Alice In Chains are currently marking the 30th anniversary of their Jar Of Flies EP with a range of merchandise that includes a skateboard, a poker set, and a plushie combo celebrating the track Whale & Wasp. Most excitingly, they're also releasing a limited edition vinyl edition of the EP which contains actual dead flies embedded in the vinyl.
The fly vinyl was manufactured by Indianapolis-based vinyl mavericks Romanus Records, who have a history with this sort of thing. Last year they released a maggot-filled vinyl album for local punk outfit Pat & The Pissers, while other records have been filled with sand, razor blades, Doritos, brick dust, leaves, marigold flowers, blood and scorpions. Romanus are also responsible for a lathe-cut limited edition for Nashville duo Volk made out of real snakeskin.
"Excited to announce Romanus Records are making these amazing bizarre beauties in conjunction with the good folks at Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group," says Romanus head honcho Chris Banta. "Filled with real dead flies. It was actually pretty difficult to get a hold of real dead flies. Absolutely iconic band, album, and more. Video and more behind the scenes content to come!"
Sadly, the fly-filled edition of Jar Of Flies, which is limited to just 150 copies and retails at $167, is already sold out.
Originally released in January 1994, Jar Of Flies entered the Billboard 200 at Number One, making it both the first ever EP to top the charts and the first Alice In Chains release to do so. Alice In Chains play the Sick New World festival in Las Vegas in April.
