EWIGKEIT= GENIUS!!

Question: Whats going on with Ewigkeit ? Conspiritus was pure genius, and I\'m surprised I havent seen more press for the album. Will there be more albums on earache in the future ? From: UNknown.

Answer: Yeah- you're right- Conspiritus IS genius! It made my personal album of 2005 list, and Radio Ixtlan was my album of 2004 before that.I suppose i'm biased- cos I actually signed them to the label.
Press has been a bit scarce, i'll admit- its been quite favourable with online sites- many declaring the album a fantastic peice of work and also one of the albums of the year 2005.Metal Hammer mag in the UK did cover the band with a feature which we were pleased about, but thats about it.We are very used to this situation at Earache- we have countless examples of bands signed who received very little attention in the press at the time but who - years later- became revered and worshipped, in hindsight. Ewigkeit is set to be one of those, I feel.

Napalm Death in their heyday had little press( outside John Peel support)- same for At The Gates in mid 90's- Iron Monkey springs to mind also, even Dub War & Pitchshifter- all were breaking new ground in extreme music but had no supporters in the UK music mags at the time we were doing their first couple of albums.Years later of course, all those bands are considered legendary, but i swear, at the time we were actively promoting them, we would be calling up the mags to cover them - to a frosty if not downright hostile response- its not the press' job to promote new bands they'd say.Usually they only cover bands that are already big and popular and are the ones who buy advertising space.Back then, there was only about 4-5 mags covering heavier stuff anyways in the 90's,and it was pre internet, so if they were'nt interested that was it.

Nowadays there are plenty of media, even dedicated TV stations, supporting heavier bands- its trendy, even - but Ewigkeit are suffering badly thru no live gigs for the press to latch onto.Its the easiest way to reach out and win over fans cos the live circuit is exploding, but Ewigkeit are sadly not part of it.

James has to put a fully functioning live gigging outfit together to progress, which we keep telling him. So - keep ypur eye on earache.com for tour dates.If not- look out for Ewigkeit features in the press, i would say, around about 2013.

USURPER RULES!!

Question: Usurper. Please tell me you thought this band was going to sell some records. Both albums on Earache have been very disappointing. Does the mighty EARACHE listen to demos from bands before they go in and record as a way of quality control? I\'m thinking no because those records are flat.

Their website and myspace pages seem to boast about all the cocaine they do. Why don\'t they use some of the cocaine money and fund a tour? From: Unknown.

Answer: Of course we thought Usurper would sell some records- as proper Pure Old School Metal bands are in seriously short supply- and we want to keep the vibe alive.We love em cos Usurper are a band who are proud to be called Metal and wear their denim, leather and spikes as a badge of honour,not a fashion accessory.

As for the music, no we dont make bands do the 'demo the album' routine so we can 'quality control' the tracks.- we give bands 100% free-reign to record what they like, mostly.We might give advice on the eventual song sequence on the final album but thats about it.I agree, alot of bands could make better albums with some outside advice and quality control- but we find our bands prefer the freedom to record what they like- so Earache doesn't do it.

SOCIETY 1 - what happened?

Question: what has led to the parting of ways with the following artists
society 1
mortiis
and since mortiis is a past artist why are you still posting promo news about him From: Unknown.

Answer- Its simple- theres no drama with either of those bands. Society 1's sales after 2 albums and a DVD on Earache were quite disappointing.Even tho Matt Zanes mob were our most toured band in USA during 2003-2005, and having played the main stage at the massive UK Download festival to approx 20,000 fans too, sales were still sluggish, so we decided to not pick up the option for a 3rd album. We still feel Matt Zane himself will become a major star in the not too distant future tho.
Mortiis completed his 3 album commitment with Earache and so the deal has expired, he remains a free agent until he chooses to sign with another label. Earache is naturally in talks with Mortiis and his management to continue the relationship, but nothing is decided as yet, and thats why we continue to post his news online.

DECAPITATED FREE LIVE CD from which stores?

Question: i want to order the decapitated cd organic hallucinosis but also want the live cd, it doesnt show up as an option anywhere. can i order it thru the uk store? i need to know asap. i WANT this cd badly. thank you very much From: a_ros3_4_the_d34d@hotmail.com


Answer: its ONLY available from your local UK Independent record stores- NOT HMV,VIRGIN etc Theres not many such stores left and this CD is our way to get fans to support your local Indie record store!! its simple to get- just walk in the store and ask to buy "Organic Hallucinosis" with free CD!
heres a list- go visit them!
ACORN YEOVIL
ACTION RECORDS PRESTON
ALICES E GRINSTED
ANDYS ABERYSTWYTH
AVALANCHE EDINBURGH
AVALANCHE EDINBURGH
AVALANCHE GLASGOW
BADLANDS CHELTENHAM
BARNSTORM DUMFRIES
BETTER LEISURE GREAT YARMOUTH
BRADLEYS HALIFAX
COB BANGOR
COMPACT MUSIC SUDBURY
CONCEPTS DURHAM
CRASH RECORDS LEEDS
CRIMINAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS
DERRICKS SWANSEA
DIFFERENT CLASS PLYMOUTH
DISC N TAPE BRISTOL
EDGEWORLD BRIGHTON,
FACE THE MUSIC WORCS
GOLDRUSH PERTH
GRAHAMS RECORDS COLERAINE, IRELAND
HELLRAISER WAKEFIELD
HUDSONS CHESTERFIELD
KANES RECORDS GLOS
KAVERN LLANDUDNO
KNEES TROWBRIDGE
LEFT LEGGED PINEAPPL LOUGHBOROUGH
LETS BUY SOME MUSIC HYTHE
LONGPLAYER ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELL
MUSIC FACTORY STREET
MUSIC ROOM FOLKESTONE
MUSIQUARIUM CLIVE! SWANSEA
NUMBER NINETEEN GUERNSEY
ONE UP ABERDEEN
PENDULUM RETFORD
PENDULUM MELTON
PLANET OF SOUND SCOTLAND
POLAR BEAR OXFORD
POWERPLAY EASTBOURNE
R&K NEWARK
RAPTURE Ent Ltd WITNEY
RECORD CENTRE DORCHESTER
RECORD COLLECTOR SHEFFIELD
RECORD CORNER SURREY
RECORD SAVINGS BANBURY
RECORD VILLAGE SCUNTHORPE
REFLEX NEWCASTLE
REFLEX SOUTHSEA
REPLAY BRISTOL
RESSURECTION RECORDS CAMDEN
REVEAL RECORDS DERBY
ROCK BOX CAMBERLEY
ROCKABOOM LEICESTER
ROUGH TRADE SHOP LONDON
ROUNDER RECORDS BRIGHTON
SALVATION GLASGOW
SCORPION HIGH WYCOMBE
SISTER RAY LTD LONDON
SELECTADISC NOTTINGHAM
SLIPPED DISCS 2 CHELMSFORD
SOLO MUSIC BARNSTABLE
SOLO EXETER
SOLO TRURO
SONIC SOUNDS LINCOLN
SOUND AND VISION BARNSTAPLE
SOUNDS PERFECT CHATHAM
SPILLERS CARDIFF
SQUARE WIMBORNE
ST RECORDS DUDLEY
STAND OUT SALISBURY
STEEL WHEELS NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
SULLIVANS SWANSEA
TEMPEST BIRMINGHAM
THE JUNGLE BRIDGEND
TRACK YORK
TRACK DONCASTER
TRACK CHESHAM
TUDOR TUNES LICHFIELD
VIBES BURY
WHAT NUNEATON
WINDOWS NEWCASTLE
X RECORDS BOLTON

Hate Eternal- past artist?

Question: Why is Hate Eternal listed on your past artists list? and are these tour dates the final ones or are there gonna be more? From: Unknown.

Answer: Hate Eternal were not dropped by Earache, which is the most common reason bands become a "past artist", instead, they asked to be let go,while their contract was still in full effect.In their opinion, the sales Earache acheived on the newest album 'I, Monarch' were nowhere near as good as the band were hoping/expecting.We did not disagree with them on that fact, but band and label had very different ideas for the reasons behind it.

Threatening to blast Earache to all media and press, as well as cancel all touring, in protest at such a shocking lack of promotion by us, and a lack of sales numbers on their finest album, we were left in no doubt of Hate Eternal's wish to persue their career on another - better- label, rather than the one they signed to. We maintained that any decent upstanding band should honor and fulfil their signed contract, but the band still wanted off, regardless of any legalities.

A soon-to-be filmed live DVD will form the end of the Earache-Hate Eternal deal, and the band should pop up quickly on another label of their choosing.Earache wishes the band the very best for their future career.

Martin: Ex-Decapitated -in the army?

Question: did martin from decapitated really get drafted into the polish army? as this seems to be the answer that is coming up on alot of forums From: Unknown.

Answer: We think this is true, tho details are scarce since Martin quit the band and the long term manager of Decapitated quit with him at the same time, last December, getting an official word from them nowadays is hard.The band have carried on superbly tho.In Poland, Army training for a year or more is mandatory for all fit men 18+.The members of Decapitated were studying Music to a very high standard at College so were exempt from this, and were also under the draft age- but now they have finished the education, the Army option looms large.Being a reknown musician touring the world in a Death Metal band does not exempt you, it seems.The last we heard was Martin might resume in the band very soon, as its possible he has cleverly figured a way to delay or speed up his army service.

American Standard- New Signing?

Question: Hi, I was a bit curious about a band you recently signed called American Standard. I just want to double check and make sure there was a recent signing with that band. From: xahorsecalledwar@aol.com

Answer: Nah dude, they aren't signed to Earache.Tho American Standard are a decent band and have some fans in our NYC office, including the label manager.They are getting confused between Interest from the label and an actual contract.No contract has been issued, so they cannot be signed huh?
Earache right now, today, is showing heavy interest in about 10 bands, tho i expect we will sign maybe 1 or 2 of them max, for American Standard,i would say our interest is light-medium.In any given day at the Earache HQ in UK we receive approx 50 approaches from bands,both newcomers- the best way is email us your myspace page link- BUT also we have a lot of established bands with some releases out already too approaching us.We do reply and show interest to ones who catch our eyes and ears.If the interest snowballs then we might move to issuing contracts, and even at that stage, many bands do not end up signed.

Blasphemous T-shirts?

Question: I don\'t know if this is the right place for my question...I\'m trying to find a T-shirt I do not remember the band it say \"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST\"... From: ironman7033168@yahoo.com

Answer: Deicide have a shirt available now with "FUCK YOUR GOD" on the back- is that what you mean? or maybe you mean Cradle Of Filth's classic "JESUS IS A CUNT" shirt from 4-5 years ago?

Music on Earache DVd's?

Question: When the earache logo comes up on the napalm death and carcass dvds at the start what is the song thats playing. From: tobystewart83@hotmail.com

Answer: its Cathedral- a riff taken from the middle of their classic 22 minute long track "Voyage Of THe Homeless Sapien" - available on the mini Album "Statik Majik '

GODFLESH~ JESU

Question: after godflesh split did jesu negotiate with earache at all or did the deal with dry run and hydrahead directly From: Unknown.

Answer: Earache signed Godflesh in 1989 and released the complete Godflesh recorded works for a decade.The band became very influential in the Industrial Metal genre,with their early output such as "Streetcleaner" setting the standard for others to later follow, but by the final Earache album 1999's "Us And Them" things were'nt looking so healthy in our view.In hindsight, and it seems to have happened to many many of our longer serving bands- Napalm Death,Godflesh, Carcass, Cathedral, Morbid Angel-the ongoing strain of dealing with a decade of daily dramas to keep the acts career going eventually takes its toll, and then both sides know,for no more reason than sheer indifference, its time for a change.

Godflesh signed with Music For Nations for their final album Hymns in 2001.Meanwhile the Earache sales manager at the time, Raffi, who was a Godflesh nut, suggested the idea of an anthology, which he co-ordinated as the 2XCD "In All Languages' release on Earache.

When Justin regrouped as Jesu a year or so later- no contact was made from or to Earache.As it happens Dry Run is the label of our former sales guy- Raffi.

WHY DID DUB WAR SPLIT?

Question: A friend of mine said that dub war \"split\" to get off earache is this true? From: Unknown.

Answer: Yeah theres an element of truth in that.Earache signed the Welsh Ragga-Metal merchants in 1994 or so, to quite a lucrative deal, thinking their unique brand of music would undoubtedly be a worldwide smash.The band's talents were never in question-it was simply a matter of wether the fans would accept such a genre-breaking band in the mid 90's.Dub War's debut album "Pain" did well, hitting Number 1 in the UK Indie charts and spawing a number of successful singles.

Meanwhile bands such as Dog Eat Dog and even Skunk Anansie (remember those two??!)- who both supported Dub War on their early shows- both got huge - due to being much more radio and MTV friendly at the time.Doubts started to creep in when the follow up album "Wrong Side of Beautiful" didnt sell anywhere near as well as the debut, so Earache started to cut back on its support of the band.Honestly speaking, Earache lost a shitload of money on the band, by playing the very expensive UK chart game,and losing, it nearly bankrupted us.

The band could see that our financial support to them was winding down, tho we still beleived in the band as people and shared their musical vision, we were as perplexed as the next man why they werent huge, so they split up.Earache carried on for a few months with Benji's solo hip hop project but severed all ties shortly afterwards- just as the band regrouped and mutated into Skindred.

No-one is more pleased than us to see Benji and Skindred making a successful career now, 10 years after Dub War, with essentially the same sound.I guess the audience is more open minded now,music is mixing and blending more than ever, in the era of mash-ups, dancehall, punks and metallers into reggae & drum n bass etc, so we wish them all the best!!

Who knows? Maybe folks will start to buy Dub War records again too?

DECAPITATED FREE LIVE CD from which stores?

Question: Hey, I\'ve just ordered the Dual Disc version of Decapitated\'s new album from your store...
Will I get the bonus live CD with it from you? Because It says if you buy it from Indie stores? and I havn\'t a clue what one of those is...

Many thanks. From: swinging_the_dead@hotmail.com

Ansmwer: UK Independent stores are ones that Are'nt HMV, VIRGIN, MVC etc see comments below for full list of stores in the uk offering the live cd

NAPALM "SCUM" RE-ISSUE?

Question: next year will mark the 20th anniversary of one of the most legendary albums ever released. Napalm Death\'s \"Scum\". I was wondering if Earache was considering some kind of deluxe re-issue of this landmark album for 2007. sonically, it would greatly benefit to have a digital remastering done to vastly improve the sound quality of a recording that is 20 years old, not to mention the inclusion of bonus tracks, video footage, expanded liner notes & pictures, etc... From: selfinduced@rcn.com

Answer: jeezus is it 20 years? seems like 20 minutes ago we put scum out! We have no plans to do any re-issue work on that classic- even tho I agree, it does sound old and kinda weak production/mastering, it was MADE to sound that way so if it aint broke dont fix it right?

who knows? we might change our mind and do some kinda updating/expanding job on it in the future- we'll have to see what Napalm Death think about it tho..oh, none of them cept Shane played on that album, i forgot. Maybe we'll get Mick Harris to remix it?

Muni Waste at Rock City?

Question: is it true that Municipal waste are playing Nottingham Rock City soon?

Answer: YES its true! just been confirmed that Municipal waste will appear with Mistress on Feb 21. see flyer. Come along bring yer inflatable surfboards for some insane moshpit action.!

SENDING A DEMO TO EARACHE

Question: im sure you guys get thousands, but do you listen to unsolicited demo\'s? and where do your a&r guys hang out for new talent? From: gimpychimp21@msn.com

Answer: we do sign bands from unsolicited demos- we have a pile of them in the UK and USA offices, we listen to them all eventually- the latest band to be signed that way is URKRAFT.Our website explains the procedure to send a demo in the contacts section. We also have a form where you can send a link to an mp3. Our A&R guys are based in Nottingham UK and NYC USA- where our offices are.The rock hang outs of Nottingham are Rock city, Old Angel, Tap N tumbler, Junktion 7- and we are in them all the time, seeing bands. Plus when our bands play we always check out the opening acts.The best way to get signed is just get out there - TOUR!..if you can attract a crowd on the live circuit..we will get to hear about you!

Actually myspace.com is the most brilliant tool for presenting your band now..with one click we can hear your music.

DECAPITATED LIMITED EDITION FREE live CD?

Question: is there any limited edtion cds of the new decapitated cd? From: jpit088@sbcglobal.net


Answer: yes- but only in the UK/european versions.A limited edition Dual Disc is available- featuring CD+ DVD, the DVD side is a live show from November 2005 with new singer Covan on vocals. Also available is a FREE decapitated live CD from december 2004 ( Earache's xmas party actually) available while stocks last, with any purchase of Organic Hallucinosis, from Independent high street stores in the uk or selected internet retailers in Europe (cdon.com in sweden for instance, or play.com in UK). So get out there on Feb 13th into your local independent retailer in the UK and buy the CD or Dual disc to get the FREE live CD too.

OLD LADY DRIVERS CD?

Question: Earcahe did a crucial service to the underground music scene in the late80\'s/early90\'s, releasing several landmark LP\'s, and putting grind on the map. Most of the stuff has been kept in print with one exeption-Old Lady Drivers! Plotkin and Dubin made some of the most diverse, eclectic and influential music of the last decade, but finding it is difficult. Lo Flux Tube, Sleastak, Formula, Hold on to Your Face-are all out of print, not to mention the fact that the first LP never got a CD release! While I realize that re-issues of OLD material won\'t exactly be a cash cow for Earache, it would be worth it to preserve musical histoty! Re-issue CD\'s with extra trax-like the 3 songs from their split 7\" with Assuck-would be awsome, and essential listening for kids who have never heard them! Perhaps I\'m flogging a dead horse here, but it\'s worth a try, after all it you guys put out AC\'s \"It Just Get Worse\" Cd, so I figure that $$$ can\'t be the ONLY consideration. Thanks for reading! From: stephenfeltner@bellsouth.net


Answer: thanks Stephen for bringing up the ASK EARACHE readers' favourite topic once again it seems- OLD LADY DRIVERS!!we recently offered to manufacture 1000 Cds of the debut from 1988 - first time on CD- but no distros have so far been interested to take them.So i guess its back to Ebay if you want to hear the classic Plotkin/Dubin songwriting combo- not forgettting the long forgotten speedy drummer Ralph Pimintel's contribution!!
OLD suffered because in 1988 Cd was not the standard format for earache , it was still Vinyl LP only days..so here we are al these years later and still no CD.

What was MOSH 1?

Question: What artist and what album was Mosh 1 on earache records. Ive noticed that you number each album that you record, and it was bothering me. Thanks From: irishleprechaun@wowway.com

Amswer: Its Seattle metal/hardcore band The Accused- Return Of Martha Splatterhead, which carries the honoured MOSH 1 tag.released on vinyl LP only in about 1986.Earache never worked with the band for long tho..they did deals with other labels like Combat for future albums and split up in the mid-90's.

what HOFFMAN BROTHERS doing now?

Question: what are the hoffman brothers doing these days?
From: Unknown.

Answer: Deicide did some amazing work on the 2004 Album "Scars of the Crucifix" which reaffirmed the bands place as Death Metal leaders,with the proud boast of having kept the same original line up since the beginning-all was going GREAT- then quite unexpectedly, Glen and the Hoffman brothers developed a deep rift, based on the % split of songwriting shares on publishing income from the album. The Hoffman brothers quit the band whilst on tour, it seems in protest at Glen claim over the lions share of Publishing money.Both sides got legal advice and exchanged legal letters for a while, arguing their cases over who wrote what songs etc- meanwhile Glen recruited Jack Owen and eventually Ralph Santolla aswell to keep Deicide on the road and in fact played more shows further afield, South America, korea etc with the new line up. The Hoffman brothers discontinued their case when it was proved their share was fair- they did not write as much of the album as they claimed.By then the damage was done and it seems there was no way back into deicide for them..Earache took no sides in the arguement, encouraging the parties to settle their differences, as both sides remained signed to the label.

The Hoffman brothers have now regrouped and are talking about forming AMON- trying to recruit a Floridian drummer and bassist/vocalist is proving difficult tho.When they do complete the line up, an AMON album should surface on earache at some stage.

SHIP TO INDONESIA?

Question: 1. Are you receive orders from Indonesia?
2. Why you didn\'t ship any order from the country like Indonesia, Malaysia anymore?
3. Where Can I get the product from Earache Records beside from your Earache Webstore? From: Ilimneo2yahoo.co.id


Answer: 1. No we don't accept orders from the following countries: Morocco, Indonesia, Malaysia
2. The reason we dont ship is because of widespread use of stolen/fake credit cards- for many years we have lost a LOT of money cos many fans in those countries use fake credit cards to order online.The true fans who do not rip off are very very few unfortunately...but if you can prove to not be a rip off we will ship to you.
3. try amazon.com? play.com? i think they ship all over the globe.