When it comes to clothes, my Metal band shirts are all starting to wear and tear. Rarely do I have the cash to buy a replacement or two unless put aside specifically to grab one at a show. The last time I did order a shirt, well, it didn’t work out as I had hoped it would as I pointed out here. With almost nothing but Hanes tagless shirts in my closet that not only can you read a newspaper through but are shrinking from the wash to the point where they are becoming belly shirts (which is far from a pleasant sight I assure you), I decided it’s time to put invest in some new band shirts. With very little in my desired size, design, album or band in my usual order hotspots, I found myself browsing the very small apparel selection on the Nuclear Blast Records America store, and finally found something I liked.

I placed the order on April eighth of this year. I wanted a Carcass shirt despite not liking the new album Surgical Steel that much. I have been a huge fan of their first five albums since I discovered them ten, maybe eleven years ago though, and over the years found shirts that either sold too high on eBay, or it was always too small. I decided to give it a shot, and braced for the worst considering this is my first time ordered from them. I wasn’t sure what to expect, especially after the Metal Blade Records/Indiemerch fiasco I reviewed before, but there’s always a return option if need be.

One of the big reasons I picked this specific shirt was because it was on sale. $17.99 US isn’t bad to pay for a shirt, especially since I’m aware there is a high shipping rate on the first item with Nuclear Blast, part of the reason I never order from them. The other is they are located in California, and I prefer shopping closer to or inside Pennsylvania since I can either walk into a physical store and pick it up, or expect the item to arrive in twenty-four to forty-eight hours after processing. With tax, the order came to $22.99, and given the cost for a band shirt at Hot Topic back when it use to carry Metal albums and related band shirts, not to mention the only local source for me outside of going to Philadelphia, I still came out ahead by about three dollars.

Given their location and the size of the label, I figured this would take a week or two to show, and not three to four like with Indiemerch. But, to my surprise, this order was processed the next day, and arrived in my mail box two days after the processing date. I was completely stunned to be honest. This is the length of time I expect from some of the smaller labels I deal with. Hell they even beat Relapse Record’s arrival time by a day, and that label is based just two hours away from where I live!

The shirt arrived in pristine condition, was exactly as described, and fit just the way I wanted it to. Even after two washes it still fits fine. Sure it’s a bit more snug but its to be expected after at least the first wash. But, there was more to this package that made it all the sweeter. I’m use to getting a sampler CD I’ll take in my car for a while then throw in a pile somewhere and forget about. Nuclear Blast, however, took it upon themselves to include a full size poster of the artwork to Surgical Steel. This was bent up to fit the envelope the shirt came in, and it does have a few small dings on the sides, but overall it’s still in fine condition. I may not have appreciated the album as much as others have, but it was one hell of a nice addition to the order that I fully intend to frame and hang in my apartment since posters nowadays are becoming so incredibly scarce or costly.

I’m really pleased with how this order went. The shirt itself looks great and great on me, not to mention showed a hell of a lot faster than I ever would have anticipated from a Metal giant like Nuclear Blast Records. Plus the addition of the poster really made me smile, as I can never have enough Metal posters on my walls. I definitely plan to order from Nuclear Blast America again, even if the shipping rate is pretty high and the selection for apparel is incredibly limited for us in the US. Hopefully it’ll be more like its overseas counterpart at some point when it comes to clothing, as the import costs for some of the shirts I want there is just too much for me.

Order placed thanks to personal funds.