I’m telling you, you are NOT ready for 2023 to keep unfolding here. Up next is the legendary Culture Killer!
If you know me, you know that I’ve got a soft spot for Hunter Young. Between Silence, Bodybox, DOG, Moodring, the man is a machine. But after Silence, THE Hunter band for me HAS to be Culture Killer. They’re one of the most abrasive, hard to pin down bands there is, and I can’t wait to show you the presentation on this kind of “sandwich” discography here.
I rememberbeing a big BTT fan and coming across the stream for Denial. It was this weird blend of really kind of “southern core” style but it was also super emotive and structured in a super unique way? It’s got a lot of like, Pantera undertones, but hardcore riffs and big breakdowns (that don't really get fully realized until Throes) (and later, some fake slams). It’s such a weird medley of so many different elements. Literally a genre pusher. I mean yes, at it’s core it’s tough guy hardcore with death metal riffs but I think it’s so much more than that! It immediately stands apart from the pack and I think thats what Metal Blade saw too when they got signed up immediately. Not cheesy southern levels, but enough focus on riffs and solos and stuff to really kind of give it some charm here.
It's just such a dynamic discography. Like, Denial would fit in as a Chugcore title. And then Throes is this mature, mainstream appeal southern-edge hardcore/punk album with death metal riffs and breakdowns. And then The self titled wraps around at the end and takes ALL that lineage and influence and growth, and just really "Swamp Sounds" it. Like, more slams, better production. Its an exercise in pushing extremes and dynamic growth. THIS is how your band can be "progressive" without adding cleans. Be smart like Culture Killer.
Unreal sound. God-tier logo. Hunter project. Killer art. Like, it was the perfect love story. But then they were done, and we were sad. UNTIL a few years later they came back with an INSANE final EP. It’s the perfect endcap on an insane discography.
For this release, we’ve taken everything but the full length and combined it in to one cohesive work here: SKINGLUEDSHUT. It’s the “long lost” first material, the singles, and the final EP. Grab a copy of Throes from Metal Blade, and you have the full thing! This body of work is SO important, and even without Throes I think its such a great representation of the evolution of CK. I think this WV release has all the presentation this material needs to be exalted as high as Throes. I think this body of work is such a great compliment to Throes, but also, you could completely remove Throes and this can be its own thing too. It’s just really Culture Killer distilled. I’m so so happy with this body of work and how it turned out.
For this one, I knew I wanted to do something big, and really do some cool stuff with the art here. Its an amalgamation of so many things, but I really have to thank Kai at Lab.13 for taking insane raw materials and spitting out this art and layout. Similar to the Oejerum covers, the amazing Paul van Trigt was able to create a half dozen amazing panels that were spliced together to create this. I’m such a huge fan of his xerox work, doing something so rooted in collage and noise just really had the vibe that I was going for on this. Really matures it up imo. I don’t know, I’m just a sucker for xerox shit and I don’t think ANYONE does it better than p.vantrigt.
Audio was once again handled by the incredible Third Eye Studios. Zach was able to bring out so much on these recordings. Denial was given a huge facelift, and it really modernizes it. If you’re a CK fan, you’re really going to dig it! Really the only way to hear a lot of these tracks, and they’ve never sounded better!
This whole catalog is steeped in hardcore. It’s an evocative listen. If you’re not familiar, get acquainted! Absolutely one of the most unique acts to grace a JMI title!
This one-time pressing is limited to 305 copies across five variants:
50 SIGGLUEDSHUT (Wax Vessel Signature)
50 Sigterminate Filth (Wax Vessel Signature)
50 Sigtera (Wax Vessel Signature)
50 Denial
100 Overbearing Splatter
5 Golden Mage
All of this housed in:
1.5x thickness Matte single pocket jackets
Double sided matte full color insert
Black polylined innersleeves
Gold foil numbering
Stuffed into polybags
Hype Sticker’d
Custom WV Mailers
Matching WV Album art sticker
These are already on press, and will be shipping before the order date! Orders go live on March 10th at 1:00pm CST. See ya then!
