Sold Date: March 3, 2021
Start Date: January 22, 2021
Final Price: $125.00 (USD)
Seller Feedback: 137
Buyer Feedback: 0

You are buying a new/never played vinyl LP of the Morbid and Mayhem split A Tribute To The Black Emperors. If you have even a passing interest in black metal then you've probably heard about this LEGENDARY release. Originally released by Warmaster Records (Columbia) in 1994 whom the next year would release the equally LEGENDARY Dawn of the Black Hearts. Those two releases along with Mayhem's Live In Leipzig constitute the "must have" legacy of former lead singer Dead. While De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas was a landmark release metalheads often wonder what if the unquestionable kings of black metal (at the time) didn't self destruct. Both Live in Leipzig and Dawn of the Black Hearts (with a censored cover and renamed "Live In Sarpsborg") now got official repressings. This particular record will almost certainly never.

This record consists of 3 (maybe 4?) parts: 1. Morbid's December Moon demo (one of the greatest metal demos of all time!) 2. a couple live Mayhem songs (Necrolust, Funeral Fog) that I cannot get 100% confirmation of where they are from 3. the only 2 studio songs Dead ever recorded (The Freezing Moon, Carnage) while singing for Mayhem.

As I stated this will never see an official release because Morbid's December Moon has already been given a legit (to the best of my knowledge) one in 1994 that goes for hundreds of dollars and a bloated 3LP version that is out of print (i.e. expensive too). The 3LP version has the demo and 5 rehearsals/live shows where they repeat the demo tracks but worse... fans just want December Moon. The two Mayhem tracks in the middle sound great but are there to increase the run time and not make the split lopsided. The first and last Mayhem songs are from the compilation Projections of a Stained Mind and that label (CBR Records) went under in 1993. Here they paid the band studio time to record these two classic songs and are the closest we get to hearing what DMDS would have sounded like in 1991. Also, if you happen to have a bag of cash and want to buy this compilation on vinyl, you can but The Freezing Moon is a CD only bonus track. Also, the Morbid side doesn't have Death Execution like the original split, however that random song isn't included in the original December Moon demo. Who knows why it was ever added on some releases?

As complicated as all that was, things get even messier. Warmaster Records is long defunct and who knows if Land of the Rising Sun Records is really from Japan or what? That white sticker you see is actually scanned unto the sleeve and you can't peal. Bootleg of a bootleg perhaps? All I know is this was an import "from parts unknown" (WWF Undertaker reference lol) and actually looks really good. No issues with the sleeve or vinyl which is pressed on black/red marble. It looks almost black in low light but like blood under strong light, kind of creepy since plain red vinyl looks more like a Crayola color than actual blood.

So yeah my hands ache after writing all that but I wanted to be certain you are aware of what you are getting. IMO, this is a much more iconic release than Dawn of the Black Hearts, which only beats it in the artwork category. Item will be shipped in a record mailer with a plastic sleeve to help prevent seam splits, cardboard stiffeners, and "fragile" stickers. Thanks for looking.