D (CD): lost & found records. lf 051 / 9 tracks / 1993

RI (CD): relapse records. / 1994

RI (LP): deep six records. 55 / 2004

RI (CD): CAN: deranged. dy 84 / 2006

Different sleeves for the first three reissues, Deranged and Deep Six versions have the same design. 2006 LP reissue on Deep Six, yellow vinyl.

During their existence, Siege only put out a cassette EP/demo tape and 3 tracks on the Cleanse the Bacteria comp., but they've changed the hardcore world forever. The impact of their music can only be compared to the first DRI 7” - they took speed and aggression to a whole new level. Their music has the power and anger of the Boston/XClaim bands, and the Lou Giordano production greatly enhances their guitar sound, but what really makes them special is that they doubled the speed without just sounding like white noise, it is still complex and interesting (with the exception of Grim Reaper which is a slow, endless, more experimental track). It took 5 years before someone finally put their cassette EP (recorded in Feb 1984) to vinyl, first in form of two rather noisy bootlegs that were mastered from n-th generation copies of the original tape and today only have historical value. The real breakthrough came with the Lost & Found rerelease; not exactly a legit release since not all/none (?) of the band members gave their OK, but the label spent a lot of time and money restoring the recordings digitally, and the results were amazing. This and all subsequent versions also include the three songs from the Cleanse compilation. 10 years after the fact, Relapse put out the first legitimate version of these recordings (on CD), and then Deep Six finally did what should have happened 20 years sooner: putting out a legitimate vinyl version. [10]

Die Bedeutung von Siege auf den modernen Hardcore und Grindcore kann man wohl nur noch mit der von DRI vergleichen; rasender Boston-HC mit krächzender Stimme, der in Sachen Geschwindigkeit alles bisher Dagewesene schlug; trotzdem kein stumpfes Gehacke, sondern immer interessant und originell - genial (“Grim Reaper” ist allerdings ein langsamer, abgedrehter Doomcore-Song mit Saxophon(!)). Nach den eher rauschigen Bootleg-7”s, die heute wohl nur noch nostalgischen Wert haben, gab es dann 1993 den Durchbruch mit der L&F-CD - aufwendig digital restauriert, was für eine wirklich erstaunliche Soundqualität sorgte. Zehn Jahre nach den Aufnahmen dann die erste legale CD auf Relapse, und nochmal 10 Jahre später dann endlich, endlich die erste offizielle Vinylversion. Klassiker.

Tracks: //CD/LP: //drop dead / conform / life of hate / starvation / armageddon / walls / cold war / sad but true / grim reaper