Brand New – The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me 2xLP

Ask any record collector right now what has been the one release that has given them a headache with anticipation and impatience, chances are that they will say Converge – Jane Doe 2xLP reissue or Brand New – The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me 2xLP. By no means is it intended to be disrespectful to either release or label(s) putting them out. These two releases have been a long time in the making not only after initial release announcements, but also to actually materialize and be in people’s hands and their turntables. Yes, there were holdups and snafus all over the place. But given the nature of today’s typical record collector, patience wore thin on a lot of people. Understandably so, to an extent.

Converge’s Jane Doe finally made it out to people. And it was superb. Oh yes it was and is.

And then there is Brand New’s The Devil and God are Raging Inside. There was a lot of drama and nonsense involving this release. From the initial announcement by Academy Fight Song that they were putting it out to then saying they weren’t as Triple Crown Records was going to do it instead. Then back to AFS saying they were also putting out a different, more deluxe version in addition to Triple Crown’s. It got confusing, frustrating, you name it…Not to mention that Jesse Lacey still owes me and a lot of people a dollar.

 But all is well that ends well as it is said. The Academy Fight Song version of TDAG is finally out and in our hands. This version is for sure far more superior and visually stunning than Triple Crown’s. The colors are a lot more exciting and the vinyl is on 180gram. If you’re a hardcore audiophile, that means something to you. If you’re just a record collector who just wants the music on a better format, it makes no difference really. The jackets are thicker and with a much-more glossy finish.

There are a total of seven colors available for the release. And AFS went all out to present them in great color schemes and mixes.

Black – 200 total pressed. In times that most labels do a complete run of black and the most limited is some sort of color, AFS turned the tables and made black the most limited.

Black/Blue Swirl – 500 pressed. A nice and balanced mixture of the two colors. Looks very nice.

Orange/Black Swirl – 1,000 pressed. This, in my opinion, is the best color of the bunch. Gives the record a dirty look to it. A bit contrary the band’s sound. But it works!

The rest of the colors are broken down as follows:

Solid White – 1,500 pressed**

Blue/White Swirl – 500 pressed**

Orange/White Swirl – 500 pressed**

Purple – 500 pressed**. This is actually a color specifically made for the band and more than likely available on their online merch store

We didn’t have pictures of the other colors as we’re not exactly rolling in the dough…contrary to popular belief…so the info will have to suffice for now. But if you head over to Academy Fight Song’s blog, they have pics of all the colors including the purple. I will have to admit that seeing the colors and quality of the ones received, it is definitely making me want to order the missing ones and continue being a completist asshole.

** The pressing numbers for each color may or may not be correct. Those were the numbers listed by AFS when the pre-order was announced in May. As of this posting, I am waiting to get confirmation from the label on the actual numbers. Any adjustements will be made once AFS le’s me know.