Yeah, this triple Lp set is on the pricey side, but it's oh-so-beautiful, the three heavy slabs of wax encased in a six-panel heavy gatefold package that has different artwork and design than the cd version that Emetic released last year. The album cover of a demonic Manson peering out through the withering haze of a death's head is fucking killer all on it's own. Limited edition of 500 copies.

Like the title says, this is a collection of assorted early tracks from those serial-killer obsessed sludge metallers Church Of Misery, originally released on the Japanese label Leafhound back in 2004 but out of print for awhile following the unfortunate demise of the label. Thanks to Emetic, we've got this double disc set back in stock, and any fans of these Japanese doom lords (who are in my mind one of THE best Sab-worshipping outfits out there) are going to need to add this to their collection, STAT. Most of these recordings come from out-of-print EPs that are now pretty hard to find, including the punishing four tracks from Church Of Misery's super rare 1998 split LP with Canadian psych-doomers Sheavy (which includes their devastating cover of Saint Vitus's "War Is Our Destiny"), and the '98 EP Taste The Pain which fond their serial killer concept fully coming into form, with tracks like "Plainfield (Ed Gein)" and "Room 213 (Jeffrey Dahmer)" dropping massive slabs of Sabbath-esque doom mixed with taped news reports outlining the details of the murders, and closing with a skull-crushing cover of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida".

The second disc is more of a mixed bag, starting with the killer 1999 Murder Company EP (originally released on Kozik's Mans Ruin label) and then running through six rare compilation tracks that include "Where Evil Dwells (Richard Ramirez)" from the Doomsday Recitation compilation, "Sick of Living (Zodiac Killer)" from the Stone Deaf Forever comp, and their covers of "Come Touch the Sky" from Bastards Will Pay: Tribute To Trouble, "Accident" from the King Of The Witches: Tribute To Black Widow, and "Chains of Death" from Beyond The Realm Of Death SS: Death SS Tribute. The disc is topped off with a previously unreleased song, "Retal (Howard Unruh)", another crushing doom jam dripping in 70's grime and crime scene vibe. Obviously this is essential for any fan of Church Of Misery, and all sixteen tracks are great, each one a super heavy, sleazy slab of Sab-oid doom that rivals Electric Wizard, grisly serial killer homage, greasy satanic imagery and tales of violent murder set to a dank Sabbath-cloned boogie that swings like few others, with soaring narcotized vocals and gobs of funky wah-wah sleaze and druggy acid guitar soloing. Crucial.