Shaxul Records

There was so much metal packed into this tiny store, my teeth ended up
hurting a little bit. GET IT? :D
Um, we hit this spot up after perusing Amoeba. It seemed like it was
pretty close to closing time, but the guy at the cash register was
super nice and didn’t rush my friend and I or make fun of me too hard
when I ended up buying a Sick Of It All 7 inch

Quite possibly the best metal shop for underground Black Metal or Death Metal by far. This store sells merch that other stores can’t find or for other reasons. Other stores are geared towards more tourism in haight and ashbury. Amoeba is cool but doesn’t sell what you can find at Shaxul records. I found what I believe to be a imported Bathory hammer heart shirt for only 18USD. If you are a true fan of metal or just like browsing for new or old metal albums go here you will be surprised I was. Cheers Stone.

The best record shop in California! A MUST GO! Cheers Stone!

I’ve been coming here since they opened in ’08. Good place to find shirts for metal bands.

Metal as f$&@”. Why more can you expect. Support your local metal scene and shop here

Yo, anyone that doesn’t give this place 5 stars is a tough critic. What do you expect? This place is rad. They hand select everything which is cool because you don’t have to shuffle through a bunch of trash to find what you want. This place is everything a small independent record store should be.
I’ve always wanted to have an all metal record store to visit on a regular basis and these guys are down the street from my apartment! Anyway, they always have good LPs in stock. Who cares if it’s mostly represses, I’m sure most of the used stuff just comes in when people sell them stuff. They get great used stuff time to time. A lot of their LPs are represses of albums that’s hard to find in the first place so that makes it easier if you want that Pagan Altar or Possessed LP. They also keep up with good new releases. They always have rad patches and pins for reasonable prices. Their t-​shirt selection is awesome and rotates regularly. They do special orders too. Can’t wait to get that Venom hoodie.
The staff are nice knowledgeable dudes who are always jamming some good 70’s and 80’s metal. Even if you come into this place and don’t find anything you want, there’s no reason to give these guys a bad review. Just talk to them and I’m sure if it’s available somewhere, they will hook you up. It’s obviously a small place and real estate on Haight is expensive. They aren’t Amoeba. They also run their own label and keep the SF metal scene alive! Glad to be living in a city with such a cool spot, thanks guys! Support your local record store.

let’s be honest, this is an old-​school style record shop. it’s small. the selection is limited. and that’s fine. it’s not your one-​stop-​shop for music, or even for metal. a shop this size couldn’t possibly stock everything that everyone might want. but it’s certainly worth stopping in to see if they have what you’re looking for before heading across the street to Amoeba, right? oh, and the first time I walked in here, dude was playing the Ride The Lightning 45rpm vinyl reissue at 33rpm, I presume to discover if it was somehow a secret doom metal masterpiece. how perfectly fucking weird and rad. Hail and Kill!

Five stars, really??? I feel like I’m going to be called out as not «true» enough for saying bad things about this place, but if it helps my case at all I am listening to Nehëmah while typing this.
Now, I was really looking forward to going to Shaxul after reading about it in Decibel/​Invisible Oranges. They’re closed on Mondays so my first trip to SF I was denied entrance. I was in SF a couple of months ago and made sure I could stop by this time. Was I disappointed.
Shaxul is about the size of a janitor’s closet. They have maybe 4 – 5 rows of vinyl max. All crappy thrash bands or black metal picture disk repressings that nobody wants to buy. Maybe it’s just the SF scene, but who the fuck is into thrash revival today? Across from that they have some really expensive tapes that aren’t worth the novelty. AND THAT’S IT. I really appreciate the sentiment of there being a hole in the wall metal record store akin to Euronymous’ place run by people who are passionate about the music. But there’s little to no variety in their selection.
NO VON DEMO TAPES THIS TIME. Maybe next time, Shaxul.

Shaxul records is the only place I shop for music these days. Its not a huge store but they only sell one thing and they’ve got plenty of space for that — Metal. The people who work there are very knowledgeable and I often see them out when I’m at a show which confirms that they/​I have good taste in music. If they don’t have what I’m specifically looking for, they always have something else that I want so I never leave empty handed. If you are thinking of going to Shaxul Records, you must go.

I made a point today to go to SF JUST to go to this store. I’m a HUGE metalhead and when I heard rumors of a record store that caters to Metal and ONLY Metal I freaked out. I found it, and was shocked by how tiny it is! It’s kind of cute actually, but the place is awesome nonetheless. They have lots of band shirts and vinyl. They also have a lot of thrash albums, not a great selection of folk metal though. For that, you can go to Amoeba Records across the street, they have a huge metal section actually. :D
The guy who owns Shaxule runs it for practically no profit. To me he might as well be a hero. Stop in, buy some CDs, and support this much needed addition to San Francisco and the bay area!

The perfect record shop for all your metal needs.
This particular record shop reminds me a lot of the smaller punk record shops up in Portland. Shirts of various bands hung up on the walls alongside old fliers and posters. An assortment of patches and other items to deck out your vest are present, as well as a great selection of vinyl and CD’s. There are even old horror VHS’s…can’t go wrong with that!
Although I’m more into hardcore punk, there are plenty of albums here that seem to bridge the gap between metal and punk or metal-​punk to keep it easier. Last I checked, some of the records present were English Dogs, WarCry, Discharge, etc.
Over all, a great record store.

Here’s one more point for my «reasons to move to SF» list. Metal fans this is a must-​stop on Haight, right by the park. Very friendly and knowledgeable guy, i think his name is Bob (or something close to that, apologies if it’s not, i’m very bad with names).
Though i love the music i’ll admit i’m far from being all knowning on the subject and i really appreciate when real «pros» take time to recommend a few bands. So i look forward to my next visit to SF, i’ll make sure to make Shaxul one of my first stops.

So back in August I took a very memorable trip to San Francisco. One day I took a trip down to Haight-​Ashbury, due to the historical significance (I had no clue that this amazing record store was located in the neighborhood) and happened upon this place.
When I walked inside I was overcome by an optical orgasm of Metal T-​shirts, Posters, etc. on the walls and King Diamond’s Fatal Portrait ejaculating it’s heavenly Metal godliness into my ear canals. I greeted the nice bearded gentleman working there at the time and we conversed a bit about Metal and how I thought that this store was the most mindblowing record establishment that I had ever set foot in. I had bought a Mercyful Fate T-​shirt just hours before at a place called «Rasputin Music» in Union Square, but I found myself returning it hours later because I had found a tastier one at Shaxul (So, hold onto your cash if you find yourself tempted to purchase a Metal shirt at Rasputin or Amoeba, chances are they have better ones at Shaxul).
Shaxul is an exceptional store with decent prices and a great selection located in a very interesting part of San Francisco. In the winter I plan on returning to San Francisco and Shaxul Records is a place that I am definitely going to return to. If you’re into Metal and you find yourself in San Francisco, make a stop at Shaxul Records a priority.

Its a small place right next to skates on haight. If you have ever been to the record vault on polk street back in the day you will rejoice with the selection of t-​shirts, records and CD’s and general metal stuff its back to the good ol days when underground metal in SF was Live! As I walked in, Stone had some Mercyful Fate playing and had lots of metal stuff all over the walls. Keep an eye out and stop by for some remastered CD’s of stuff you cant get at Amoeba records.

We went by SHAXULS to say HAIL to our friend Stone!
We ended up leaving with some cool music and patches. If you are into METAL, you need to check this place out!
It’s right on HAIGHT so there are tons of other cool places to check out while you are in the area. Make a day of it!

NICE! Maybe I’m just spoiled, but I’d been a feeling a bit tired of the SF record store scene. Amoeba is too big, Aquarius tries too hard and I have no need for techno or soul records.
Happily, the tide seems to be tunning. With 1234 Go in Oakland filling the punk/​hc niche, I was super pumped to find out that a store specializing in metal was coming around too. It’s only been open a week but I’m excited to see how the used vinyl section develops over time– I’m hoping to see some more stoner/​doom and proto as the inventory grows. I walked out with a copy of Sleep’s Holy Mountain on vinyl and the delight of my day having been made that much more BROOTAL by a visit to Shaxul.

Count me in metal for mutha’s!!! Once stood a house music shop. Now in it’s place is heavy metal history once again writing itself in new books of this old, but new era of time. Retire your emo poserness simply because you wanna be a beatle haircut kook and go visit Shaxul Records. Your mom will follow you to the record store and say” Hey, is that a Twisted Sister Pin” or are you just glad to see me??? Cheers, bang, and don’t be scared of a little metal in your life!!!

This is what the area needed. The San Francisco Bay Area hasn’t had a record/​CD store that’s Heavy Metal oriented in a long time. In the past, The Record Vault and The Record Exchange were king, but when both places folded, there hasn’t been a place to capture the flavor until now.
Sure, there’s Amoeba across the street, but there hasn’t been a place to have expanded merch like Shaxul Records. The place isn’t very large, but it makes up for it in many ways like their shirts and vinyl collection. It is a work in progress since it just opened, but for a start it’s geared in the right direction.

Over the last 5+ years, heavy metal music is enjoying a resurgence. In San Francisco, save for Amoeba Records, heavy metal music and it’s novelties are scarce. There hasn’t been a record store that specialized in heavy metal since the days of the legendary Record Vault.
Enter Shaxul Records.
Poseurs need not apply! It’s due to open March 1^st and I can’t wait. Knowing Shaxul as I do, he will not let this store be half-​assed, and the city of SF will once again be proud that metal is taking it’s place. I know any fans of true metal will love this place.