When Equal Vision Records announced the release of a 108 discography I was more than just happy! Their last album "Threefold Misery" went out of print long time ago and back in the days I missed to buy this masterpiece. As I listened to this album this long time ago I was just blown away by their aggression and heaviness. For me 108 are one of the most important hardcore bands of the 90ies and have released three of the best, most interesting hardcore albums. This discography starts with their last studio album "Threefold Misery" which has been originally released 1996. From the beginning they step on the accelerator with razor-sharp guitar riffing and driving drums. But what should I tell you about an album every hardcore kid should own? I can tell you why it's worth to spend some money for this discography. All of the songs have been remastered and remixed and the two CD box comes with an extensive booklet featuring all lyrics and a few explanations and a 108 history written by guitarist Vic. Beside the nine tracks of the "Threefold Misery" album the first CD also contains the songs of the "Curse Of Instinct" EP which has been recorded at the same studio session. At those songs, "Curse Of Instinct" and "Pyro Stoke" the band stepped on the breaks and offer sludgy dissonant hardcore anthems. Last but not least this CD contains the unreleased "Panic" song which has been recorded at the beginning of 2005 and offers classical 108 sound with Robert Fish's angry shouts and driving hardcore. The second CD starts with 108's breakthrough record "Songs Of Separation" that actually marked their first listenable full-length album and has been originally released 1994. You can really hear the advantages of the remixing and remastering, the songs have a great clean and heavy sound. I still love this combination of slow downed dissonant pieces, mid-tempo brutal old styled hardcore and significant guitar playing. This CD also features 108's debut album "Holyname" and finally you can listen to this album properly. The original version which has been released 1993 was an one-track CD, so it wasn't possible to skip any of those Krishna interludes. But at this discography they finally divided every song to one track! Songs like "Hopeless" or "I Defy" already show 108's unique sense for music especially the unconventional drumming and guitar playing as well as the hymnal shouting or spoken word pieces. Back in the days the band broke up after the recording of their first document in music history but they luckily returned and so "Holyname" was just the beginning. Well, this is a worthy discography although the three cover songs the band recorded are missing (Black Flag, Misfits, Bad Brains). I can recommend this to every fan of 108 even if you own every original record. The great artwork and booklet justify every penny you need to spend! This is hardcore history!
marcel - 08/09/2006