B A L L P E E N ( ! ) B U L L E T I N S

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NEWS UPDATE: May 5th, 2023

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- Out June 16th -
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CHEER-ACCIDENT
"Fringments Two"
Glass-Mastered Compact Disc
in Six Panel Gatefold Jacket / Digital
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- PREVIEW & ORDER at BANDAMP -

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CHEER-ACCIDENT PDF One-Sheet cat #: GR152 CD / Digital

Hi Everyone,

It's Mark writing.  TERMS "All Becomes Indistinct" turns two weeks old today - - - and if you still haven't lent it you ears, you need to rectify that right now! Just go HERE. Go ahead - - - We'll wait 'til you get back.

Okay!  Next up - coming this June 16th, we've got CHEER-ACCIDENT "Fringements Two".  Details are in the one-sheet above and you can get a first taste over at WEIRDO SHRINE, where the track "Fambiz Marching Band" is now streaming (and can be immediately downloaded with a pre-order!). 

"Why?" you ask? Thymme had this to say in the accompanying liner notes..."Because we know that you'd always wanted to hear what that plaintive melody from "Enduring The American Dream" would sound like if a high school marching band had gotten a hold of it". 



And, if you are in the Chicago area, Thymme writes:
Jeff and I are doing a subdued duo (that could be a name in itself, but we'll resist) performance this here Friday, at a new (new to me, certainly) place called Epiphany. From what I can gather it's a much fru-fru-ier place than we tend to find ourselves in, and I am looking forward to tickling the ivories of its grand piano, which undoubtedly sounds grand. (If pictures are any indication of how things sound.) Here's where and how you get tickets.

We are honored to be sharing the bill with one Emily Quinn, a brilliant singer-songwriter, not to mention Conduit of Humanity, a band of which we are sometimes satellite members (and Friday will be just that, as we perform a song we wrote with Candice). So, if you happen to be in Chicago from 7:30 to 9:45 or so this Friday (5/5), this is the evening that will pack the most action for you.

CHEER-ACCIDENT "Fringements Two" is ripe for pre-ordering HERE.

Okay - Thanks!

Mark

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NEWS UPDATE: April 21st, 2023

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- Out NOW -
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TERMS
"All Becomes Indistinct"
LP / CD / DIGITAL / Ult-ED
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- PREVIEW & ORDER at BANDAMP -

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KOENJIHYAKKEI PDF One-Sheet cat #: GR147LP/CD/Digital

Hi Everyone,

It's Mark writing. I just flew back in from the USA - and boy are my arms (and everything else) tired! Jet-lag aside, there's lots to catch up on, not the least of which is that TERMS "All Becomes Indistinct" is out now! You can pick it up at discriminating record stores everywhere or visit our bandcamp page and snag your copy HERE.

I shared bits and pieces of the trip on the SKiN GRAFT Facebook page - so feel free to go there to see pics from SKiN GRAFT's April First Fest in Cheer-Accident's Basement and my visit to Smashed Plastic Record Pressing with Tijuana Hercules' John Forbes. Speaking of Smashed Plastic, they are currently hard at work on an as yet unannounced long player that is due to arrive later this year. Stay tuned!

Early notices of the TERMS album have started coming in. Here's what people are saying...

"No, you’re not having a stroke. It’s Terms and this is “All Becomes Indistinct” and I think it’s utterly brilliant. A 'WTF' out of 10. (10/10)”
- Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life (Article / Track Premiere)

 “Terms make hard-boiled, beautifully difficult, powerfully complex instrumental pop music, the kind of music that never is difficult to listen to, to go with, to flow with, they may be clever, they may be far more complex as musicians than most are, they may be very, very challenging - but this is so easy to go with - to listen to - to just simply enjoy…”
- The Organ (Article / Track Premiere)

 “Terms Share their Creative Process “The song doesn't write itself. But it does sometimes express a preference!“”
- Fifteen Questions (Feature Interview)

“TERMS have dropped their final single “Sleep Until It’s Colder,” the track arrives ahead of the noise rock duo’s album All Becomes Indistinct, which arrives on April 21st via SKiN GRAFT Records. The track will definitely assuage the tastes of Big Black, Don Caballero, Battles and more. Guitarist Chris Trull is an alumnus of the prestigious acts Yowie and Grand Ulena, while drummer Danny Piechocki moonlights in the band Ahleuchatistas alongside Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk)”
- Northern Transmissions (Track Premiere)

"If you are a bit of a weirdo like me, and into everything the amazing drummer Zach Hill does, or Don Caballero, or early Daughters for the heavier parts, you are going to a be grinning broadly al lot throughout this album. There are just so many quirks and original angles throughout the songs, that each time your brain thinks it has the music all figured out, the band winks at you, and leads you through yet another mind bend.”
- Weirdo Shrine (Interview / Album Review)

On Terms - "First Existential" – “The trio surge from one idea to the next, remaining forever brilliantly off balance but entirely in sync. It’s a mind meld that is as delightful as it is mangled, the end result sounding something like an instrumental Primus played at double speed or Don Cab rattled and disassembled. Strings screech amid layers of sonic mayhem while the drums (holy hell, these drums) keep the song in a constant state of change, seamlessly moving in all directions at once.”
- Post-Trash (Article / Track Premiere)

“Progzilla has exclusive access to the single “Blusterguts!” prior to the album’s release. Nice guys, these Terms!”
- Progzilla  (Song Premiere)

“Hyphenated genre labels never hit the nail on the head, but TERMS play tight, experimental, guitar-driven rock that keeps you on your toes...” 
- Scene Point Blank  (Song Premiere / Interview)

“Marina Organ presents an hour of music that uses unconventional structures and 'other' time signatures – gathered from the worldwide undergrounds of math rock, avant prog, weird electronica and strange pop. This week's show features new music from TERMS!”
- The Other Rock Show (Track Premiere)

“Math Rock Dignitary Chris Trull Talks About His New Band Terms, Their Upcoming Album “All Becomes Indistinct,” His First Duo, How Working Remotely Has Affected Their Sound, and Working with SKiN GRAFT”
- Post-Burnout (Interview)

TERMS fire off a deafening warning shot with latest single and new album announcement: “Terms‘ first single from their upcoming album All Becomes Indistinct (out April 21st) has us tingling with feverish anticipation. But there’s more here than we anticipated, and we anticipated a lot…” 
- Fecking Bahamas (Feature Article / Song Premiere)

“Progressive, experimental, avant-garde, call it what you will, Terms provide a musical kaliedoscope that draws from many influences…”
- At The Barrier (New Album News)

“Terms, arriving by way of Tampa Bay, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri surfaced during the pandemic as a socially distanced band – dealing in dissonance, atonality and the unknown.”
- Thoughts Words Action (Album Announcement)

“In the words of guitarist Christopher Trull, on “All Becomes Indistinct” Terms managed to: “…bridge the thousand mile distance between us to create an ongoing musical collaboration we are extremely proud of; and we believe our new album expands and refines our musical concepts”.
- RocknLoad Magazine (Album Announcement)

“Terms have announced their new album “All Becomes Indistinct”… Guitarist Chris Trull is an alumnus of the prestigious acts YOWIE and Grand Ulena, while drummer Danny Piechocki moonlights in the band Ahleuchatistas alongside Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk).”
- The Progressive Rock Journal (News Item)

Terms announce new album, release the song “Teetering Scree”
- Punk News (Album Announcement)

That's all for now.
Thanks!

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NEWS UPDATE: March 17th, 2023

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- SECRET LIVE SHOW - APRIL 1st, 2023 -
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CHEER-ACCIDENT
TIJUANA HERCULES / UPRIGHT FORMS
- APRIL 1st, 2023 -
Undisclosed Location in Humboldt Park, Chicago
$15 advance
$20 at door

show at 6:34 p.m.
LOCATION REVEALED AFTER TICKET PURCHASE
Click the banner above to view Venmo QR Link
or send inquiry / paypal to phrogclock@aol.com

See you there!
(No foolin' - It'll be my first time back in Chicago in nearly a decade!)
- Mark F
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P.S. We just added a handful of copies of the "Chrome Forest" clear vinyl LP from CHROME JACKSON (that is Steve of Arab On Radar / Doomsday Student / Athletic Automaton) to our Bandcamp Shop and we've got it in stock on CD too!   - Plus, to keep things interesting, we have a flash sale on Cellular Chaos "Diamond Teeth Clenched" underway now!  This will not last long.  Thanks!

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NEWS UPDATE: March 3rd, 2023

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- Out April 21st, 2023 -
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TERMS
"All Becomes Indistinct"
LP / CD / DIGITAL / Ult-ED
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- PREVIEW & ORDER at BANDAMP -

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Hi Everyone,
It's Mark again. KOENJIHYAKKEI's "Nivraym (Revisted)" has just shipped and I'm happy to report that it is going over like gangbusters!  We'll have more to say about that in the near future (and you'll find plenty more on Koenjihyakkei below in the right here and now).  In the meantime, lets keep that winning record of our ours up- and announce our next release...!


o "TERMS are kind of pulling rock apart and then putting it back together in a way that is still very much rock music but somehow isn’t quite rock as we know it. "Other" you might say. Tightly composed? - Yes. A sense of precision? - Yes. Yet it does feel so alive, so free... Laced with a spontaneous spirit - a careful need to go and discover where the next note goes" - The ORGAN

"All Becomes Indistinct" is the second full-length album from Chris Trull (YOWIE / GRAND ULENA) and Danny Piechocki (AHLEUCHATISTAS / JITTERS). TERMS, arriving by way of Tampa Bay, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri surfaced during the pandemic as a socially distanced band - dealing in dissonance, atonality and the unknown. In the months that followed, the band pressed on, finally performing live (including a celebrated performance at 2022's NO COAST Festival) and continued to hone their craft - forging an elastic rubberbanding harmony all their own - free of safe spaces.

ABOUT TERMS:
o "The duo commands a math rock nuclear reaction that manages to fit more riffs into a single song than most bands do throughout their entire discography" - RIVERFRONT TIMES

o "Perhaps like what you might expect to find on the pavement if guitar-music, as a concept, was runover by a small truck." - FECKING BAHAMAS

o "...a wild and frantic affair; brimming to the gills with mesmerizing drums accompanied by grooves that either exacerbate or alleviate the feeling that everything is about to spin out of control. But it never does!" - BEARDED GENTLEMEN

o "a mind-melter of the highest order" - GHETTOBLASTER

o "It comes with a crunch: skewed riffs, syncopated warmth, a feel, an edgy caress... like Jackson Pollock - that precise placement of the drip, the complete control that lets you think it isn't... This is Jack The Dripper music. This running in and out of you, running over you. This is painting spiders in your ear" - THE ORGAN

o "Wild visions of maximized music... a bit like the Minutemen playing the music of Raymond Scott" - HUB CITY SPOKES

NOTES: 
o Guitarist Chris Trull is an alumnus of the prestigious acts YOWIE and GRAND ULENA, while drummer Danny Piechocki moonlights in the band AHLEUCHATISTAS alongside Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk)
o Mastered by Carl Saff and pressed on randomly mixed COLORED or BLACK vinyl
o Glass-Mastered CD comes packaged in a Matte-Varnished DIGPAK Case
o Vinyl Edition includes full color collectible Japan-style “Footlong OBI” 
credits

TERMS:
Danny Piechocki - Drums
Christopher Trull - Guitar and Bass
with:
Alex Cunningham - Violin on “First Existential”
David Pate - Soprano Sax on “Points For Composure”

Recorded and Mixed by Terms
Mastered by Carl Saff
Photography by Adam Newsham / Design by Mark Fischer

You can hear the first single off the album "Teetering Scree" and pre-order it HERE.

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- Out Now -
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KOENJIHYAKKEI
"Nivraym (Revisited)"
Gatefold 2xLP / CD / DIGITAL / Ult-ED
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- ORDER at BANDAMP -

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KOENJIHYAKKEI PDF One-Sheet cat #: GR147LP/CD/Digital

"Nivraym (Revisited)" is out, so here is the obligatory update to spread the news of the third coming of KOENJIHYAKKEI's third long-player (and it's first coming on double vinyl). The PDF one-sheet above will fill you in on some of the finer details of this release and I've collected some of the advance reviews and write ups below.  Just in, we have a review from Bandcamp Daily who singled the record out as "Album of the Day"; over at Post-Burnout, I was asked to share some of my memories of "Nivraym" and give a bit of insight on this new release; and Rock and Roll Globe premiered a video of the band playing “Becttem Pollt” live at Club Goodman as heard on Side Four of the new double LP.

And there's even more to come - The Wire magazine correspondant James Hadfield is in Japan right now conducting an "Invisible Jukebox" interview with Tatusya for the next issue.
- - But, no doubt about it, the best way for us to sell this record is to take hold of your ear - so lend it to us - and undivided your attention. - Now, click here... and hold on tight!

KOENJIHYAKKEI "Becttem Pollt (Live at Club Goodman)"
| Music Video | Nivraym Revisited | SKiN GRAFT Records |

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PRESS UPDATE:

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"Arriving in the world of Koenjihyakkei unprepared is like leaping into a tornado that spins you dizzy and spits you into the midst of a meteor shower that deposits you underneath an avalanche. But the tornado is made of fire, the meteors have started a band, and the avalanche is bellowing at you in a made-up language.” 
 - Bandcamp (Album Of The Day)

"Koenjihjakkei’s songs are packed with instrumental detail and the group hurtle through a myriad time changes per song. “Axall Hasck” is played at astonishing speed and the convoluted “Becttem Pollt” nods towards Frank Zappa and Cardiacs, while the improvised passages in the title track sound close to the Japanese free rock trio Altered States. Nivraym, their third album, was released in 2001 and for its first ever vinyl release, Yoshida has gone back to the original tapes, remixing, remastering and resequencing the album with overdubs from members of the current line-up including extra vocals by AH, and Keiko Komori’s dazzling sax playing…" 
 - The Wire Magazine: Adventures In Modern Music (Album Review)

"Every note, every nuance is planned out. I can’t help but wonder if this is what Frank Zappa would’ve evolved into had he not passed away in 1993. True innovation is rarely understood and even more rarely appreciated. I’m glad more and more people have taken note of Koenjihyakkei’s extraordinary talents"
- Psychedelic Scene Magazine / album review

“I’ll leave the analysis of why Nivraym has had such culture relevance and longevity for others to discuss. For me, when I hear it, it brings back that same smile – the one I had the first time I heard Angherr Shisspa – and an overwhelming compulsion to share it with everyone. ‘You’ve got to hear this!’”  
 - Post-Burnout (Interview with SKiN GRAFT's Mark Fischer)

"Do we need to go dancing around their architecture here?  We could just suggest you hit play and treat your eyes and ears, we surely don’t need to go on about “fusing elements of frenetic progressive rock” and such do we?" 
 - The Organ (Song Premiere / Preview)

"After SKiN GRAFT started working with the band, Tatsuya went back to the original recording and gave it quite an overhaul, going so far as to recruit new members for the task.  Tatsuya re-recorded his drum tracks and the then-new line up laid down some additional recording that really transformed the album into something all-together different.”
 - Louder Than War (Full Album Stream / Article)

"Nivraym, heralded as a flagship Koenjihyakkei album in the past, resurfaces here in a different way than one might expect – it’s far from a simple remaster, and of course, you can always count on SKiN GRAFT Records to pull out all the stops when it comes to these kinds of things. It’s time to incinerate yourself with the revised, revisited, and gorgeously reupholstered "Nivraym”… 
 - Fecking Bahamas (Track Preview)

"Koenjihyakkei is a unique concept for Yoshida, and it may go down as his greatest achievement: the most perfect fusion of straight prog, the avant-garde and hardcore punk. Amen.” 
 - Pitchfork: Rewind: (Album Review)

"As you listen, you’re aware that what you hear was created by human beings, but the precision and unrelenting energy seem beyond the realm of what is possible. Yoshida and company take some of the qualities of math rock and technical metal into a unique and eccentric place that no other band inhabits… One question likely on the minds of many Koenjihyakkei fans is whether they need another version of an album they already own, and to them I would say, “Absolutely yes!” In many ways this is a new album, based on the old one but much improved, and well worth owning” 
 - Exposé (Album Review)

"Fusing elements of frenetic progressive rock, psych-folk whig-outs and labyrinthine collisions of instrumentals, opera and choral vocals, their sound is a riot of multicoloured imagination and adventurousness"
 - God Is In The TV (Song Premiere)

“Nivraym is a classic album, completely revamped… It may be the Japanese art pop greats' purest work, the kind of fusion of genres that fans of Frank Zappa, Mr. Bungle and Boredoms will no doubt dig”
 - Rock and Roll Globe (Video Premiere)

“So mad, so wild, so out of hand… I love it to bits."
 - 365 Days of Prog (Video Album Review)

“The third album from Zuehl’s most the most notorious band is coming again, revamped, revisited and on vinyl for the first time"
 - Amnplify: Australia (Album Preview)

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NEWS UPDATE: January 6th, 2023

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- Out February 17th, 2023 -
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KOENJIHYAKKEI
"Nivraym (Revisited)"
Gatefold 2xLP / CD / DIGITAL / Ult-ED
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- PREVIEW & ORDER at BANDAMP -

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For immediate release:
KOENJIHYAKKEI’s THIRD ALBUM REVAMPED, REVISITED AND ON VINYL FOR THE FIRST TIME

o “The place where seemingly inexhaustible imagination and unfaltering technique intersect” - The VINYL DISTRICT

Years after its original 2001 release, band leader Yoshida Tatsuya and the current Koenjihyakkei line-up (as heard on “Dhorimvishka”) returned to the “Nivraym” master recordings and went to work - adding new flourishes, additional overdubs and re-recorded drum tracks.

“After years of working with Tatsuya’s (other band) Ruins, we released Koenjihyakkei’s fourth album "Angherr Shisspa” in 2005. Then we brought their first, second and third albums out internationally.” – comments Mark Fischer of SKiN GRAFT Records. “In 2018, Koenjhyakkei returned to great acclaim with album number five “Dhorimviskha”, which we followed up with a vinyl release of “Angherr Shisspa”.  Now we’re bringing back the third album under the title “Nivraym (Revisited)”. It’s received an extensive overhaul since its original Japanese release. When the 2023 version is compared to the 2001 original, it is a huge difference”. 

Now, for its first ever vinyl release, the album has been remixed, remastered and resequenced for this revolutionary revisitation - the band’s purest, most uncompromising expression of Zeuhl music to date; blending progressive rock, symphonic rock, fusion and neoclassicism with the energy of hardcore punk, the volume of metal and the attitude of rock in opposition.

- Originally recorded in 2001 by:
YOSHIDA TATSUYA : drums, vocals
SAKAMOTO KENGO : bass, vocals
HARADA JIN : guitar
OGUCHI KENICHI : keyboards
SAGARA NAMI : vocals

- Additional recording by:
KOMORI KEIKO : soprano sax on 1, 2, 5, 6, 7
YABUKI TAKU: keyboards on 4, 5, 7
AH : vocals on 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9

- Remixed and remastered by Yoshida Tatsuya in 2020

- Live Tracks (10,11,12) recorded at Club Goodman
on August 5th, 2020 by:
YOSHIDA TATSUYA : drums, vocals
SAKAMOTO KENGO : bass, vocals
KEIKO KOMORI : soprano sax
TAKU YABUKI : keyboards
KEI KOGANEMARU : guitar, vocals
AH : vocals

OTHERS ON KOENJIHYAKKEI:
o “Japan's Tatsuya Yoshida has seen it all... (and) is easily seen as a godfather of today's blossoming art-rock-noise-pop scene” - PITCHFORK

o "Repeated listens reveal a calculatingly precise logic behind each and every mad progression, giving the band’s colorful music a sense of arresting inevitability” - BANDCAMP DAILY

o “…takes punk and prog-rock to the opera house for an immaculately arranged mosh pit… simultaneously challenging and fun” - NPR

o “The labyrinthine twists and turns, with sudden shifts in tempo and dynamics, will leave you slack jawed with astonishment. Any one of these pieces will leave fragments of melody reverberating around your skull for days... This is by no means just for Zeuhl fans - open minded fans of just about any sub genre should find plenty to enjoy here, between the highly symphonic keyboard sounds, the piledriving rhythms, the jazzy chord patterns and the atmosphere of a group of highly skilled players doing exactly what they do best and loving every minute of it.” - PROG ARCHIVES

o ”The second track "Becttem Pollt" has got to be one of the best prog rock compositions of the past decade. The instrumental section in the middle is so intense and proggy that you might even have to stop the CD to catch your breath. I can't find a weak track here.” - GROUND AND SKY

NOTES:
o Koenjihyakkei’s latest LP "Dhorimvishka" was selected as one of the year’s BEST ALBUMS by Bandcamp Daily.
o The worldwide vinyl debut includes a Randomly Mixed 2x COLORED Vinyl Edition and 2x BLACK Vinyl Edition.
o Gatefold Double LP includes full color collectible Japan-style
“Footlong OBI”
o Glass mastered CD comes packaged in a Six Panel Tri-Fold Jacket
o All formats include (3) new BONUS TRACKS recorded at Japan’s Club Goodman
o Bandcamp Exclusive Ultimate Edition bundles togehter all three formats in choice of COLORED or BLACK vinyl 

You can hear Axall Hasck (remastered) and pre-order it HERE.

Thanks!

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NEWS UPDATE: January 1st, 2023

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>>>> > WELCOME YEAR 2023 (!) <<<<<<
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OUR NEXZzzzzzzzzT RELEASZZZZzze WILL BE
ANNOUNCZzzzzED ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 6th

Visit our BANDCAMP PAGE HERE:
http://skingraftrecords.bandcamp.com

I _____ THANK YOU! _____ I

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CLICK HERE FOR MORE NEWS

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