Vinyl Altar! What would I do without Vinyl Altar?…read more
There are 3 record stores in this city that I LOVE in a 3way tie. This is one of them!
So aside from just being the best LOOKING record store I've ever seen, the selection! Going in the door, there's:
-Vinyl Altar, the haven & sanctuary of all things metal and thus good!
-Digital Underground, which I would describe as Electronica/Goth/Industrial/Post-Punk/Soundtracks galore, also amazing!,
-And the D&D/gaming store that has tournaments and such called Reliquary. Now I don't know anything about any of that other than the way they have it all set up and organized with the cards & models and tons stuff available is AWESOME!!!
Frankly all this stuff is awesome! This whole place just has a cool atmosphere that I love! But I go there the most for Vinyl Altar, which is hands down, the greatest Metal Store I have ever been to. If you love Metal, it's a pilgrimage in the making. The sheer amount of Metal music and metal related stuff is just badass!
I have yet to learn of a place in the states that has it beat in regards to dedication to the genre. It's not like it's ONLY Metal there, but it's a predominantly Metal niche place! I'm aware of some places in Europe that are on a bucket list that give it a run for it's money, but truthfully, I have traveled a lot of places and been to some supposed must visit shops and been disappointed for the most part when it comes to Metal. (Let alone other music. cough...P.R.E....cough) In terms of Brick & Mortar, you're just not going to beat this place in the NE part of the country. NY doesn't have anything like this. Jersey, Boston, forget it. The closest I've come is a few other places here, which is great for me!
And to make it better, everyone in the store are really cool, and knowledgeable people! They love this place and it shows! None of that holier than thou, hipster, elitist BS here. Just friendly cool people.
If you are new or interested in Metal or any of it's it's various satellite genres, this is a great place to start. You can get new music, wardrobe, reading material, decorations body or wall, and a cool miniature castle all in one trip.
You won't ever regret going there. And even if you don't buy anything you'll be happy you went and want to go back to do so next time. How many places have that effect really?