This is a small but valuable group of high-dollar CDs I picked up from a collector in Northern California. While this isn’t a massive collection (numbering less than 40 CDs), I buy both small andlarge collections — none is too big or too small. If you have a collection like this you would like to sell contact me.
In this group of CDs, there are a lot of great rare CDs from European record labels like No Fashion Records, No Colours, and Necropolis Records that are all out-of-print. Some of the titles have never been reissued, and many others have. Regardless, the original 90s pressings are very sought after and quite expensive.
List Of Black Death Metal CDs
122 Stabwounds – The deity of perversion (HNF023CD)
A Canorous Quintet – Silence of the world below (NFR019)
I picked up a nice collection of near-mint funeral doom and post-metal CDs and vinyl, mainly consisting of newer bands (average 2016 and later) from a guy in New Hampshire. Admittedly, I hadn’t heard of almost all of the bands in this collection. Nor was I familiar with “Post-Metal” or “Funeral Doom”. This new collection gave me an excellent chance to not be another boring middle-aged boomer and get caught up with times.
The good news was I discovered a lot of great new bands, record labels, and genres of music that I might not have otherwise.
In going through this collection, I found…
New Metal Genres
Post-Metal: Seeing the prefix “post” applied to anything musical sets my hipster alarm bells off, not in a good way. However, I did enjoy a lot of the post-metal bands, especially Gaerea. For those not in the know, the post-metal bands on this list sound like black metal with just a trace of melody and some progressive elements you might hear in Mastodon or Gojira. That is probably over-simplifying it, but that was my impression of the bands documented below.
Funeral Doom: Funeral doom sounds like what “doom metal” should like sound to me. It’s slow – like 70 BPM. The riffs are heavy, but the good bands like Bell Witch, Slow, and Mournful Congregation break it into atmospheric, almost Pink Floyd-sounding parts before breaking back into the crushing metal. One of the more prominent labels in this genre seems to be India’s Transcending Obscurity Records, which has a sizable roster of bands from everywhere in the world.
As a metalhead of over 35 years, I try to avoid getting stuck in the past, but sadly, this is something everyone who listens to music does. There is still a lot of hope and vitality from this new crop of bands, labels, and metal genres, which is excellent!
Some of the value of these albums and CDs wasn’t super high, but seeing as many of these are first pressing, and the average-sized run seemed to be only 500 records, should any of these bands break big, these albums could be a goldmine!
List Of Funeral Doom and Post-Metal CDs and Vinyl
I usually film a Youtube video and add it to my “Sell Your Heavy Metal” playlist. Still, because so many of the albums don’t have the band names on the front, or they are written in some indecipherable black metal font — I decided to save myself the embarrassment.
So with no further adieu, here is the list…
***Vinyl (99)***
Gaerea – Unsettling Whispers deluxe box (no plastic sleeve or merch, sight wear on binding)
Lurk – Deluxe Fringe box (has plastic sleeve and sticker)
Desolate Shrine – Deliverance from the Godless Void
Dormant Ordeal – It Rains, It Pours
Eryn Non Dae. – Abandon of the Self
Eryn Non Dae. – Meliora
Esogenesi – Esogenesi
Eternal Storm – Come the Tide
Evadne – Dethroned of Our Souls
Frigoris – In Stille
From Ashes Reborn – Existence Exiled
Gaerea – Unsettling Whispers
Glare of the Sun – Theia (sealed)
Hinayana – Order Divine
Hope Drone – Cloak of Ash
Imber Luminis – Contrasts
Imber Luminis – Nausea
Lingua Ignota – Caligula
Lòdz – Time Doesn’t Heal anything
Nullingroots – Malady’s Black Maw
October Tide – Tunnel of No Light
Oubliette – The Passage
Ovnev – Incalescence
The Reticent – On the Eve of a Goodbye
ROSK – Miasma
Sea of Bones – The Earth Wants Us Dead
Shrine of the Serpent – Entropic Disillusion
Skeletonwitch – Devouring Radiant Light (sealed)
Skyborne Reveries – Winter Lights
Soliloquium – Things We Leave Behind
Soothsayer – At This Great Depth
A Swarm of the Sun – The Rifts
Unreqvited/Asunojokei – Nocturne
Unreqvited – Mosaic I
Vardan – Enjoy of Deep Sadness
Vorna – Sateet Palata Saavat
Wilt – Ruin
Looking To Sell Some Records Or CDS?
I am the largest buyer of heavy metal and punk collections in the world (as far as I know) and pay collectors handsomely for their treasure. So if you or someone you know has one to sell, here is my info.
This video shows a crazy rare collection of black and death metal CDs from the 90s thru 2000s that I bought from a collector in Sweden. There is a ton of crazy out-of-print stuff from labels that are now out of business in Europe. However, many of these CDs have since been reissued by Metal Blade, Napalm, Century Media, and others. You can get many of these reissues, but the originals are easily worth 20-50 dollars (sometimes less, sometimes more).
I didn’t have time to put together a complete list for this month’s blog update, but you can see all of them in the video, and I have taken some time to highlight a few of the best ones I’ve found from this collection.
Big CDs In This Collection
Monstrosity – Imperial Doom CD
Monstrosity – Imperial Doom CD 1992 Nuclear Blast – NB 055 CD [ORIGINAL PRESS] – Monstrosity was a death metal band that became the jump-off point for many death metal musicians, most famously, George “Corpsegrinder” who is currently fronting Cannibal Corpse, which is probably what makes this CD worth so much. This CD goes on eBay / Discogs for north of 100 dollars.
Mayhem: Deathcrush CD
Mayhem: Deathcrush CD 1994 Deathlike Silence – DSP Anti-Mosh 003 NORWAY – Mayhem’s debut EP. While is technically a reissue, this was the first time this album came out officially on CD. This item is heavily counterfeited and reissued. Only the first press had no barcode on the tray card.
Thornium – Dominions Of The Eclipse CD
Thornium – Dominions Of The Eclipse CD 1995 Necromantic – NGP 005 Netherlands – Recorded in 1994 this release from the Swedish black metal band Thornium is worth around 100 bucks. I’m not sure why, it just is!
Behemoth – And The Forests Dream Eternally CD
Behemoth – And The Forests Dream Eternally CD 1995 Entropy – DE 101MCD *Italy – Minialbum released very early in their career and never reissued to the mid-2000s. Song #4 “Evil and Hate” is a tribute to Bathory.
Have A Collection To Sell?
If you have a CD collection like this you would like to sell, contact me here:
I have the following very rare punk and metal unofficial (or semi-official) available for purchase. These titles cause problems when listed on eBay or are not allowed on Discogs.
Samhain – November-Coming-Fire LP 2014 Plan 9 – PL9-07 Sealed Color Unknown $60
Slayer – The Songbook Of The Antichrist Part 2 LP 2008 – HTWDD-IC-0801-2 VG+/EX – $60 **SOLD**
Misfits – Descent Into Evil LP 2017 Plan 9 – PL9-12 SEALED $40
The Subhumans – Incorrect Thoughts LP 1985 CD Presents, Ltd. – CD036 VG+/EX – $85
Eye Of The Thrashguerilla LP 1999 – 大隊 Records – 002 GERMANY EX/EX – $50
Misfits – Walk Among You (Live @ Michigan Union Ballroom, Detroit, 1983 WCBN FM Radio Broadcast) LP 2015 Bad Joker – BOSS 5-1987 SEALED NETHERLANDS $50
Slayer – Show No Mercy LP 2013 Roadrunner Records – RR 9868 EX/EX $100
Toronto’s Sacrifice is definitely on my list of metal bands that should have been bigger. 1985’s “Torment in Fire” is the first wave black metal classic, and 1987’s “Forward To Termination” is a thrash metal classic that is easily on par or better than many of their peers from the Golden Age Of Metal. Despite playing the right kind of music at precisely the right time and quite well, mainstream success was in the cards for Sacrifice.
The band released a few more albums in the early 90s, then broke up and reformed in 2008, and is still active today.
Sacrifice in 2009
Newly released on Blessed Curse Recordings comes an excellent treat for a fan of this band. “Sacrifice – Live At The Starwood Club Toronto Nov 23, 1985” documents the band (as the title would suggest) — Sacrifice playing a live set very early in their career between the release of “Torment in Fire” and “Forward To Termination“.
New Live Album 2022
All of the songs are selections from “Torment In Fire” and are as follows:
POSSESSION
SACRIFICE
INFERNAL VISIONS
TURN IN YOUR GRAVE
BURNED AT THE STAKE
HOMICIDAL BREATH
NECRONOMICON
DECAPITATION
BEYOND DEATH
Listen On Youtube
The recordings are rough and raw but are far from terrible. Unfortunately, there are only 500 copies of this album available, and they are hand-numbered, so grab one while you can.
We decided to take a chance and drive an hour outside of LA to catch Napalm Death playing with Final Conflict at Transplants Brewing Company in Palmdale, CA, on April 15, 2022. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the venue, but I have to say I was thoroughly impressed. Transplants Brewing Company is easily better than EVERY venue in Los Angeles right now. There was plenty of free parking (as opposed to the $30 many venues in LA charge), 7$ beers brewed in-house, a friendly staff, and the place has a great sounding room. If you live in LA, it is definitely worth the trip.
A local support act was on the bill and was actually pretty good, not life-changing good, but they were decent. I wanted to link to a place where you could find their music, but because of the crazy death metal font they used for their logo, I have no idea what the band’s name was (see flyer below). If anybody knows, feel free to drop it in the comments.
FInal Conflict
Next up was Final Conflict from Long Beach, CA. Palmdale was a one-off show, as Napalm Death continues their US tour with Arch Enemy and Behemoth starting in Tempe. I don’t know a ton about Final Conflict other than the fact they’ve been around forever, and I was familiar with some of their better-known songs. The band consisted of only one original member (Jeff Harp on guitar) and was backed up by Anthony Robles and Nick Manning, who play with a number of other punk rock bands, including DI.
Final Conflict dished out some competent Cro-mags style punk/hardcore that was well received by the crowd and got the mosh pit swirling at a furious pace. Again, nothing life-changing but delivered in such a professional manner; you can’t put it down either – especially considering the ages of some of the long-time members.
Napalm Death
Next up was English grindcore legends Napalm Death, who, if you want to get technical about it, consist of no original members. However, the current line-up has remained relatively steady since the early 90s. Guitarist Mich Harris does not tour with the band, and sitting in for him is touring guitarist John Cooke who, in my opinion, is not that good, but because of the nature of grindcore music, his sloppy playing doesn’t take much away either.
That band delivered a blistering set, consisting of a lot of material from their last two releases Apex Predator – Easy Meat (2015) and Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism (2020), as well as quite a few classics from the 80s and 90s with two cover songs (including the Dead Kennedy’s “Nazi Punks Fuck Off”). Bassist Shane Embury is an absolute monster, and drummer Danny Herrara is one of the best skinsman in the business. The duo is a formidable rhythm section. Vocalist “Barney” Greenway hasn’t lost a thing over the years vocal-wise and may have even improved. Unfortunately, his stage presence is a bit goofy, and he often looks like he’s having a seizure as he dances on stage. In addition, some of his far-left rants between songs leave a lot to be desired and make me thankful I can’t understand the lyrics on their recordings. If you could make out what he was saying, I imagine it would sound like the rantings of a possessed MSNBC host.
Napalm Death hasn’t lost a thing over the years and solidly deserve their position as the biggest band in grindcore because they play this form of music better than everyone.
Catch them on tour with Arch Enemy and Behemoth in these cities through May.
Napalm Death On Tour With Behemoth and Arch Enemy
Sat 16.04.2022 Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theatre Mon 18.04.2022 San Antonio, TX – The Aztec Theatre Tue 19.04.2022 Dallas, TX – Amplified Live Thu 21.04.2022 St Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live Fri 22.04.2022 Atlanta, GA – The Eastern Sat 23.04.2022 Charlotte. NC – The Fillmore Charlotte Mon 25.04.2022 Toronto, ON – Rebel Tue 26.04.2022 Montreal, QC – Mtelus Thu 28.04.2022 New York, NY – Terminal 5 Fri 29.04.2022 Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore Philadelphia Sat 30.04.2022 Worcester, MA – Palladium Mon 02.05.2022 Chicago, IL – The Riviera Theatre Wed 04.05.2022 Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre Sat 07.05.2022 Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot Mon 09.05.2022 Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo Tue 10.05.2022 Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theatre Wed 11.05.2022 Portland, OR – Roseland Theater Fri 13.05.2022 Berkeley, CA – The UC Theatre Sun 15.05.2022 Los Angeles, CA – The Hollywood Palladium NAPALM DEATH U.S. headline shows: Wed 13.04.2022 Fresno, CA – Strummers + Elder Devil Thu 14.04.2022 San Diego, CA – Soda Bar + Deaf Club Fri 15.04.2022 Palmdale, CA – Transplants + Final Conflict Wed 27.04.2022 Syracuse, NY – The Lost Horizon + Fed Ash Tue 03.05.2022 St. Paul, MN – Turf Club + Pig Destroyer Fri 06.05.2022 Grand Junction, CO – Mesa Theater + Unto Others
Reviews of albums are not something I typically delve into on this site. However, when bands issue new albums that are essential metal, I will drop an album review. The last one I did was for Mastodon’s Hushed and Grim. This time in the crosshairs is Midnight’s Let Ther Be Witchery.
Let Ther Be Witchery is the 6th official studio album from the Ohio punk/black metal trio Midnight. The easiest way to explain Midnight’s sound is they are a modern-day Venom. I love Midnight because they bring back the first wave of black metal — explored in the early 80s by bands like Venom, Sodom, and Celtic Frost with a tinge of punk added to the mix.
The band’s 2011 Satanic Royalty is a 100% metal classic, in my opinion, and sets a high bar. So let’s see how the new album stacks up to previous efforts.
First off, the production is solid. Everything is dialed correctly, and the sound is crisp and clean without being overproduced while still retaining the band’s dirty sound.
Let There Be Witchery Track By Track Review
The opener “Telepathic Nightmare” does a great job setting the tone for the album and includes some excellent Tom G. Warrior-style guitar bends. Track 2 is “Frothing Foulness”, a heavily Venom-influenced number that clocks in at less than 3 minutes. None of the ten songs pass the 4-minute mark, so this isn’t an album for fans of epic-length nerd metal.
“In Sinful Secrecy” comes next and has an Omicron-catchy riff with an almost classic rock feel that will stick in your head for sure. Unfortunately, “Nocturnal Molestation” comes next and is one of the weaker tracks on the album. One criticism of Midnight is sometimes their tongue-in-cheek lyrics work, and other times they do not.
Track 5 is “More Torment” and is easily my favorite track on the album. The song features a memorable ultra-heavy riff that reminds me of Celtic Frost in their prime. Unfortunately, I recently saw Midnight in Los Angeles, and while they played many songs from this album, this song was inexplicably omitted from the setlist! If someone in the band is reading this review, this is something you should fix!
Track 6, “Let There Be Sodomy” is the second-best track, even though the lyrics are silly. The main riff is incredible and reminds me of my favorite song from this band, “You Can’t Stop Steele.” Next, in track 7, “Dead Virgin.” the band goes into some Merciful Fate territory – with some traditional heavy metal riffs and even one riff that sounds lifted directly from “Black Funeral” on Melissa.
Next is “Snake Obsession” and is a Motorhead sounding track. It is one of the more forgettable tracks on the album. The second to last track, “Villany Wretched Villany,” is a fun, memorable song that stands out on the album with some Tunbonegro and Scorpions influences.
The final track, “Szex Witchery” is a great way to end the album and will undoubtedly leave the listener wanting more. It features some excellent NWOBHM style riffs and ends with a doomy harmony guitar outro. Interestingly, one thing common to Midnight albums is that even though the band is a trio, there are many overdubs on the guitar parts. However, having just seen the band live, guitarist Shaun Vanek is skilled enough to make it sound whole in concert. Props to him on that.
Midnight Final Verdict
All and all, Let Ther Be Witchery is a great album and is well worth checking out, especially if you are a fan of first-wave black metal like I am. It’s not as good as Satanic Royalty, which seems to be the band’s high-water mark to this point, but is much better than 2019’s Rebirth by Blasphemy (also on Metal Blade).
The only place I can take points away from Midnight is: 90% of what they do has already been done by Venom in the 80s. There are even recordings of Midnight covering Venom songs in outtakes, so it’s not like they try to hide the influence. That said, they take everything Venom did and bring it up a notch for the 2020s, and that alone makes Midnight my favorite “new” band playing metal today!
The original owner was a younger guy, but the entire collection consisted of 20% from the Golden Age Of Thrash Metal and 80% from the 90s peak of death metal. 95% of these albums are reissues, but a few first are pressings that include “Slowly We Rot” and “Cause Of Death” from Obituary.
Even some of the reissues can be shockingly expensive due to the 7-12 month delays in vinyl production that is now plaguing the music industry.
I have cataloged the inventory from this purchase below. If you are looking to buy any of the entries listed can do so at ThrashMetalIQ on eBay.
I searched my inventory and pulled everything in my collection with a value above 200 dollars — hence, the strange number of 14 items in this list. In the video in this post, you can see the walk-thru of my top picks. In addition, I included a list below with pictures and comments on each record and approximate value.
Most of the 14 vinyl that made this list are either metal or punk; however, there were a few oddballs from different genres.
The Truth About Discogs Median Value
I did not look at the Discog’s median valueand accept it as gospel. It’s true, Discogs is one of the seven wonders of the internet; however, just going on median value is very deceptive, and here’s why:
Discogs calculates value based on the album’s limited sales on Discogs. If an album is ordinarily worth $100 and somebody sells a fair copy with no cover for $5, this sale is factored in and drags the price down. Conversely, if someone sells an album sealed or autographed copy for far more, it will skew the median up. However, copies are more often sold in poor condition, so that the value will typically skew lower.
Much of the Discogs data is old. Discogs is a big market for vinyl, but it is nowhere near the size of eBay. Therefore, a lot of the information it uses to calculate the value of an album can be as much as 21 years old and based on only a limited number of sales. As we all know, albums appreciate, inflation is real, and the vinyl market changes. None of this is factored into the Discogs median value.
Most sellers on Discogs are not in the United States. Since the site’s algorithm is not very sophisticated, it is easy to game the rankings by inflating shipping costs. If you are in the US, try to buy an album for even close to the listed median value listed – 99% of the time you can’t!
List of Our 14 Most Expensive Punk and Metal Vinyl LPS
Here is the list of the 14 punk/metal vinyl albums from the video at the top of this post. I included the price and a couple of random notes about each.
1. She Wants Revenge – She Wants Revenge LP 2006 Flawless Records B000614801
I’m not exactly sure why this one is worth so much. Even copies in crappy condition seem to be going for $600. Copies of this album in excellent condition go for $1000 and sometimes higher. If anyone knows why this one is so pricey, please leave some info in the comments because I can’t figure it out.
Value: $1000 USD
2. Descendents – Cool To Be You LP 2004 Fat Wreck Chords FAT672-1 Blue Vinyl
This usually isn’t a super expensive album, but the limited first pressing on blue vinyl is worth a pretty penny.
This album usually sells for around $300. This copy was owned personally by Glenn Danzig and is factory sealed.
VALUE $600 USD
4. Rich Kids On LSD – Rock N Roll Nightmare LP 1987 Alchemy VM104
I usually don’t include autographed albums because it is such a subjective value. Even unsigned, this album is $300-$400 if the comic book is included and in good condition. However, I included this one with the autographs because everyone in this band is pretty much dead.
VALUE $500 USD
5. Pantera – Power Metal LP 1988 Metal Magic Records – MMR-1988
According to the band, this album is completely out of print and will never be repressed or reissued, making original copies worth a ton. Despite the corny hair metal image, “Power Metal” is a solid album that rivals some of the band’s later output.
VALUE $400 USD
6. Verbal Abuse – Just An American Band LP 1984 Fowl Records – #5
Punk/hardcore done to perfection. You know you are doing something right if Slayer does a cover album (Undisputed Attitude) featuring six songs from this alum. There are many bootlegs and represses of this album. First pressing like this are extremely rare.
VALUE $400
7. Queens Of The Stone Age – Queens Of The Stone Age LP 2010 Rekords Rekords
This is another one that caught me off guard because this pressing is a 2010 reissue of 1998 debut with a different cover. Original presses go for over a thousand dollars, and the represses are not cheap either.
VALUE $300 USD
8. Samhain – November-Coming-Fire LP 1986 Plan 9 – PL9-07
Probably my favorite album Danzig ever recorded and one of the many featuring his vocals to make this list.
Unlike the Samhain album listed at #8, this is from my least favorite techno/electronic period ofGlenn Danzig’scareer. Even so, these limited edition picture discs are worth a pretty penny, and people seem to buy them.
Probably one of my favorite metal albums of all time – Carnivore’s “Retaliation” still stands up to this day, yet could have never come out in today’s politically correct “woke” climate. But, like virtually everything after the death of Peter Steele in 2010 – the value has gone up dramatically.
A 2016 reissue of Sodom’s first LP from their wave black metal period, Obsessed By Cruelty, is surprisingly pricey and simultaneously loved and hated by metal fans.
VALUE $250 USD
12. Misfits – Earth A.D. / Wolfsblood LP 1984 Aggressive Rockproduktionen – AG 0024
Original German press with inner sleeve and order form.
VALUE $240 USD
13. Exhorder – Slaughter In The Vatican LP 1990 Roadracer RO 9363-1
This absolutely brutal thrash metal album came out a bit late in 1990 but still holds up to this day. After taking 30 years off, Exhorder returned in 2019 and still tours to this day.
VALUE $230 USD
14. Death – Scream Bloody Gore LP 1987 Under One Flag – FLAG 12
“Scream Bloody Gore” along with “Leprosy” and “Spiritual Healing” are my three favorite albums from the Death’s caveman-style death metal period before they went in a more technical direction.
VALUE $200 USD
Do You Have Albums Like This You Want to Sell?
I am always looking to buy new heavy metal and punk rock records, vinyl, and CD collections and I pay top. dollar for great collections like this. If you have metal or punk vinyl like this to sell, contact me at the info listed below.
CD and album reviews are not anything this site usually takes on; however, Hushed and Grim is one of the most anticipated heavy metal releases of 2021. As soon as it came out, I saw all other metal blogs racing to be the first to weigh in on the 8th full-length release from the Atlanta prog metal quintet. So I decided to hold my thoughts and take some time before publishing my opinion.
Full disclosure, I have been friends with Brent Hinds and Troy Sanders since I was 18 (and so were they) and had known Braun and Bill for the better part of two decades. Even coming up in the Atlanta music scene with these guys, I never was a serious fan until Blood Mountian. I felt they hit their stride on this album. The subsequent Crack The Skye is an absolute metal masterpiece.
The album’s following also had moments of greatness, and the focus on Braun Dailor’s vocal added a whole new dimension to the band’s sound.
So What About Hushed and Grim?
At over 86 minutes in length with 15 songs, Hushed and Grim is far from easy listening. There is a lot to unpack. A common thing I’ve heard from many of my friends is, “I listened to the whole thing the day it came out and thought it was great and then never listened to it again.” Oddly enough, I found myself doing the same thing. That said, is Hushed and Grim a disappointment?
Not at all.
Let’s start with the good points. One notable element is Troy Sander’s bass playing that has sat in the back over the past few releases is now pushed up much louder in the mix, and his playing jumped up a notch, even boasting a bass solo on “Teardrinker.” Troy even penned 4 of the tracks after taking a backseat on songwriting duties for much of the last decade.
Brent Hinds shines, as usual, with many tasty guitar solos done in a style that is all his own. One of my favorite tracks on the album is “The Beast,” a Brent composition and features some excellent Jimi Hendrix-like guitar parts you rarely hear in metal.
For me, the standout track is the first single, “Teardrinker,” which is somewhat commercial and incredibly catchy. “Skeleton Of Splendor” is a close second and ventures in some fantastic, atmospheric stuff similar to my favorite Mastodon song, “The Czar.” The opener “Pain with an Anchor” and the second single, “Sickle and Peace,” are also great.
Once you get into the second half of the album, it does start to drag, especially near the end.
All in all, the album is well worth a listen; you might want to make a playlist of the songs you really like and maybe not listen to some of the rest.
Hushed and Grim Full Album Stream
That concludes my first album review. I hope you liked it.
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