n7000 stuck on boot logo (nightowl 20150913)

I was running the latest night owl rom just fine. This morning however the phone was stuck on boot logo.
Restart, taking out the battery and even reflashing the rom or other versions doesn't help.
I can still access recovery (philz touch 6). I can wipe cache and format /cache but the phone crashes/reboots on wipe dalvik/art.

any suggestions?

thanks!