Vegas, otherwise known as VVegas, VV.egas, and many more aliases, is a group that gets constant play in my house. A good friend saw that I had an Integrity shirt on and suggested I listen to this killer band from Germany called Vegas. Being a child of the Internet generation, I scoured Google trying to find any information. There were a handful of reviews, one or two download links, and even less distros that carried their releases. Needless to say I downloaded what I could, loaded it up on the trusty iPod, and found one of my favorite bands.
Whether I was at home or at work, “VVake” was put on repeat. Blending together influences such as Integrity, Boyd Rice, and something more primal. The first thing I noticed about Vegas was the guitar. It sounded so crisp and on point (It turned out Matt Shack, of the highly underrated Pale Creation, was featured on the track). The second was T's vocals. They're perfect for delivering a message filled with pain, loathing, and ominous unknowns. I burned a copy and took it everywhere. Around the same time, Thrashed released the Vegas split with Moutheater; I say around because I was about a month and half too late for any of the pre-order versions so there was only the regular variant. Needless to say, that record found its way into rotation.
Vegas went off the grid for a bit until word of a new release started filtering, a split with the Infamous Gehenna. Updates came every now and then but it almost became a myth (I'm being hyperbolic, of course). The label was revealed to be Vedavu, who did an absolute bang up job with bands like Sumerian Axe and Tafkata, and hopes were once again raised. It was always going to be a limited affair, so I sat in front of a computer trying to find out when it was going to drop. Time passed and as the 7.17 show loomed, word trickled out there would be copies available. That was true, but it was a friend's only pressing with hand drawn covers (And limited to thirteen pieces). By the way, if you have a copy with the hand-drawn cover or test press, shoot me an email and I'll pay you handsomely for it. More on the split later.
Like I said above, a record would be ready in time for the 7.17 show, one available for mass consumption; “The Feast”. Hellfish released this beast a couple days before the event in a pressing of three-hundred; one- hundred for standard mail-order, one-hundred for the show, and one-hundred on green vinyl for the bands. This 7” features four tracks by Vegas, Gehenna, Unreal City, and Integrity. Whilst the standout track is “+Orrchida”, Vegas provided a spot-on cover of “Fading Away” (Verklingen). It may not have been a new track, but it continued to show why Vegas was one of the best bands around. The 7.17 show saw the band play upon US soil for the first time and for such an occasion, they had some very interesting merchandise, including but not limited to Flecktarn jackets and a special edition of the Moutheater split.
A couple months later, a handful of the Vegas version of the “The Feast” came to light thanks to T. I scooped one up immediately – along with CD copy of “Wake” - and was pleasantly surprised to find it personalized and signed. It's one of my most prized possessions. Fast forward another month or two and the split with Gehenna was officially announced. Vedavu put up the pre-orders on a Friday or Saturday night, at midnight (Which equaled three o'clock in the morning, EST). Along with the vinyl, it came with an exclusive shirt. The record shipped out in early January; the split is an absolute work of art, both aesthetically and musically. You can check out more pictures on my other blog, “Fetch The Pliers”.
“VVake” and “Never” were only on CD until the fine people at Hellfish pressed the “Never To Wake” LP, which is like a semi-discography. Along with the tracks on “VVake”, there are some live cuts and unreleased material that will please any fan. Three-hundred pieces were made available with a special pre-order that included a GISM homage shirt. I really how the tracks have been translated and out of sequence. It makes for an interesting listen – and makes me brush up on my very rusty, nearly nonexistent German. One of my most recent – as in earlier today – acquisitions was a test press of “Never To Wake”. I'm sure I'll post it in addition to this write-up.
Along with the vinyl, Hellfish also released a new line of shirts that include another GISM homage. Vegas always has great shirts, even if a majority of them are just the crest. ShopShogun also has a series of shirts although as much as I love the band, I just can't get down with that camo one.
The band just had another US show earlier this month; I still have some hope that they'll play the East Coast one day otherwise I'll just have to make the trek across country. There are a couple of very gnarly releases in the works including splits with a couple of legendary groups.
Total VVar!
