Wax Vessel

07/02/2025

Ok! Here we go! KILLING OF A SACRED DEER is in hand and shipping now! Here’s a little look of what might be the most cohesive set in recent memory, haha.

If you missed out, both Meteor Gem and Silverback Gorilla Records will have copies going up in the coming days.

And while we’re on the topic, there are a few band variant copies of the NEW LP in the store as we speak! Last retail copies for Visage!

07/01/2025

I take it back - I actually have ONE MORE update! It was buried deep in yesterdays update, so I wanted to highlight it here:

This months in-hand announcement is THURSDAY at 9am CST. So if you want to do EA or whatever, Thursday is the new Friday (for this specific announcement). I figure everyone will be enjoying their Fourth of July. You don’t need to be on your phone!

And that kind of leads into trichomoniasis. It is on press this week, and as you can see, I just had a deluge of pre-orders break free so it got bumped a little bit. My goal is always to ship the previous in hand before the next one goes up and I think that *might* still be the case. I might miss it by a week, but it’s in the mix.

To give you some context, I ordered trichomoniasis after Plagues in September. At this point, you’ve noticed I’m the only person that is pretty consistently doing in hand and pre-order every month. It takes so much planning like I’m always working over a year in advance. For the most part, I’m able to time it up pretty well but it’s a moving target! I really don’t want to be doing pre-orders every drop, so if you are OK with the in hands, maybe being two or three week ship timelines then I will keep it going.

I just don’t want to bump this next in hand and have to move my entire schedule because then that bleeds into every other in hand that I placed every other month after that. So much logistics!

But anyway. See you this Thursday for a big 2xLP discog release. Orders go up July 11th!

06/30/2025

Big Monday wrap up here! Read up!

First off, KILLING OF A SACRED DEER is sold out! Shirt will stay up until the 4th but that’s it! Records are gone - it’s a fixed pressing! Since the sigs went so fast (and the whole thing went fast in general) Colter opted to see this /100 band variant in store. If you missed or want something abut snazzier than a PVC, I have their tour variant going up on Wednesday at 1:00pm CST! Last of the online, and cheapest variant going forward. Meteor Gem and Silverback Gorilla Records will have copies when they land in a few months, but they’ll be “full price”.

Speaking of! Both the KSD EP and sabella get delivered this afternoon. I will have pics up of both this week, and they’ll be shipping this weekend. Both MG and SGR will have copies of KSD. I’m sending their copies out today so I imagine they will both be putting theirs up by the end of the week. Last copies of both of these releases.

SGR will also have a full variant of SABELLA that they will be putting up at a future date as well. No represses on anything! Last chance!

I hope to have both WV Greatest Hits™️ and Weeping ship this week as well. Trichomoniasis is on press end of week, and will ship the week after. Then another in-hand announcement on the 3rd with orders on the 11th. Big 2xLP! You’ve been warned! July is nuts!!

Additionally, hats finally came in so all me and him call it us merch orders that had hats have shipped. CK hats going out too. Anniversary merch not far behind. Really gonna try to have everything wrapped up in July here!

And then to round out July, there is yet another brand new album release as the second drop of the month. I hope everyone is ready to have like six releases this month between new stuff and stuff shipping. Just absolute insanity!

06/28/2025

Happy Saturday! What a day yesterday! We’re down to 7 copies of the KILLING OF A SACRED DEER full length - an insane show up from everyone! Almost 500 copies gone in less than 24 hours, plus distro commitments from Meteor Gem and Silverback Gorilla Records. By the time it’s all said and done, I think we will have close to 800 records sold on this.

It’s really a testament to how good KSD is, and what a powerful platform WV is. Absolutely appreciate everyone who bought a copy so much. It makes me so happy that I can keep having WV be a home for new releases from up-and-coming and established bands. I honestly think given the response on every single new release that there isn’t a single band that would be unhappy with the performance of a Wax Vessel drop! You all are the best!

I’ve had a lot of people message me that they wanted a slick variant since the SIG sold out so fast yesterday. I have 100 of a metallic swirl (like how Hereisaropegoodluck had) that the band wanted for their in hand band variant. We are going to put those up on Wednesday instead. 1pm CST.

MG & SGR will be the sole places to grab in hand copies then once these arrive in a couple months! And both of those places will have copies of KSD self titled going up in the coming days as well!

Its time. I get to do my absolutely favorite thing once again! You get to partake in what I consider to be a cultural moment, and a WV moment here - the return of KILLING OF A SACRED DEER! To me, there is nothing more powerful than the debut LP - especially on the back of an amazing EP. It’s the t...

06/27/2025

Happy KILLING OF A SACRED DEER DAY! The debut full length “A Visage or a Mangled Body” is now available in full everywhere music is streamed. Give it a listen and let me know what you think! Tell a friend!

Preorders for the limited records (no open preorder) go up at 1:00pm CST. Merch goes up at 2:00pm CST. NO, you cannot combine records and merch! Merch will stay up until July 4th so no rush at all!

Their debut Self-Titled EP is shipping momentarily. This new one is a preorder as well. It’ll ship when it ships! And if you miss out today, rather than complaining just remember that both Meteor Gem and Silverback Gorilla Records will have copies when it ships. In fact, both of those places have copies of the EP going up soon as well!

Thank you again to everyone who grabs a copy of this today or grabs a piece of merch! Nothing is more fun for me than dropping brand new stuff and I’m just so happy that not only did Colter wanna work with me again, but that everyone seems to be fu***ng with KSD round 2!

9 track album

06/25/2025

Another Wax Vessel release, another glowing review from Connor over at New Transcendence. The FULL album drops this Friday, so make sure you circle back after you listen to it and grab a record and/or some merch! Friday!!

Home » All Posts » Deathcore » Reviews » REVIEW: Killing of a Sacred Deer – A Visage of a Mangled Body [2025] REVIEW: Killing of a Sacred Deer – A Visage of a Mangled Body [2025] June 23, 2025 Connor Welsh 0 All Posts, Deathcore, Reviews, Artist: Killing of a Sacred Deer Album: A Visage of a...

06/24/2025

This one we actually hit pretty quick in terms of the art. I know I wanted to work with Arcano, so I just gave him a little sketch of how i wanted the proportion and a overview of the themes: wanted some heavy religious iconography (you'll see through the gatefold insert, etc) and a color palette.

I thought it was looking SO old-school to have the orange logo, haha. Like just peak crazy over the top logo placement and color. But like, it was in fact getting too "conventional" and i think doing it all to match the guts was a better move. Like, yes, the orange would have been so on the nose and fun but I think people would eventually take it in earnest. Current one is way more spooky and mature!

Ended up with 7 panels of art. Took some time to narrow down which was going to be the cover and even longer to get the guts logo right, haha. As always, huge thanks to LAB.13 for the insane layout! Can't wait for you to see these in hand - there's so much crazy art to look at packed in to these!

06/23/2025

Hello! As promised, yes, there is some new merch for KILLING OF A SACRED DEER! The same Merch Vessel quality you know and love! All of this will be going up on Friday, the 27th at 2:00pm CST (One after hour the record drop).

Shirts are Comfort Colors. Hoodies are some secret sauce (but like, how good are MV hoodies if you've had one before). Flags for the single and album art. Most of it is limited, so be there or be square! Shirts will be up for a week!

06/21/2025

I told you! Killing of the sacred deer is done and should be in my hands middle of this coming week. Hoping to get it out this coming weekend. I got pretty close so stay tuned for more KSD hitting your door!

And remember: Silverback Gorilla Records will have 50 alt cover editions when they arrive, and Meteor Gem will have 50 OBI edition too. If you missed out, please grab one from one of my friends! More on that soon!

Pre-reviews for the day full length go live Friday at 1 Pm CST!

06/20/2025

Its time. I get to do my absolutely favorite thing once again! You get to partake in what I consider to be a cultural moment, and a WV moment here - the return of KILLING OF A SACRED DEER! To me, there is nothing more powerful than the debut LP - especially on the back of an amazing EP. It’s the type of progression that defines all my favorite bands: you do a TIGHT EP, then take a year and distill those ideas and flesh out your sound in to a full length debut album. They’ve done it, and it rocks!

IF you’re a fan of the self titled, I have some great news for you - its that and more! Colter has done the impossible task of maturing the sound, not being comparable to PF, and being still firmly a KOASD record. Its wholly in its own lane and scratches a different itch than a lot of other “revival” deathcore. It leans heavier in to the disjointed song composition that I feel has been largely lost. I think kids don’t want to have to write 15 different riffs per song. KOASD really is embracing true old-school deathcore on this one and you’ll immediately see how different it is than its contemporaries.

I think its really hard to make a full length after a flawless EP, and even more so one that captures the spirit and also elevates it. They’ve managed to take all the elects that made the EP fantastic and flesh them out more on this. Like, it turns out KOASD has a “sound” and its on full display on this one. It doesn’t feel rehashed, but an extension of the times they had on the EP. It’s fully evolved in the sense that it took the old-school flair on the first and full realized it; the individual riffs get shorter and thees MORE. The soundscapes are more spooky. The vocals more dynamic. I don’t think there’s a repeated drum passage on this full thing. Its MySpace (barf) in the purest of terms - no pop metal compositions or gimmicks, just true dynamics and musicianship.

If you weren’t following already, you’ll see that Abrupt Decay has in large joint KOASD as the “live band” and even on this album, had some great moments of collaboration. I can’t stress enough how *unlike* the current landscape of revivalism this record is. It sounds insanely modern, but with old school composition. Its such a specific sound that no one is really indulging in right now. And for those that were curious, yes, it is VASTLY different than PSYCHO-FRAME. Colter sounds like a different guy here, and the instrumentation is more ADHD than PF, haha. It feels like love letter to 2008, rather than a pastiche or an evolution of it.

For this record, the goal was to make an LP of the EP. To explore some new themes through the lens of what has already been done. To just create an impactful debut thats rooted firmly in “IYKYK” status. The thinking man’s deathcore album!

For this one, Colter once again gave me free reign on the art/layout/etc, and man did I have fun with this. I really like how it almost registers as old religious art, but super modern and super gross. I’ve been trying to find a job to work with ARCANO on for awhile, and this just seemed like the perfect fit. We got TONS of panels, and this records has a lot of inserts - you’ll be stoked when you se this win hand and get to look at it all! And of course Kai did maybe his best work yet on this one - layout takes it to another level. Just such a cool presentation on this not to toot my own horn!

This release will also have a lot of accompanying merch, so stay tuned next week for more details on that.
Big thanks again to everyone who was involved with this. Colter, Digital Ghost and Oodelally for the audio. Its been in the works for som long, and I’m excited for you all to see the fruits of everyone labor here!

This one time pressing is presented across 500 copies at drop:

50 Killing Prayer (Wax Vessel Signature)
50 Umbral Offering (Wax Vessel Signature)
50 God’s Not Here (Wax Vessel Signature)
50 Maria (Wax Vessel Signature)
50 Annalise (Wax Vessel Signature)
250 Amelia 180g Natural PVC

Available Later:
100 Outro (Wax Vessel Handmade) (Band Exclusive)
50 SGR Alt Edition
50 MG OBI Edition

All of this housed in:
1.5x thickness Matte single pocket jackets
Double sided matte full color insert
Black polylined innersleeves
Gold foil numbering
Stuffed into polybags
Hype Sticker’d
Custom WV Mailers
Matching WV Album art sticker

I can’t express how bummed I am that we ALMOST lined this up perfectly, haha. As you can imagine, syncing up a new release with the shipping of a preorder to hit at the same time is like trying to hit a moving target. As much as I hate not having the EP in your hands as this one goes up, rest assured that this only got undershot by maybe 2 weeks. The self-titled is on press currently, and should be shipping to you next week. Definitely in the month of June. I’m calling that a success for all intents and purposes, haha.

I know its crazy to have the EP and full-length overlapping a bit on preorder, but it’ll be shipped before preorders on this one close!

Preorders go live on Friday, June 27th at 1:00pm CST. Merch will go up one hour later at 2:00pm CST. Record are fixed unit, so no open preorder on this one. Merch is open! If for some reason the records all sell out in one second, I will put the band’s live show variant/band variant up later or something. Be there or be square!

06/19/2025

Just a quick little update for tomorrow! KILLING OF A SACRED DEER announcement is tomorrow morning. Preorders go up next Friday the 27th. My goal is to have the last EP completed and shipped by that weekend.

As you can imagine, it’s a crazy moving target to hit. I might be +\- a week on that! The goal was to have the shipping of the self-titled be a lead in to the full length, but who can count for all of the delays and shifts over the course of the year.

In any case. I think KOASD self titled will be in your hands in the next two weeks. Normally I wouldn’t care about giving a shipping update like this, but I do think it is a crazy move to have that pre-order still open while the new one goes up so I just wanted to contextualize that. Thanks for understanding!

06/18/2025

At this point you might have already seen them in your mailbox, but if not! ABRUPT DECAY has fully shipped as of last week! Gotta Groove Records, Inc. and Wax Mage Records did an insane job as usual - so pumped on how toxic these turned out and how every color element on the Lab 13 art redux is represented!

If you missed out or if you are in Canada - the band will have a smattering of copies themselves to sell! I know my shipping is insane for international, so that seemed like a good option if you’re local.

Stay tuned for even more ABRUPT DECAY news in the coming months!