!
The art is one thing, but I know we’re all here for the audio. Nick and I scoured the internet, old computers, personal drives, CDs, everything. What I have here is the best quality, definitive versions of all the songs you know and love. The full OG version of Juggernaut. Decapitation of the Dark Ages. The Hadlock version of Hellbent. The 06 demo. Two full LPs of remastered demos and Juggernaut. Its Juggernaut and these other Excavated Corpses. I promise you you’re going to laugh out loud when you hear how good these sound. You’re going to think they’ve been re-recorded. Zach over at Third Eye Studios truly cast a fricken spell or something on these tracks. Like, I know I say this kind of stuff all the time, but its very VERY good.
Great art? Check. Great audio? Check. Expansive liner notes and content? You bet. Its really a collector’s release on the best eras of KOTA. You’re going to love every part of it. Which brings us to the wax!
This 2xLP set is available across five variants and 305 copies:
50 Siglock (Wax Vessel Signature)
50 Megasig (Wax Vessel Signature)
50 Welcome to Sigalot (Wax Vessel Signature)
50 Dragon Pie
100 Unleash The Sig-Eating PVC
5 Golden Mage
All of this housed in:
1.5x thickness matte gatefold jackets
Double sided matte full color insert
Black polylined innersleeves
Gold foil numbering
Stuffed into polybags
Heath over at Wax Mage has really taken some extreme liberties wit this wax. The sigs are unlike anyting you’ve seen on a 2xLP set. Its just opulent and honestly you don’t deserve it, haha. I mean, Thumbscrew set the bar so high, and I think this is exactly what you want the first WV 2xLP insta to be.
Additionally, since I think this is more than just fashion/hype material, I did the /100 on just pure natural PVC. It’s a bit of a throwback, and I did want a true audiophile variant. I think as cool as a swirl would have been (which on a 2xLP it was never going to be a splat /100) the PVC just plays so well with the art. Is just, clean and direct. Sometimes its needed and I think it works here.
So there it is! One of my finest moments. As a fan of the band and of the scene/culture that Juggernaut flourished in, this was such a treat to bring to life. Its been a long 14 months in the making, but I’m so happy to show you the fruits of all this labor from the band, artists and everyone involved. I think an insta 2xLP is no small feat! I hope you dig it!
These are in hand and will go live on Monday March 21st at 1:00pm CST.
*SHIPPING OVER THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND*
