MODERN PROBLEMS Print Available Now

This one has been in the works for a while and I'm very excited to announce my first official art print - Modern Problems, available now from Shirt Killer. This is a massive 18x24" screenprint of the design from Coliseum's t-shirt of the same name, in a signed and numbered edition of 50. It's screenprinted with water-based ink on heavy 100lb French Speckletone Starch Rain paper. Hope you dig it.

AUX16 - COLISEUM No Salvation LP - Repress available now

After a few months of being out of print, the third vinyl pressing of No Salvation finally arrived at Shirt Killer today. Even though it looked like some of the boxes had been drop-kicked during shipping, all the records and jackets are in good shape. There are 500 copies in this pressing - 150 on "Oil & Gasoline" colored vinyl and 350 on "Blood & Urine" colored vinyl. Classy, huh? You can get this sucker now from Shirt Killer or from us on tour, although it's probable the more limited color will be gone by then.

The story of... AUX7 - COLISEUM and DOOMRIDERS Not Of This World 12"

AUX7: Coliseum and Doomriders 

Not Of This World: A Salute To Danzig split 12"

Released December 2005

Coliseum: 

Am I Demon (Danzig cover)

American Machine

Ride On Death Riders

Doomriders: 

Hell Roaring

Possession (Danzig cover)

Pressing:

966 copies total

100 red & white swirl vinyl with foil stamped cover

566 white vinyl

300 black vinyl (second pressing at later date)

OUT OF PRINT

The idea for the Coliseum / Doomriders split came up during Coliseum's first tour in Summer 2004 while hanging out with Nate Newton from Converge at his house in Salem, MA. Nate was putting music on my iPod and there had been rumblings around about his new band Doomriders, a thrashy skaterock hardcore band, who had just recorded a demo. Nate played me the tracks from the demo and I was hooked, they were awesome punk/hardcore songs with skating and "fuck the man" inspired lyrics. This was exciting to me and many others because it was the first time Nate had been the full-time frontman of a band since Jesuit. Nate suggested we do a split, I agreed, and we were off.

I believe I first met Nate and the rest of Converge sometime in the late 90s or early 2000, when I was in the National Acrobat and we opened for them at the Creepy Crawl in St. Louis. Nate was the first to come up and introduce himself and as years went on and paths crossed we remained in contact and we all became friends. Those guys were incredibly gracious to the Acrobat, inviting us to play a weekend of shows with them and Cave-In, including a mind blowing packed show at CBGBs that the Hope Conspiracy also played, some of whom also came to be some of my greatest friends I've met through music. I suppose an Acrobat related post should grace this blog sooner or later...

So, anyway, the Coliseum / Doomriders split took over a year to come to fruition, as these things tend to do. Doomriders recorded their two songs during the sessions for their Black Thunder LP at Kurt Ballou's Godcity and Coliseum recorded our three songs sometime over the summer of 2005 at Chris Owens' current Headbanging Kill Your Mama Music studio.

Doomriders' Danzig cover, "Possession," was incredibly true to the original, complete with backwards guitar fading in at the beginning and Nate's great Danzig-esque crooning. I have to say I was pretty blown away by this... I expected a more Doomriders slant on the song, but they really hit this one on the nose and it was awesome. Their original song, "Hell Roaring," was a great barn-burner showing their mastery of combining d-beat and classic rock. I think they were still playing the song live as late as 2007, although I never saw them play the Danzig cover...

None of this would be complete without mentioning that Danzig himself invited Doomriders to open for him a couple of years later. First for one show and later for an entire tour... Incredible! Supposedly he heard this record and then invited Doomriders to play the shows soon after.

Coliseum covered "Am I Demon," which has always been my favorite Danzig song. I wholly believe that the first Danzig album is among the best hard rock / classic metal albums of all time, it's always irked me that this record hasn't really received its due in the annals of rock history. Our cover is not particularly true to the original, but wasn't too far removed. We dirtied the song up, played it at a lower register, cut out a verse, and made it a bit more Coliseum overall. Our then-drummer, Matt Jaha, is a virtuoso guitarist and he handled the solo in a much better fashion than I could've... We pretty much had Matt shred on his own, while throwing in bits of John Christ's original solo themes. We recorded two originals for the split, "American Machine" and "Ride On Death Riders." At the time "Ride On Death Riders" seemed to be a favorite for many people, its title a nod to Doomriders. "American Machine" took some Black Flag influence and maybe a bit of From Ashes Rise, our friends and tour mates who had recently disbanded. I've always really loved the opening riff to "American Machine."

Coliseum still plays "Am I Demon" as an encore occasionally. Last year, while on tour with Converge, Nate joined us on stage a few times to sing it with us, which was really fun. Mike "Gunface" from the Red Chord also joined us onstage once to play second guitar and knock out the solo, a true shredder and extremely nice fella.

It might also be worth noting that these were the first songs Coliseum recorded as a trio and these are the only songs from any of our split releases that don't appear anywhere else. Our great friend Greg Drudy released the CD version on Level-Plane, Coliseum's home base at the time, and I released the vinyl, obviously, on Auxiliary.

When preparing for this release, the Auxiliary funds were pretty much non-existent. My label partner Craig was no longer involved and we were looking for interesting ways to do the packaging on the cheap. I signed up with Revelation Records to distribute Auxiliary and they also agreed to help with some up-front manufacturing costs.

I still wanted to make sure that the costs were as low as possible, while doing packaging that looked cool and was interesting. So, Evan and I came up with the covers you see above, which were screen printed on one side of a large black sheet, then cut to yield two covers and folded for each individual LP. Honestly, in hindsight, I would've done this differently. I think these were too far on the cheap side, barely covering any of vinyl, leaving it open to getting scratched or warped easily. While I never actually heard from anyone that their 12" was damaged, it would've just been pure luck if they'd all come out unscathed. That said, it does look fairly cool and I've never seen any other packaging exactly like it.

Oh yeah, our good friend and often Auxiliary collaborator, David Brooks, had 100 of the covers foil stamped with "Not Of This World" at a local technical school. This was an idea we'd use to better effect later on the Coliseum / Young Widows split CD.

The design was fairly simple, using an altered photo of Danzig from his first LP spread, a witchy woman on the back, and some band logos and built typography that I still dig. Of it all, I probably like the "Not Of This World" logo the best of anything that was done exclusively for this layout. The inserts had a pretty cool collage with Doomriders' hooded skull character and Coliseum's pig head character arm in arm, with a Misfits skull poking out under a robe.

All in all, a fun release and a really good record. I think the CD version on Level-Plane could still be found fairly easily with a little searching online. I've often thought of releasing just the two Danzig covers on a limited 7", but since we just put out the Goddamage 2x7" and are preparing for another reissue with the Young Widows SCD LP... I don't want to end up just being a reissue label, putting out our old records on various limited formats... Then again, it's always fun to do and have these unique records. What do you think?

Download:

Doomriders "Possession"

Coliseum "Am I Demon"

Coliseum "American Machine" (Rough instrumental 8-track demo)

AUX13 YOUNG WIDOWS Settle Down City LP - Limited edition of 50

We recently found 50 copies of the first pressing of the YOUNG WIDOWS Settle Down City LP without covers and have screen printed 50 special edition covers that are available now only from Shirt Killer. Click here to check it out and order. The original pressing of the LP has been gone for quite a while and we plan on doing a new pressing sometime later this year.

UPDATE: Sold out, thank you for ordering and thanks to OMGvinyl.com for spreading the word. A full repress of this LP is coming soon along with the third pressing of the Coliseum No Salvation LP.

Some cool news...

I've been chomping at the bit to announce this one for a while... These are the most collaborative songs we've ever written, each containing a lot of things that we'd been trying to attain for some time now. The packaging is also going to be really amazing... Inspired by Pushead's Bacteria Sour 7"s, I enlisted our pal John Baizley to do the spider & web artwork, and it will feature a 2-color spot printed vellum sleeve over a full color seven inch jacket limited to 1000 copies with this packaging. Very excited about this entire thing... From the music to the design, I think it's a big new step for us.

NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT FROM DEATHWISH INC & COLISEUM:
www.deathwishinc.com - www.myspace.com/coliseum

COLISEUM “True Quiet / Last Wave” 7"EP out soon, winter/spring tour dates announced...

Founded by Ryan Patterson (Black Cross, National Acrobat) over a half decade ago, and since solidified by Mike Pascal and Chris Maggio, Coliseum have grown to become today's quintessential contemporary hardcore/punk band. Successfully melding their progressive musicianship, punk fervor, and vital political/social awareness into one intense vision.

Originally based in straight-ahead hardcore and classic punk, Coliseum have continued to progress with each recorded effort. Before finding a permanent home on Relapse records in 2006, Coliseum released music on both Ryan's own Auxiliary label, as well as on Level Plane Records. Coliseum's first full length for Relapse, "No Salvation", was released in the summer of 2007 and was met by praise from critics and kids alike.

To celebrate the longtime friendship between Coliseum and Deathwish, we are proud to announce the upcoming release of Coliseum's "True Quiet / Last Wave" 7"EP. Featuring artwork by friend John Dyer Baizley (Baroness, Kylesa, Cursed), "True Quiet / Last Wave" gives us the first taste of Coliseum's evolution since 2007's "No Salvation". The hook-laden A Side "True Quiet" takes hold with its all too familiar story of self imposed isolation, told to a Dischord influenced metallic jangle. While the percussively driven B Side "Last Wave" serves as a hair raising commentary on the ethical and economical darkness of our present day. Both songs collectively embodying the honest artistry that defines Coliseum at their very core.

A new Coliseum album is due out on Relapse in 2010.

03/20: Chicago, IL @ Subterranean w/ Get Rad
03/21: Toronto, ON @ Adrift Clubhouse
03/22: Montreal, QC @ Underworld w/ Bane, Have Heart
03/23: Allston, MA @ ICC w/ Converge, Rise and Fall, Pulling Teeth, Ceremony
03/24: Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place w/ Converge, Rise and Fall, Pulling Teeth, Ceremony
03/25: Cleveland, OH @ The Grog Shop w/ Converge, Rise and Fall, Pulling Teeth, Ceremony
03/26: Lemoyne, PA @ Championship w/ Converge, Rise and Fall, Pulling Teeth, Ceremony
03/27: Brooklyn, NY @ Europa w/ Converge, Rise and Fall, Pulling Teeth, Ceremony
03/28: Richmond, VA @ Alley Katz w/ United Blood Festival
03/29: Philadelphia, PA @ The Church w/ Converge, Rise and Fall, Pulling Teeth, Ceremony, Genghis Tron
03/30: Wilmington, NC @ Lucky's w/ Young Livers
03/31: Columbia, SC @ TBA w/ Young Livers
04/01: Orlando, FL @ Black Box Collective w/ Young Livers
04/02: Miami, FL @ Churchills w/ Young Livers
04/03: Lake Worth, FL @ Klein Dance Studio w/ Young Livers
04/04: Tampa, FL @ Transitions w/ Young Livers
04/05: Gainesville, FL @ Atlantic w/ Young Livers
04/06: Savannah, GA @ TBA w/ Young Livers
04/07: Birmingham, AL @ Cave 9 w/ Young Livers
04/08: Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn w/ Young Livers
04/09: Memphis, TN @ Hi Tone w/ Young Livers
04/10: Louisville, KY @ Skull Alley w/ Young Livers

AUX4 - LORDS Moral Darkness 7" (Plus untold tales of AUX5 & AUX6)

AUX4: Lords - Moral Darkness 5-song 7"
Released January 2005

Side A: Let it Divide / Holy Ghost of the Infidels / Nothing Follows / Surprise You're Dead
Side B: Messianic Exegesis: U.S.A.

Pressing:
700 copies total
300 on white vinyl
400 on clear vinyl

Lords ended up occupying the fourth, fifth and sixth numbers in the Auxiliary catalog, partly because of various circumstances, partly because of a bit of naive thinking that certain releases would come out sooner or later... Yet still haven't seen the light of day. Regardless, it leaves stories to tell.

The Moral Darkness 7" actually did come out, in early 2005. At this time, Craig was will my partner in the label and he financed the pressing of the record, while Chris from Lords handled the recording at his studio, Stan from Lords designed the artwork, and Evan printed the covers at Monkey Drive. As usual at the time, this was assembled by hand by whoever was around that time. I distinctly remember my girlfriend Jamie bringing us a box of records to put together in Atlanta during a day off on a Coliseum / Lords tour due to a crazy ice storm hitting much of the South that week. We all sat in a friend's apartment folding covers and inserting records into sleeves. 

As can be the case with music, your memories get tied up with the songs and a certain era of a band becomes your favorite, regardless of how great they may have been before or after. This record and their previous House That Lords Built EP just may contain my favorite Lords songs for that reason. 

After this 7", Auxiliary planned on releasing Lords' debut full length, Swords. Originally Swords was planned for release on Initial Records, but Initial was in the process of closing its doors permanently and we decided that we'd press on and release it as our first full length on Auxiliary. But, these plans also changed when Craig left Louisville for a job in New York and eventually decided to no longer be a part of the label. With the label partner and chief financier gone, it was decided that even though I could've managed to get the CD pressed, there still wouldn't be enough funds to properly promote it.

Finally, after much deliberating and phone calls to other labels, Evan spoke to Jade Tree, Breather Resist's then-label, and they welcomed Lords to their roster and eventually released the Swords CD. I "retired" the AUX5 catalog number and we moved onto AUX6... Another planned Lords release.

AUX6 was intended to be a CD repress of The House That Lords Built EP with bonus tracks, assumedly the Moral Darkness 7", their songs from the split 7" with Coliseum, and a few other random demos and compilation appearances. The House That Lords Built was one of the last releases on Initial Records and we figured it would be sold out soon enough. But, Initial's distributor Mordam was purchased by Lumberjack Distribution, who took all of their stock and held on to it after Initial closed owing Lumberjack some amount money. Ultimately, the Lords House... CDs were still in print and still available, but the band only had access to them by buying them up front from Lumberjack. 

At this point, I don't know if the CD is out of print or not, but I would guess it's gone by now. In any case, when the original inspiration to release an Auxiliary version of The House That Lords Built struck, it turned out to be a moot point. Time went on, other records and current projects took precedence and the release still remains dormant. I'd still love to release a CD or LP of the first few Lords releases and maybe it will happen one day. We'll see that time has in store for that.

Download:

Lords "Let It Divide" from Moral Darkness 7"

Related downloads:

Lords "Mouth To Mouth" from The House That Lord Built EP

Lords "CFHC" from Louisville Halloween Comp CD

Interceptor

Found this in my mailbox one day.

Recent Work for Magrudergrind

Melt Banana live video from Tokyo

An awesome Devo cover from Melt Banana from our show together in Tokyo. 

MELT BANANA live video from Shibuya, Tokyo

Coliseum live video from Tokyo

On tour with Baroness and Minsk now... The shows are so good. Playing tonight with guests Boris headlining in Cleveland, great times.

Click the link to check out a live video from Shibuya, Tokyo:
COLISEUM "Fall Of The Pigs"

Japan Day 4 & 5

Last two days in Japan were amazing. Chinatown in Yokohama is the oldest in Japan and was really cool, then the last in Shibuya, Tokyo, was nuts. Tokyo is divided up into tons of huge neighborhoods / areas / burroughs... Shibuya being the Times Square x100 of Tokyo. Amazing. Went to Secret Base and Mandarake and spent probably way too much money getting some Pushead figures and other great stuff. The show was the best of tour, Melt Banana played before Coliseum and Torche, seems they are taken for granted in their hometown just like most great bands are, and they were awesome. Coliseum and Torche played great sets and then we all hung out late with Yuko, Agata, Tadashi, Jumbo and other great friends. This has been an amazing trip.

But yeah, vegan food here is practically non-existent. On day one I thought eating rice balls each day would be fine, but after five-six days of that... Whew... Looking forward to some green vegetables at home!

Japan Day 3

More amazing times in Japan. The shows are small but the clubs and sound systems are amazing, the audiences are incredibly appreciative and psyched on Coliseum and Torche. The bottom photo didn't do the situation justice, but it was an old fella who actually walked his cats... It was amazing. He walked down the sidewalk with his two cats strolling along by his side. 

Japan Day 2

Wow... First show was amazing. Stupid Babies Go Mad was one of the most intense bands I've ever seen. They set the bar incredibly high and the rest of us had to work hard to match their intensity. It was great to see familiar faces from Thomas Hooper and our new friends in Boris, who have lent us their incredible backline to us on this tour.

Of course I broke my camera display screen about an hour before the show began. Hopefully I can replace it or at least get some decent photos without knowing exactly what I'm shooting!