How much money to record an album?

Question: Ive wondered when a band goes into the studio how does the label decide on how much studio time they are prepared to pay for? Is it a standard flat rate for all the bands or does it depend on which band it is eg a more seasoned band would get more studio time and a higher budget than someone recording their debut etc. From:


Answer: Having made over 450 albums I can assure you that the amount of money spent has no bearing on how an album goes down with fans, it certainly has no effect on sales.A standard typical budget to make an Indie metal album nowadays in the pro-tools/digital era would be £5000 but theres no hard or fast rule for this, though yes of course as bands get bigger their recording budgets expand aswell,mainly because they don't want to be rushed, but it sure does'nt mean the albums are any "better".

As an example, Napalm Death were on this label during the 90s and made their debut for £800 (Scum) rising by the time of their last Earache album to around £40,000 (Words from Exit Wound).Scum outsold Words album 10 to 1 and continues to do so. On a grander scale,the new Guns N Roses album cost a reported $10 Million to record yet the bands stellar debut Appetite cost a 'mere' $200,000, at the time, an extravagant amount for a debut.Which is the better album? I'll let you decide.
I firmly believe fans care more about the songs, the performance, and the feeling captured on the tape, than how much the studio bill was.

Nowadays recording equipment is basically software, its affordable to all, which means unsigned bands with home set ups can get similar sounding metal productions to the big guys, as the effects which shape the sounds of drums and even guitars can be literally added as plug ins to the software and 'dialed in'.Top producers like Andy Sneap are kind enough to share their knowledge, he offers tips and advice and even the exact modules he uses for sounds, on his website, and this digital recording revolution means most new metal bands we hear nowadays sound totally great.
The downside now is nearly every metal production is edited to perfection, and sounds incredibly similar, eerily so.It might be a different band name, but its the exact same crunch, exact same chug and exact same squeal.Increasingly, the personality, dynamics and hence the uniqueness of bands is getting lost.

By contrast rock and metal recordings made in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90's right up to around 1995 or so, were all necessarily analogue recordings put onto two inch reels of tape, not the laptop.I don't think its an accident that most of the all time classic metal albums were recorded in the analogue era - as flaws couldnt be easily edited out- requiring a razor blade and sellotape- the personality of a band was indelibly 'baked in' to the recording.I'm not a rabid analogue evangelist, because that era had its downsides aswell- studios had to buy bulky tape machines, huge mixing desk, outboard gear, hardware,and so were hellishly expensive to rent on a daily basis.The few remaining studios from that era now seem like technological dinosaurs.

A producer is the most important factor of an album recording in my experience, as they can help get the ultimate performance of the song out of a band, and they have a useful role bringing another opinion on the process, apart from the musicians themselves.Record production is a pretty tedious process involving endless repetition of the song parts, so many of the best producers are skilled in the dark art and technique for ensuring the album is the best it can be- a classic trick is recording the 'warm up' take, as it so often comes out the best version.

I recall a producer - who recorded approx 15 of the Earache albums of the 90s and is nowadays an A-list producer- who used to have an amazing studio trick where if a bands playing was lacklustre, if they seemingly were struggling or going through the motions on a particular song- he'd get the band to try a final run through, but would flick the studio lights off as he hit the record button.The band would unexpectedly be forced to play the run-through in sheer darkness.This was genius as it concentrated the bands minds on the audio, which most of the time resulted in a great rendition of the song.

Earache on Spotify.com

Question: Why have you removed \"Cult of Luna\" from Spotify. Please put it back.

Regards,
/Anders From: anders.sundquist@bredband.net

Answer: Earache is a fully signed up label for the Spotify service, where music is legal and streamed for free on demand to fans, we are led to beleive the labels get paid through paid for adverts which surround the page where the music streams, I beleive.Earache has signed on,through MERLIN organisation which represents UK Indie labels like us, but the service has only just launched so we've not submitted our complete catalog yet, maybe 20 albums are in the system so far, which leaves 430 left to be "ingested" into their system.

Like most labels we get approached by maybe 2 new-fangled music player platforms, usually advert-driven, per week, they have the code set up, and now want to go legit and acquire content.There's quite a boom going on with new online streaming-music sites attempting to intice labels to join their party, now that Apple's iTunes Store is the number 1 retailer of music in America.

Last.fm is one which Earache has signed up to them aswell, and emusic.com. The massively popular Torrents and P2P sites for music could be rendered obsolete very soon if these new legal online streaming sites take off, if fans embrace them as a place to hear music for free, but the advertising revenue pays the label/musicians some income.Its a win-win situation for fans and bands/labels..Well thats the thinking anyway.

However an alarming proportion of the new sites are run by new tech guys who seemingly have zero understanding of how Record labels operate, and have no regard for what we bring to the table (ie the music).In fact they mostly expect labels to line up to donate their prized music catalogs to their 'cutting edge software' service,paying for the privilege even, while making highly dubious claims of remuneration along the way.Many of these sites are blatant attempts to generate online buzz in order for the founders to cash in and be bought out by Google or Microsoft for millions.The interests of the labels/bands music is secondary.These types of sites we avoid.

As you can tell we are sceptical of the frankly dishonest claims of many of the tech start ups, and we are highly selective about who we sign to for online content, preferring sites which are honest about how the label gets paid.

Looking ahead, all the big 'major' labels are actively teaming up with the worlds-leading tech firms to deliver the holy grail to fans, I reckon it will be less than 3 years before all the worlds music will be available to fans for free on literally all kinds of devices-everything from Internet ISP Routers/ web sites/ gadgets/mobile phones/games consoles/Satellite boxes etc, anything that has a screen to display the advertisements will be a 'All-The-World's Music' player device. Music will be ubiquitous and always on, for free, so long as you are connected by wi fi, mobile network or satellite.The music industry will transform itself into a payment model akin to a TV or radio style media network, where the content is free, if you can stomach the ad breaks every 15 minutes or so, which most people do currently.

heres a clip showing how easily Spotify works:

Earache & Industrial Strength in the 90s

Question: Hello there, was just wondering what happened to your short but sweet collaboration with Lenny Dee\'s Industrial Strength record label? Was it always meant to be a short-term thing? From:

Answer: Earache licensed Brooklyn native Lenny Dee's traiblazing label (but extremely underground/DIY at the time) Industrial Strength Records in 1995 for a 5 year deal.We released a double CD/Triple LP Hardcore techno compilation including DJ mixes and full CD albums by Delta 9 and DOA (Disciples of Annihilation) and Oliver Chesler's (later Horrorist) Temper Tantrum.The records, particularly the compilation caused quite a stir and sold really well for a year or two, but by the end of the term we didnt renew, as Earache was onto other things musically by then, as were ISR.Signing The Berzerker outright to Earache was our single remaining link to the ISR scene. The Berzerker had debuted on an early Aussie Newscastle area ISR vinyl 12inch, which I adored.

Looking back, five years was just long enough to piss off and alienate the majority of Earache's early diehard metal/grind/death fans who definately did'nt appreciate this label releasing any form of that dratted computer music, however "extreme" it sounded. Five years was also too short because by the time the ISR label was reborn in early 2002 or so, to much acclaim, and the scene rightfully bestowed belated props to Lenny himself as a true innovator and originator in the HC techno/gabba scene, Earaches involvement was by then a distant memory.

Not many folks remember that Roadrunner Records in Holland was at this time during mid-late 90's also involved in the Hardcore Techno scene, through a sublabel called MOKUM, this was big news in Holland, spawning many chart hits like Uk's Technohead, which achieved a worldwide number 1 hit with "I Wanna Be A Hippy", a bouncy upbeat hardcore pop techno classic. Roadrunner was owned for that period of time by huge selling Dutch-based techno distributor Arcade I believe, hence the connection.

Electronic grindcore is what it sounded like, heres the best of the lot, Nasenbluten's Classic CUNTFACE

Ephel Duath on Earache- how come?

Question: This is somthing ive wondered for a while how on earth did ephel duath end up on earache? the band seem to have more in comon with the mars volta or the jazz rock interludes of the old cantebury prog scene than any earache band or the mathcore scene they have been put in with. From:


Answer: Yeah I see your point, the band's current output is fairly alien to the typical sounds this label puts out -Thrash/Grind/Death/HM etc - but the band have been through quite a few radically different creative phases before the current album "Through My Dog's Eyes".A lot depends at what stage you picked up on the band, because they have been extremely chameleon like on each album so far.Mainman Davide Tiso is a free spirit who explores the outer limits of his creative expression through music, I think he enjoys that no boundaries are set by this label so he takes full advantage of the freedom.In many ways he loves keeping his fanbase perplexed and dumbfounded by taking them on complicated twists and turns.No 2 Ephel Duath albums are alike, stylistically, and we are just fine with that.
In the beginning 2001 or so, Ephel Duath was signed to an Earache subsiduary Elitist Records, and believe it or not was regarded as an Italian up n coming Black Metal band, albeit a highly avant-garde one.Their debut for Elitist Re-phormula (a reissue of their Code666 debut) contained proto-techno & drum n bass remixes which was unheard of at the time, and marked them out from the pack.
First album proper was The Painters Pallette where a jazz intrumentation began to take hold, Davide seeks out jazz-trained musicians for his band it seems and this album reflected that- its free jazz and screaming/hardcore mixed, and the band toured extensively, including as special guests on a high profile Dilinger Escape Plan jaunt, which is where the mathcore tag comes from.I would'nt say its wrong- it just summed the band up at that time, and has stuck.
Follow up Pain Necessary To Know is similar but more structured songs.Then he threw everyone a loop by recording a remix album of drum and bass, dub songs. Newest album "Through My Dogs Eyes" is different again, we liken it to Queens Of The Stone Age channeling the spirit of Frank Zappa, and its almost basic stonery rock, deliberately so. Its Ephel Duaths most commercial work to date, even though the subject matter is how life looks from the viewpoint of his dog! Barking or what?.This maverick approach is what everyone loves about Ephel Duath.Which direction Davide will take his band to next -who knows?- but fans can expect surprises.

Covering a Massacre song

Question: I wonder which authorship organization is minding the songs on Massacre\'s \"From Beyond\" album. The reason: one of my bands, Thanatos, will cover \"Dawn of Eternity\" on their forthcoming album. I\'ve cleared things with my local rights management organization, but I\'d like to double check that things went the way they\'re supposed to from the other angle. Since this is the first time I actuallly am dealing with cover songs, I need to make 110% sure that I\'m in the clear. From: Gerard@deitydownrecords.com


Answer: Great choice of cover!You don't normally need direct permission to cover a song but you came to the right place for info- its owned by my song publishing company EARACHE SONGS. You simply have to credit the writers as Rozz/Lee and acknowledge the song is a Massacre original, published by EARACHE SONGS/ MCPS on any paperwork you submit to the presing plant/record comnpany.
As for collecting money, if you have contacted and cleared things with the rights organisation (STEMRA?) then they will contact Earaches rights organisation (MCPS/PRS in UK) to ask you to pay. How much you pay depends where the record is printed-its typically 8.5 cents for a song, thats in USA rates (ASCAP) or UK rates are 8.5% of the dealer price of the album, divided by number of songs included.If you pressed a 1000 Cds - we'd get 85 bucks less their fee = $70 thereabouts- we'd get it in maybe 18 months after you paid it to Stemra- because those organisations are slow as hell. But thanks for checking.
I wish you luck with the THANATOS album.

Scorn and Geoff/Portishead's Invada records output

Question: Do you think scorn could have been more comercially viable as a band if instead of trying to sell them to metal kids you\'d possibly tried to intergrate them into the bristol trip hop and drum and bass scene that was blowing up at the time? Although the influence of earache on the scene has become clear later on just check out portishead\'s third album clear influence of justin broadrick and mick harris ( possibly down to peter theobalds now being an invada signed artist). From:


Answer:This question had me stumped and bemused at first matey..because its complete news to me that Earache type stuff could be an influence on Portishead's new output, it seemed like you got yer wires crossed, so I dug around online for info..and the connection is INVADA.

Invada is a label I'd not heard of before- but I recognise some of the output, Blood Island Raiders is a band we follow closely, and Gonga containing ex-Akercocke member Peter Theobalds, who we once signed, means we have a slight affiliation right there.So its a hell of a suprise - gobsmacking in fact -to read its the label of Portishead mainman Geoff Barrow. This is a bloke who is crossing a hell of a cultural divide, and deserves to be applauded for that.I mean its not every day that a Bristol trip legend from 90's Chart toppers Portishead starts his own label to release what is basically small unknown UK Stoner/heavy rock bands. I still cant quite beleive it.More power to him.

As for Scorn in the 90s, well it was hard to make their music commercially viable, it was very dark, very heavy ambient dub (as we called it back then) made by Birmingham based metal musicians held in high regard in the grind/death metal scene, but unknown outsode of that pretty insular scene.They were experimenting with sounds- heavy blood indeed, and the full impact of what those guys created is starting to be recognised a decade later.You have to remember that back then, we had zero in common with the Pop scene, could'nt stand it infact.The Bristol trip hop scene Massive attack, Tricky Portishead were pop stars basically - they were world's apart.
Scorn at the time, did have some odd mainstream flirtations though, via remixes on the Ellipsis album, Autechre, Coil and Andy Weatherall were involved, but that was about as far as it went.

Heavy Metal Killers CD & LP 13 best new HM bands

Question: Hi I have heard about the new Earache compilation for Heavy metal- how can i bet my band on it?

Answer: Listen for your self all 13 songs are here:

Fave old school Thrash band?

Question: More of a personal question than a label one but being as earache is responsible for a large amount of the new wave of thrash, which of the orignal big four is your favriote? From:


Answer: Thats simple:

Sore Throat & Filthy Christians re-issues?Nah..

Question: Any possibility of reissues of the likes of Sore Throat and Filthy Christians? I note both have albums in Terrorizer\'s essential European grind records but their Earache albums have been out of print for years... From:


Answer: I can't see us doing those titles again..both have been out of print for almost 2 decades, due to threadbare interest or demand.Sore Throat was never on CD at the time, but our friends at Disk Union in Tokyo sold a special 153 Track version of the CD (with unreleased rare first album Unhindered By Talent) about a year ago.Seeing those releases in Terrorizer's poll raised a few eyebrows round here, for sure.
A simple Top 20 doesn't really give the reader any sense of the massively dis-proportional impact that each of the albums had - I mean the difference between the historical importance of say Scum and Mean is so vast, its silly to even compare them.The difference in sales at the time, was equally vast too.

One thing that bugs me nowadays, is the online histories of all bands of the past now have to run through the distorting lens of wikipedia. Wikis are a great leveller of information,but in any music scene you care to mention, you can guarantee that one or two bands were incredible, and the rest were basically also-rans.Its rare that writers point this out.
A great example might be the Seattle Grunge scene from the early 90's, which congregated around the Sub Pop label.Its frankly annoying to read that Mudhoney were responsible for Grunge, as their 7inch predated Nirvana's by 6 months, which even if factually correct, fails to address that Mudhoney were a strictly second division band compared to the stellar trailblazing impact made by Nirvana. In a similar way, just seeing Tad in lists of the originators and prime-movers of Grunge scene irks me- they were a strictly third division outfit at best, and barely even deserve to get a mention in the same paragraph as Nirvana.

Japan Grinders SxOxB on Earache?

Question: So how close were earache to signing SOB before the incident with their singer occured? Is this part of the reason why none of the premier grind bands so often name dropped by lee dorrian( i seem to recall lee being heavily into grind/d beat band disclose) and shane embury never appeared on earache? From:


Answer: The UK grindcore scene owes a huge debt to the early 80s Uk Hardcore Punk scene which predated it, this fact is often overlooked by wikipedians, or perhaps because the connection is so obvious, it goes without saying.Either way, its worth emphasising- bands like Discharge, and the more extreme variants like Chaos UK and Disorder were half of the blueprint for the Earache-led wave of grindcore acts which followed.But the other vital ingredient in the Grind hybrid was the power of metal riffs and solos.Looking back, this ingredient was blatantly missing from those 80s HC bands, and is really the difference between the scenes.HC punk = HC punk. Metal = Metal, but HC punk + metal mixed and put thru the Mick Harris accelerator = Grindcore.

During the 80s Chaos UK in particular would tour Japan a lot,becoming absolute heroes there, and tons of HC punk bands formed in their wake, apeing the Chaos UK style, and a few took things even further and made it more chaotic, more extreme, Swankys, Gauze etc. SOB wasn't grindcore, just super speedy HC punk band, but when I copied the first EP for the Napalm Death guys it became an instant fave.Lee Dorrian in particular was in awe of the band and became firm friends with them, his fledgling Rise Above label was a hobby, so he could put out a SOB/Napalm Split 7inch for fun.Whereas, even in the early stages Earache had much more serious concerns and ambition, I wanted the labels output to break with the HC punk tradition, plus I was dedicated to building solid careers for the bands I signed. Actually it took the Earache musicians themselves a few years to get this fact about the label- many of them quit-including Lee himself, because a long term career playing grindcore seemed absolutely unthinkable in 1987-1988 or so.
I loved SOB's music, but lack of finances forced me to spend a long time considering pros and cons of every act to be signed. Questions like: how could a Japanese band tour Europe? how could it be financed? Those kinda questions were a major consideration for me.Hence I never approached SOB about a deal.

Heres SOB when they were HC

Earache's Early US bands- Accused etc?

Question: The stories of how Earache hooked up with its early European acts is well chronicled, but how did the label connect with some of the early American acts like The Accused, Spazztic Blurr, and O.L.D.? These bands obviously weren\'t playing shows at the Mermaid, so I am curious to know how they were discovered. From: johnwalbridgeiv@yahoo.com


Answer: Simple explanation is- by being a hub of the thriving tape trading circuit, which during the 80s was the way of passing good music around among friends,via post.I recall sitting in my apartment churning out C90s all day, every day, year in year out. Although Uk based, at the time I started the label for real,through writing for MRR zine and befriending folks like Pushead, I was fortunate enough to have made many contacts in USA- one was a friend who ran Seattle label Subcore which issued the debut stuff from splattercore kingsAccused.Being a huge fan of the band from afar, it was a real honour to get the ok to release the bands Martha Splatterhead LP in Uk-this became my first release, Mosh 1.At the time I had no idea about rights so they quickly expired hence the LP is no longer available on the Earache catalog.From memory only about approx 5000 Mosh 1 exist.
Spazztic Blur was the crossover-HC-thrash side project of Wermacht, a rising Thrash band of the day, based in Portland.Again, being a mega-enthusiastic fan of the band, they let me release the album which became Mosh 5.

Heres Accused :

Biomechanical & Stone Roses connection? WTF?!

Question: why did biomechanical make a cameo apparence in the bbc blood on the turntables series? i belive the episode they featured in was the one about the stone roses. From:


Answer: Thats bizarre! But yes, you are right- see 7.40 in the video below, Biomechanical appear in the documentary about the UK's 90s breakthrough artist- Stone Roses.
The connection is both bands were signed - a decade and a half apart - to long standing west midlands Rock label FM REVOLVER Stone roses released a 1987 single Sally Cinnamon, and Biomechanical released Eight Moons CD in 2003.I can only imagine that when the film team arrived to talk to Revolver's owner Paul Birch, he took the opportunity to get them to film a bit of Biomechanical to use as cut aways in the documentary, a slight attempt to get a bit of promo going for the new band.
I agree its really bizarre seeing the 2 bands in the same documentary.Thats the connection.

Carcass in episode of FRIENDS? yes, really..

Question: So, I knew the one about Carcass circa \'89 appearing in the Red Dwarf episode \'Timeslides\' but how did Carcass manage to be mentioned in an episode of \'Friends\' of all things in a 2001 episode many years after they had split?? From: ckooistra@optusnet.com.au


Answer: We have no idea- but yes it did happen- watch this:

Story how Earache's Video Game came about?

Hi Earache,
My brother gave me the Extreme Metal Racing Game which is in the box of Worlwide metal.It is a fun racer, which was enjoyable.I'd like to know how did Earache make such a game, because I programme my own games.
from: jamesmobrey54@hotmail.com

Answer: yeah glad you liked it- Earache is still the first Metal label with its own themed Video Game out.It was originally released on PS2 in 2007 in the UK- now we decided to make the full game available to more fans across the world, as a FREE PC game, and its included in our hella mega value Boxset "WORLDWIDE METAL".
The game came about because the daughter of a head of a smallish UK Games developer (Data Design)is a huge Earache fan, and she 'advised' her dad to contact us to make a game. I think you summed it up well- the gameplay is definately not GTA or anything- its simply a fun-racer type of game, albeit with a soundtrack of hours of Death Metal and Grindcore.You can drive vehicles around a number of tracks and kill your opponents with various weapons.STOP PRESS: a selection of Earache's tracks are included in upcoming GTA4 new episodes as DLC.
See video here:

Classic Series & metaltracks.com

Question: Hello there at Earache,

I have two questions. First, is your Classic Series solely a European offering? I can\'t seem to find the Hate Eternal one in the US webstore.

Second, what are Earache\'s plans, if any, for metaltracks.com?

Thanks! From: invisibleoranges@gmail.com

Answer: 2 questions for the price of one- it must be our january sale offer.Our 'Classic Series' of legendary early Earache Cds with FREE bonus DVD has been really well received by fans and we love revisiting our old catalog and in many cases introducing new fans to them.The Hate Eternal offering is basically I, Monarch CD packaged with the Perilous Fight DVD (which disappeared without trace on its original release) and will soon be available for purchase on USA webstore, a few weeks after the UK/Eurostore. Typically the delay between our UK & USA release dates is due to a quirk of our manufacturing plants- they simply print & ship faster in UK than USA, where our distro picks up the tab, which delays the process.

As for metaltracks.com, it was launched in Jan 2005 and was Earache's own Mp3 download site with pretty much the complete label catalog for sale, something like 4000 tracks,all DRM-free, and reasonably priced, high quality files.Launched without much fanfare the success of the site really surprised us, fans told us it worked a treat- it was pretty much like how amazonmp3 works now- but behind the scenes it was pretty homebrew.We coded it ourselves and we have some immensely talented folks working here, but at the end of the day, we are music fans not website developers.This proved to be its downfall. Our server couldnt scale up to meet demand meaning the site went down a lot, and basic security flaws meant the site was easily open to hackers.In summer 2007 we discovered a Chinese Ip adress had penetrated the database to steal the entire contents and kill it dead- 6000 mps in one session is quite an attractive "honeypot" it seems.It remains a dead site ever since.

It was a succesful site while it lasted and gave us a steep learning curve and some harsh lessons about how some fans want to obtain music in the 'digital space'- ie they want it free.In the 4 years since launch have watched Myspace come to prominence by streaming free music, downloading it seems so old school now, so we'd consider it a backward step to reactivate the site.We do have some vague plans to once again offer Earache's music as free streams but we'd let professionals do the coding next time.

Earache Grindcrusher LP - September 1989

Question: I wanted to know if you could shed some light on the origins and influence of the Grind Crusher compilation. I just snagged a used copy (the 24 track version) and I\'m enjoying it immensely. There\'s some weird/interesting tracks on there too (Mighty Force \"Thrashing a Dead House?\"--I didn\'t know Earache signed techno bands!)
I was also curious what you think about other compilations such as the Cry Now, Cry Later compilationss and the Relapse released \"This Comp Kills Fascists\". Insect Warfare is on there as well as other great grind acts like Brutal Truth. From: jondd87@yahoo.com


Answer:Ah thats a great question- takes me back to me youth! The version you have was released in 1991 and was an expanded 24 song edition mainly for the USA - it included more bands, and lengthy liner notes- because the plain and simple original 1989 edition (9 songs- pictured above) of the GRINDCRUSHER comp was a UK only release, as my label had not figured how to export and distribute the releases internationally at that point.
The idea for the release was to simply showcase the bands Earache had signed at the time, which was and still is, a standard label ploy, I guess I was influenced by earlier great themed comps like Alternative Tentacles' Jellybeans and MRR's 1984but Earache's compilation was pretty radical as it was the very first grindcore compilation ever to be released at retail.

It marked the debut appearances of Godflesh, Morbid Angel, Repulsion, Terrorizer and many other legendary names. Indeed the first time the actual word GRINDCORE was printed anywhere -was on the sticker of this record.That term was coined by Mick Harris of Napalm Death to describe the harsh, de-tuned,crushing grinding sound the acts were playing-it was in common parlance by all the trailblazing musicians in the scene- so I ran with the theme of GRIND.Earache also had the Grindcrusher tour planned for November of that year, to co-incide. (little known fact is Kevin Sharp travelled to UK and covered that tour as a writer for an Industry(CMJ) mag, returned with his mind blown, and within a couple years had formed Brutal truth)

Being acutely aware of the radical nature of the sounds of Earache bands- literally nothing existed in the music world that was so singlemindedly harsh & extreme prior to this- I figured the cover art ought to reflect that.I designed it to be deliberately garish, stark & colourful so as to look apart from everything else around at the time, to be apolitical, and be the opposite of a black & white, generic (and now timelessly classic) DIY/ Hardcore Punk style.Back then printing costs depended on how many colors (films) were used,making 4 color sleeves was 4 times more expensive than 1, thats the simple reason why the B/W sleeve predominated in the Punk/HC scene- it was cheaper to print.

Mighty Force were'nt techno, that scene came a bit later- they were what was termed "Industrial"because at the time, Front 242, Ministry were breaking through, and the "Belgium Beat" of T99 and Quadrophenia was considered new and highly cutting edge on the Independent scene.Anyhow the song fuses Industro-Belgium beats with Napalm Death and ENT samples, thats how the Manchester duo caught my attention.They were an early example of a cross-genre "mash-up" of sorts, but in hindsight I agree with you, the band sit really strange on the comp, looking back.

The CRY NOW CRY LATER comp was a few years later, mid 90's I think.It passed me by completely at the time, as Earache had some huge bands on our hands then- I do remember thinking those so-called 'powerviolence' scene bands were more like a return to speedy lo-fi Hardcore punk and because they typically had very few Metal touches, I lost interest.

The Comp This Comp Kills Fascists which was released by Relapse in 2008 really fascinated me as the timing was perfect for a sampler to highlight the new bands in the scene, the title itself was pure genius and evoked a retro political stance.It was tastefully done, and another Relapse success story.For me the main highlight is the superb Insect Warfare who rule.

Carcass new plans?

Question: As Carcass have reunited in 2008 and are now active, are they still contracted to Earache? Or are bands\' record contracts terminated when they split up?

For example: There was a rumour doing the rounds about a new EP from Carcass. If this was to happen, would it be released by Earache as they\'re still under contract, or would you have to re-sign them?

Also, on the matter of Carcass releases. The re-releases were well done, the artwork was stunning and the audio extras were fantastic, but the DVD seemed a bit lacking? There are several videos doing the rounds from each tour, including the Rome date of the Heartwork tour. Could you not have maybe put on a live video from each album\'s tour, bar Swansong obviously, where there was no tour? I also feel the video for Reek of Putrefaction (which can be found on Youtube for all those who want to marvel in the sight of 400 identical close-ups of Bill Steer: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VHWQI9ngn3o) could\'ve been included, along with something else along the lines of this, such as any Rehearsal footage or interviews lying about in Jeff Walker\'s spare bedroom.

Also, why wasn\'t Wake Up And Smell The... Carcass included in the re-issue campaign? Will it be re-released along with the DVD in your Classic range at any point?

And finally, is there any plans to release a live DVD from this year\'s Reunion tour? I know that the Wacken concert was shot professionally, for the purposes of the giant screens present. Also, would you include The Pathologist\'s Report in full? It would be nice to see it. From:


Answer: Well, whoever you are dude, I reckon you used up your quota of questions in this one- are you in the music biz I wonder? You certainly know everything about Carcass past and present so I applaud you for that.
First point- we had a 4 album deal with Carcass (well, a two album deal which was renewed once) then when the band were dropped somewhat ignominiously by Columbia Records the Swansong album ended up on Earache aswell under a one-off deal. The band are free agents because their contractual obligations with Earache were fulfilled by the time of their split in 1996 or so. Deals are not exactly terminated when bands split- unless by mutual consent- thats why a reformed Obituary recorded for Roadrunner about 10 years after splitting up- but were quickly droped.
I think its possible other labels might have some claims on any Carcass newly recorded output- post-Carcass, Jeff carried on and formed Black Star in the late 90's which signed to UK label Music For Nations (now Sony owned)-I have a sneaking suspicion they might have some claim on any new work by Carcass, but I dunno?Micheal Amott also has current record deals to consider.

Glad you liked the DVD's - we didnt include any old live gig footage because the legalities of old footage is problem area, and we have 2 perfectly killer gigs on the Wake Up and Smell the Carcass DVD- pro-shot edited gigs from GRINDCRUSHER TOUR 1989 and GODS OF GRIND 1992.It was meant to be a documentary in 5 parts,no more, no less- and no, we dont have any plans for combining them into 1 DVD, even if its obvious we do it.

Your suggestion of Wake Up and Smell CD + DVD Classic series is one we are considering though yes, it makes sense to us.

As you can tell- I'm not party to their plans, because Earache is only involved in the 90's era Carcass material, not any new material (if any were to be recorded!). My honest opinion is- I don't think the band will record any more material, and even if they did- it could'nt top what they did in the 90's- so why try?Also they'd definately have to hire Colin Richardson as producer, no one else could do it- and he's way out of their price bracket nowadays having done huge budget productions for Slipknot, Bullet For My Valentine etc.I can't see it happening.

Heres Reek Of Putrefaction clip put together for the GRINDCORE VHS (now DVD) made by UK Metal video company Fotodisk in 1989 or so:

Cult of Luna FIRE WAS BORN DVD

Question: I was wondering if the track listing for, Cult of Luna\'s live DVD \'Fire was Born\' had been released yet? If so could you please put it up for me? Thank you and Regards, Kurt From: trukolsen@gmail.com

Answer:Heres a trailer song from the DVD, the full gig set is 90 minutes long. Any one who was there will tell you it wasn't a normal concert- COL played the set right thru, they became a mesmerising force of nature that stunning night.

Harris/Bullen/Broadrick reunion?

Question: With various ex earache bands getting back together lets talk theoretically, If in the unlikely event that it happened how much would a broadrick/bullen/harris napalm death reunion make? And also say for argument sake they took the heaven and hell route also in keeping with justin\'s thing for naming projects after the last song he did for another they toured under the name of seige of power or somthing to that effect, would it be likely to make more or less than the current carcass, sleep, brutal truth runs? From:


Answer: Dream on dude- even tho i like your logic and you are correct that there's never been a better time for old band members to put aside their differences to reform, because the fees paid by promotors and festivals are at an all-time high right now- i honestly reckon THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN.
I also reckon the current members of Napalm Death would have kittens at the prospect of a rival Napalm Death - even under a different moniker- playing songs they still perform in their set to this day...But i've been wrong before.
The obvious name for such a hypothetical band is SCORN, and while we are in dream-land, maybe they could thrown in a couple of Scum era tunes at the end?
I reckon Nik Bullen would be the least likely member to consent, as he genuinely is not motivated by any kind of financial concerns, rating his artistic endeavours in higher regard than mere money. Fair play to him for sticking to his principles, but it should also be noted he has had a lenghty career in academia to support himself, hence commercial music is secondary.

Cock & Ball torture - Earache covers

Question: The German grindcore band Cock and Ball Torture recently participated in a split EP with Agathocles amognst other bands, where they performed \"A Tribute to Earache Records\". On this \"tribute\" they proceeded to perform Grindcore covers of famous band signed to Earache who weren\'t exactly Grindcore or Death Metal, with covers of bands such as Adema, Addiction Crew and Fudge Tunnel. Have you heard this EP and what do you think of the idea? From:

Answer: That was pretty funny, they can take the piss all they want, I don't mind. I guess the guys in C&BT don't really have the skill or technique to pull off a cover of any of our actual grind/Death Metal legends.If you compare the two bands- I honestly beleive Adema do infact sound heavier and more powerful than CBT!
I've never been a fan of C&BT, they are a really piss poor attempt at a grindcore band.Years ago we had a German kid working at Earache for a time and he would constantly bug us about GUT and C&BT, so I checked em out, thinking we might be missing something.Nah they were garbage back then and still garbage now it seems.
Agathocles on the other hand i do have time for - a decent band, Earache must have turned them down a few times in the early days- they just didnt cut it to be a premier grindcore band in my opinion.
C&BT should cover Earache's latest greatest deathcore band OCEANO, but i doubt they could manage it.