Question: Hi, I bought a copy of Wolverine Blues by Entombed way back when it first came out. During a period of acute poverty in my early twenties I was forced to sell it (along with a bunch of other stuff). After more than a decade I have just got round to buying myself a replacement copy and I am pretty sure there were a couple of samples in the original version of the album that appear to have been edited out in this version. One was right at start and another \'wake up you little shit...\' from the movie Flatliners I think cropped in in Rotten Soil.
I am going senile or is this some kind of sample clearance issue?
Thanks and keep up the good work.
p.s. Any chance of telling me why you parted ways with Morbid Angel??!! From: Stuart.Bell@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Answer: You have a good memory Stuart- so no sign of senility yet! The original Wolverine Blues recording as delivered to us by the band at the time in 1993 did have a healthy sprinkling of movie samples (usually speech), and I think the promo Cd did contain the unedited album (itself a collectors item as it also contans a still unreleased bonus track),as maybe even did the first pressing of Wolverine Blues to retail stores in UK.It sort of dawned on us- probably prompted by the fact that a major record co- Columbia -was to release Wolverine Blues in USA, that the use of such samples is pretty much illegal, without the express permission of the holders in the copyright in the recordings sampled.The band were oblivious to such legalities and were quite upset when we made them remove the offending samples from the album, though we probably extended their career by such intervention.
We did try to legally 'clear' the samples but using speech from major motion pictures is so hard to get permission for- it entails the agreement of the actor/ producer/director/film studio/ distributor its kinda ridiculous to even try.One notable exception was some of the speech/effects from the film Hellraiser- where we did secure clearance, as it was an independent film at the time, and quite simple to get an oK from.
As for Morbid Angel- well I signed them in 1989 and everything they have ever recorded in their career is released on Earache, our discography encompasses the landmark early classics the A-B-C-D albums, but by the later era ones E-F-G-H sales had kinda become disappointing, also some big dramas were happening within the camp, the later era vocalist Steve Tucker had recently quit, the band was deemed in disarray somewhat, and so in 2005 we decided to decline to pick up the next - "I" - album and thus parted ways with the band, on fairly friendly terms I must add.In a super ironic twist, original vocalist David Vincent was announced as rejoining the fold on the same day we ended our deal with Morbid Angel -it didnt make us change our mind, even tho it was best thing the band could have done.
I doubt many acts can boast 16 years on one label (they signed and re-signed 3 contracts during that time), but dealing with any band on a daily basis for like 16 years is a trying experience I can tell ya- all the daily dramas and subtle tensions can add up over time, and similarly the band had pretty much grown tired of Earache a little bit also I expect, cos some other, newer labels were having the massive success Earache and Morbid had enjoyed in the early 90's and the big sales numbers were taking place in other less extreme metal genres..anyways, things move on and some times both sides know its time for a fresh approach.Thats more or less the actual reason we parted, sorry theres nothing more juicy to report....
We at Earache note they have yet to sign a new record deal, but we will watch their future career closely and wish them the very best of success.Earache is still proud to boast we are to date the only label to ever release anything by Morbid Angel (Giant records in USA aside).
