Counterfeit Metal albums on eBay and other online stores

[Geese]

So I just found out a rare album I found online was nothing more than a pirated/counterfeit CD. The CD in question was Satan's "Court In The Act" and it was an IMPECCABLY authentic looking copy of the 1997 Neat Record pressing. You would really have to be told to even entertain the thought of it not being real. Anyway, the whole thing got me quite suspicious of good deals online in general which is a shame because I amassed a good deal of rare gems on the net in the past 6 or 7 months.

Anyway, I'd like more than anything to out these shitty pirated albums and the dicks who sell them off, so with that said, NEVER buy from lastempire or Brotherhood Of Metal on eBay. The former gave me the fake Satan album and sells other horse shit like multiple factory sealed copies of Pantera's 80s albums and the latter will sell you some crappy Russian imports (with no mention of this in the item description) which are probably fake too. Never buy from Greece either and DON'T get that copy of Legend's "From The Fjords" or Slaughter's "Strappado" - they're fakes too.


Post any fake or at least dubious looking things you've seen/bought online (doesn't necessarily have to be eBay). Here's a few things I own that I'm suspicious of:


Sigh - Scorn Defeat (was new and bought from eBay seller demen1104)

Graveland - Thousand Swords (New and bought from Deathgasm on eBay. Worth noting because the text "Thousand Swords" on the front cover is silver)

The Chasm - Deathcult For Eternity: The Triumph (new copy from eBay seller wwpins; was the only seller who had this)

Enslaved - Vikingligr Veldi (It's a factory sealed press of DLS version from seller erwilson326. I've very suspicious because this guy's from Taiwan and he has many rare items not to mention he goes out of his way to mention they're not fakes. He does however mention when a bootleg is a bootleg and most of his items are used. It's in perfect condition but feels old).

Necrophiliac - Chaopula: Citadel Of Mirrors (Sealed copy from a store called NetSoundMusic. It looks and feels very old despite being sealed but then again I bought it for $25 plus shipping. Selling only one copy)

Ras Algethi - Onericon: White Hypnotic (Bought from Amazon for a steep price. Factory sealed and in perfect condition but felt old. Seller was horizons50 and the store is Horizons Music and they say they specialize in hard to find and out of print CDs/LPs. Only one copy was being sold)

Phlebtomized - Immense Intense Suspense (expensive used copy from Amazon seller levelingup that was in GREAT condition but felt sort of old. Selling only the copy I got)

Autumn Tears - Love Poems For Dying Children: Act 1 (A sealed copy of reprise version from eBay seller metalpinss. Sold for a suspiciously cheap $18.90 + shipping and the store had at least two complaints of a bootlegged version of a Mortal Sin record and about three complaints of "fake", "burned" or "duplicate" CDs despite the store explicitly claiming they sell only "ORIGINAL CDs NOT FAKE CDRS ALSO WE DONT SELL ANY RUSSIAN CDS". I'm convinced I got a fucking fake)

Asphyx - The Rack (original pressing from eBay seller
cfischlein1 came in really shit condition but was described as new. Probably fake as someone complained of an "obvious Japanese copy". Suspiciously has an assload of rare items not to mention I read on a forum yesterday that there's a fake copy of Asphyx's Rack CD somewhere on eBay)

[Geese]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=230263793655

^^^BTW, how real does this listing look? The guy selling it admitted that the matrix number was the same as the number I described in the inner ring of the Greek boot (NM 019 12099602) but claims it's not a boot and he bought it from CM distro years ago.

[audiophileguy]

Not enough diehards here to help ya out with the list, however, the corroseum forum has a massive thread on ebay bootleggers that you should check out. heres the link http://www.thecorroseum.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=257

here's another good thread from a different forum

http://heartofmetal.niceboard.com/he...light=bootlegs

btw, if you follow these two simples rules, you'll rarely ever be stuck with a bootleg.

1. don't EVER buy from greece
2. get the matrix or picture before you bid/buy

[Geese]

Thank you!

[rms]

wow I almost bought like 8 cds from this guy Liegelord7 in Greece, thank god I didn't...

[HaggardBastard]

Another word of caution to any and everybody: don't buy anything from sellers located in Basingstoke, UK. Even though they have some really amazing releases for decent prices (if you discount shipping), they're all Russian bootlegs. Whatever distributor is operating there goes under several different names on ebay, including Real Metal Music Store/real_metal and Da Old Skhool Music Store/lovin_da_old_skool (I'm not joking about that last one.)

[George]

Originally Posted by HaggardBastard

Whatever distributor is operating there goes under several different names on ebay, including Real Metal Music Store/real_metal and Da Old Skhool Music Store/lovin_da_old_skool (I'm not joking about that last one.)

Yeah I've seen the items from those guys (guy?) before. It was pretty obvious that they're bootlegs because of the multiple listings of the same item, plus the starting price of $.99 with an outrageous shipping charge of something like $7.99 for a CD.

[The Ozzman]

What is different about these bootlegs that makes them inferior to the originals?

[Mort Divine]

They're bootlegs.

[audiophileguy]

Originally Posted by The Ozzman

What is different about these bootlegs that makes them inferior to the originals?

they're cheap looking, unauthorized copies. older bootlegs were also known to sound inferior to original cds, but thats not the case anymore.


I actually don't have problems with bootlegs if the album is OOP and the bootlegs are cheap, however, i think it's crap seeing bootleggers make a fortune by lying to customers. The bands also never receive any money from the bootlegs either

[Black Orifice]

Originally Posted by The Ozzman

What is different about these bootlegs that makes them inferior to the originals?

they're not real, the artist doesnt make money off of it, they are worth anything, and... they're bootlegs. the only bootleg that i would by is mayhem's dawn of the black hearts with dead's brains splattered everywhere on the cover

[Geese]

Originally Posted by viewer_from_nihil

they're not real, the artist doesnt make money off of it, they are worth anything, and... they're bootlegs. the only bootleg that i would by is mayhem's dawn of the black hearts with dead's brains splattered everywhere on the cover

Well that's the difference between a boot and a pirated/counterfeit album I guess. Dawn Of The Black Hearts isn't a duplicate of an existing album whereas all the albums "Brotherhood Of Metal" and other asshats sell are inconspicuous-looking fake versions of real records (often rare ones ).

[Ben_t]

Originally Posted by audiophileguy

I actually don't have problems with bootlegs if the album is OOP and the bootlegs are cheap, however, i think it's crap seeing bootleggers make a fortune by lying to customers. The bands also never receive any money from the bootlegs either

I agree. I think it's not so much the fact that bootlegs are necessarily of lower quality compared to the original, it's more a problem of not being correctly informed that you aren't buying the original.

[Zephyrus]

So is there anything being done about this?

[The Ozzman]

Originally Posted by Mort Divine

They're bootlegs.

Thanks for the explanation, faggot.

[Geese]

Originally Posted by Zephyrus

So is there anything being done about this?

eBay for one, doesn't do shit. It's even worse for handheld videogames (multiple bullshit listins of DS and GBA games from Hong Kong).

[Zephyrus]

Originally Posted by The Ozzman

Thanks for the explanation, faggot.

bootleg: [adj.] (esp. of liquor, computer software, or recordings) made, distributed, or sold illegally.

[The Ozzman]

Well, how do they obtain the recordings in the first place? Do they buy their own copy and then burn CD copies with labels and everything?

I would assume they do, but I know shit all about this.

[Omni]

I've seen a few of those sellers around. I never bought from them because they didn't seem trustworthy. I mostly by from sellers who are in the US and Canada, and I always check out everything before bidding.

[Dodens Grav]

If you're going to buy a fucking bootleg CD knowingly, then you're stupid. At that point you might as well just download it.

[Psychonaut]

I'll buy bootlegs if there was never a factory release like live albums and rare cuts... shit like that. If it's an official album, it's originals only.

[whiskey funeral]

Originally Posted by Omni

I mostly by from sellers who are in the US and Canada, and I always check out everything before bidding.

Same here.

And this is a very helpful thread. Thanks to the person who made it and everyone posting their contributions. There isn't a whole lot we can do to stop these people from selling fakies so to at least warn others about shady sellers is the best thing to do.

[Thoth-Amon]

Originally Posted by Geese

Graveland - Thousand Swords (New and bought from Deathgasm on eBay. Worth noting because the text "Thousand Swords" on the front cover is silver)

I bought a Temnozor and Nokturnal Mortum CD from Deathgasm and they both look and sound completely authentic. If they are fakes they are damn good ones.
On the other hand I bought some Bathory, Cradle of Filth and Metallica CD's that were from France and Russia... I don't know if those are the real thing or not but they sound identical to the standard versions... only the packaging was slightly different. It didn't say anything about Import versions, et al in the descriptions when I ordered them.
I have bought a few Slayer shirts that I'm pretty damn sure are fake though... they looked very real in the images online on EBay but when I got them they look suspicious. But they were cheap and I can give a few away as presents since I haven't worn a couple of them so... no biggie.

[Terror Firma]

That Graveland album has been released with four different covers. You just got the most recent pressing from No Colours.

[Thoth-Amon]

Originally Posted by Terror Firma

That Graveland album has been released with four different covers. You just got the most recent pressing from No Colours.

correct... i've had no problems with deathgasm... excellent selection, prices and fast delivery