Back in 2011, experimental upstarts Wreck And Reference self-released their debut EP, Black Cassette. Drawing on the blown-out intensity of black metal and the angularity of noise rock, their radical vision captivated the underground music scene, including The Flenser. It was immediately apparent that the band’s intriguing realm of heavy music represented an existential challenge to genre orthodoxy. Their crashing riffs and abrasive noise, fraught with themes of determinism and Cormac McCarthy-esque isolation, were a breath of apocalyptic air in an often stagnant world. But the most surprising aspect of their artfully constructed sound was that the duo utilized only samples and live drums to create it. Recorded in a garage in the “howling wastelands” of California, this was originally self-released by the band as a limited cassette in 2011, then as a limited CDr on Music Ruins Lives. Later that year it was remastered for a vinyl release by The Flenser. That version is long sold out and has become a sought-after collector’s item. Now it has been re-pressed on vinyl from the original master for the first time since its initial run with brand new artwork. “The California duo Wreck and Reference strip away the basics of metal, redefining the genre even as they sit outside it.” —Pitchfork “Weirdly heavy and unnerving.” —NPR