HIRAX “Born in the streets 1983/1984” LP + booklet and JESTER BEAST “The lost tapes of poetical freakscream” gatefold LP + CD + booklet: PREORDERS START NOW!!
Let there be THRASH! After 3 months of pounding your eardrums with the most extreme, anti-musical bands on the planet, it’s time for us to return to a territory in which we are equally specialized and that has always been considered one of FOAD‘s trademarks: Old School Thrash Metal! And we’re doing it with two bands that have made history since 1983, the first on a worldwide scale – yes, we’re dealing with the L.A. Metal legend HIRAX and the other more in the Italian underground scene – even if, as we’ll explain later, they would have certainly deserved more: we’re talking of JESTER BEAST!! So our recipe for April consists of HIRAX “Born in the streets 1983/1984” LP (complete collection of their demo, unreleased tracks and pre-Hirax “LA KAOS” Demo ’83) and JESTER BEAST “The lost tapes of poetical freakscream” gatefold LP + CD, an unreleased mix of the band’s devastating full length album with a lot of extra features unearthed from the archives of their legendary 6-string maniac CC Muz! As usual act fast if you want to catch the stunning colored vinyl versions as they are expected to be pulverized in a few days!!
More in detail about each release:
HIRAX “Born in the streets 1983/1984” LP + booklet (F.O.A.D. 143)
The roots of LA Metal! This is the ultimate collection of early HIRAX recordings on LP including their cult Demo 1984 in the best quality ever, unreleased tracks from the same era and the rare LA KAOS Demo 1983 for the first time on vinyl! Instead of the savage thashin’ assault met on albums such as “Raging violence“, these early HIRAX recordings are a pure incarnation of denim smelling and fast Heavy Metal, at times showing a NWOBHM influence. Every song is a riff-fest from beginning to end topped with fierce guitar solos and the absolutely amazing vocals of Katon. The 4 track Demo 1984 has been ripped and remastered from the best source around, then you’ll find 3 unreleased songs 1983-84 (“To be free”, “The saviour”, “War hero”) and the very hard to find LA KAOS (pre-Hirax) demotape ripped straight from Katon’s personal copy! And to complete the FOAD quality treatment, you’ll also find a booklet including liner notes, lyrics, rare photos, ‘zine excerpts and flyers!
Katon W. De Pena about this release: “You hold in your hand something very special. This record / album is HIRAX’s first time in the recording studio. This release also includes music from a pre-HIRAX era. We hope to give the listeners high quality with never before seen photos, lyrics, flyers, reviews, memorabilia, etc. We have to go back in time… the year was 1983… getting ready to turn over to 1984… (I was 20 years old) …” (continued on the LP booklet!)
Available in 2 different versions:
Die-hard half-half colored vinyl (black vs mint green) limited to 100 copies
Solid black vinyl limited to 400 copies
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JESTER BEAST “The lost tapes of poetical freakscream” gatefold LP + CD + booklet (F.O.A.D. 138)
One of the most overlooked Italian Thrash gems of all times finally coming back to light in a completely refreshed edition, mastered from a recently found tape with an early stage (unreleased) mix powered by an extra guitar track recorded back then by the riff genius known as CC Muz. JESTER BEAST started in Torino, Northern Italy in 1983 as a Power/Speed Metal act and progressively changed paths improving their style into crazily fast Thrashcore combining the lesson of Italy’s furious 80s HC with their Thrash made of speeded Voivod-esque riffs and some Slayer influenced breakneck rhytmic solutions. Their 1988 demotape was so fucking great that captured the attention of Nuclear Blast Records, that included 3 tracks from it on the classic “Pleasures in life” 3xLP compilation.
This ultimate release includes the complete “lost tape” of Poetical Freakscream (that originally came out in 1991 with a much weaker sound) and a bonus CD with the album + their cult demo 1988 (hands down among the top 5 best Italian Thrash Demos ever) + a never-heard-before soundboard live from 1988 including several unreleased songs. As with all FOAD releases, you’ll find a manic care in sound mastering and a wonderful packaging consisting of a gatefold jacket, CD in cardboard sleeve and a 12 page booklet full or rare photos, excerpts from magazines and flyers.
From the LP liner notes: “A different version/mix of Poetical Freakscream was originally released in 1991 by GLC Records. Following the common taste of the time, it was decided to mix the album leaning towards a more “grungy” edge hiding a guitar track and some other relevant features. This left a shadow of unsatisfaction between the band members in the years to follow. Luckily, a pre-mixed version with all the guitar tracks in full evidence survived in the archives of the riff monster CC Muz.” The process of restoring and remastering it was quite complicated because some parts were damaged, suffering of bad storing conditions. What you’re going to listen here is the end result of an accurate work made with dedication and love, approved by the band and finally giving justice to what we repute one of the most under rated Metal records in the Italian underground history. If “Destroy After Use” proudly stands among the top 5 best Thrash Italian Demos ever, now you can finally enjoy “Poetical Freakscream” with that same dose of impact, aggression and riffing perfection!
Available in 2 different versions:
Die-hard edition in swirl green vinyl limited to 100 copies
Solid black vinyl limited to 200 copies
