The remixed/remastered reissue of the infamous 222 full-length by iconic 1990s New York City powerviolence faction, BLACK ARMY JACKET, is nearing release through Magic Bullet Records late this month. Metal Hammer is now exclusively streaming the album in its entirety alongside an interview with the band.
222 is the proper BLACK ARMY JACKET full-length, originally recorded and released in 1999. Here, all sixteen tracks have now been remixed and remastered from their original tapes for maximum eardrum indulgence and abuse. Additionally, two previously unheard bonus tracks recorded at the same time as the album – “DANTAM” and “Lying Between The Tigris And The Euphrates” — are now included in the program.
Both 222 and Closed Casket — a fifty-song collection of BLACK ARMY JACKET‘s various cassettes, 7″s, and splits — will see release on all digital platforms through Magic Bullet Records of the label’s 20th anniversary.
New York City’s BLACK ARMY JACKET was one of the key players in the powerviolence movement of the 1990s, the band specializing in a unique strain of grinding hardcore that was as memorable as it was relentless. Notably, BLACK ARMY JACKET was one of the earliest bands in the playing career of drummer Dave Witte. Having done time in Human Remains and Discordance Axis (among others) leading into BLACK ARMY JACKET, Witte went on to play in many more notable bands within the genre and beyond, including Municipal Waste, Publicist UK, Brain Tentacles, Burnt By The Sun, Deny The Cross, and more. Guitarist Andrew Orlando was the figurehead behind Reservoir Records, a label of the same era that represented like-minded talent such as Spazz, Jesuit, C.R., and Noothgrush. Bassist Carlos Ramierez is the co-owner of Fascination Street Films, a writer for No Echo webzine, and holds rank as the vocalist of Deny The Cross with Witte and members of Spazz, Agents Of Satan, and more.
