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INDEX
INTERVIEWS
GUESTBOOK
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ONLY DEATH IS REAL!
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1. Hello! How do you do? Introduce your label to the voracious undergrounders!
Hello! My label is dedicated to raw, ugly and old school Death/Speed/Black/Doom/War/Necro EVIL Metal first of all! You will not find here (also in my distro) modern, melodic, nice produced stuff!!! Only Metal Of Death!!! In brief, it would be something like this.
2. When did you create your label and what motivated you to run something like this? Did you consciously decide to create a label, or did it occur as a matter of facts? (As you might have been doing a zine and began a distro little by little... as you received more and more stuffs in trade...)
From the very beginning I wanted to run my own label, but I haven’t got enough cash. While trading stuff of my band Throneum I got in contact with a lot of maniacs, distros and labels so I hadn’t got too hard beginning. I have run my label because it was always my goal, not because I have too many stuff – all Throneum materials I traded was only for my (and band mate’s) own collections. Yes, I made a newslatter called Extreme Dense Art, but I had to stopped it because lack of time. It sucks, but I decided to focus on my label and bands.
2. What was the first band you released? Did you choose them or was it the contrary? Was it hard to convince them to work with you, as you were a very new label with no release?
I was in contact with Gravewurm, Vomitor and Sargatanas. I told them that I start a label and whether are they interested to release any tape. There was no problem to get deals, so soon reh tape of Vomitor, live material of Sargatanas and cassette version of Gravewurm debut album were released. It was very good step for the beginning! It was back in the end of 2001.
3. I think it's currently much easier for you to convince a band to work with you! But is it always so easy? Maybe some have too big expectations or something like that... How does it work most of the time? Is there a contract to be signed with the bands, or is it simply a mutual agreement?
It’s simply mutual agreement. Up till now I signed only with Sabbat, to have everything clear but I think it wasn’t needed because they are cool, underground maniacs! I haven’t got any problems to find bands I want to release, also I get a lot of promos so I can chose from these materials too. I haven’t got any problems with my bands and hope they don’t complain on my work too… There were a few bands that offered me their materials but have too big expectations so I can’t release them. I’m fucking small and underground label so my budget isn’t too big.
5. How do
you choose a band you'll work with? Do you care only about the musical
aspect, or are the motivation for promotion and the setting of gigs
important?
Much more numerous are the bands who do a lot of
promotion online (spamming and blabbing the boards, always building
a newer website) but play few gigs and finally do few promotional
work (I mean: the real one! Lots of trades, lots of flyers, lots
of promotional items sent everywhere!) Would you work with this
kind of bands? Would you share my opinion when I say focusing the
promotions on a website is quite illusionary as many guys who visit
a website are there by hazard and don't give a shit about the music?!
I don’t care
about websites, webzines and “web-bands”!!! I work only with
real underground bands that know what true Underground means!!!
It’s very important for me! Metal is some kind of ideology itself,
so not only music is important!!!
I prefer to work with unknown
band that make small promotion using flyers than with bands that
spam computers and put all their demo tracks to download.
+++ AT THE MANIA OF DEATH! +++
6. Do you like merchandising (t-shirts, patches...) and the fast or releasing the same album under various formats? (CD, classic Lp, picture Lp). If so, does it take a lot of time and energy to work on all this shit? Do you consider it as a real plus, or simply a little extra?
Mostly I release albums/materials only in 1 format I mean CD or tape. Only my upcoming release – newest album of SLUGATHOR “Circle Of Death” will be released as CD/LP. Sometimes I make T-Shirts too, but they are fucking expensive. It’s something “extra”. All TS’s I made were strictly limited.
7. If your label has a main line of integrity, velour, and principles, tell us about it! Or maybe you're rather free to do whatever feels right?
First of all I do what I feel and want. It’s always the most important for me! But as I said above I focused on old school stuff, because I work only with bands I like and support.
8. Do you think too numerous (sometimes illusionary) positive feedbacks and too long extensive tours might influence a talented band in the decrease of its musical quality? Do you think a band that receives too many good reviews from all these ass-suckers of zine editors might finally get flooded into the "objective positivity", and think everybody loves them and make no effort for their next compositions? Many bands that were killer, once underground and appreciated by a limited audience, lost a lot of their greatness and crushing talent once the success and extensive tours came in the spot! That's why I ask your opinion.
Hmm… for sure
long tours increase technical quality of the band, but I don’t know
if it’s the most important thing in Metal! Positive feedback is
good, because it mobilizes the band to work on next materials, but
sometime it can decrease like in case of Vader for example. I really
don’t accept new face of Vader, but all kids buy their materials
because of their great promotion and big tours. I don’t understand
it! Most of kids don’t know what is Underground and don’t know what
is Metal at all. They buy and listen to bands that appears in big
magazines only.
I think that a lot of mainstream bands think
that they are the best, because their labels put a lot of advertisements
and pay for interviews with them. It’s very illusionary, but official
scene work in this way. I really fucking don’t care about it!
We
have got a lot of ass-sucker zine editors in the underground too,
especially from webzines that suck dicks only to get free promos!!!
I hate it!
9. On the other hand, musicians with a quite good potential might never compose the really great thing they might be able to in the future... if all the cock-suckers already hailz them to death once they're only playing average music! Some musicians might conveniently stay in their musical averageness and get the benefits from the no-effort-status... Why would they shake their minds to compose something great, emotionally deep or outstanding since they're already considered as gods?? ;-)
The only GODS of Death Metal are Morbid Angel!!! Hahaha, none can be compared to them! I know what do you mean with this question, but I saw such situation many years ago, therefore I stopped listen to most of official bands! I don’t care about new Deicide, new Vader, new Hypocrisy etc etc etc… In deep Underground there are so many interesting bands, that I don’t feel any lose!!!
10. Since a lot of metallers really seem to confuse "talent" and "know-how" (Many bands who have know-how and passion are often considered as "talented" while it's far from being the case! They only like what they do, and they do it well.) give us your definition of these two words, and give few exemples of bands that would fit well for each. Do you think a talented band is necessarily innovative?
Well, know-how
and passion is quite important! If music is your passion and you
know how make them – it runs from your veins it is this exactly!!!
Well, DARKTHRONE is a band that know, how make true Black Metal,
but in their music there is still a lot of passion! I adore this
band! They fucking rules!
But Deicide or Vader lost their passion
to Death Metal completely and it’s very audible!
For sure talented
band can’t be innovative! For example Necros Christos, Slugathor
or Gallhammer. These bands don’t play anything new but in their
music is so many passion (and also know-how) that make my head banging!
ARGH!!!!!!
THE UNDERGROUND STORMS ETERNALLY!
11. What's the best way to find a new band you might work with? Do you listen to all the demos you receive? Do you search on the web? Do you prefer to see some new bands live? Do you think the labels who exclusively listen to (a part) of the CDs they receive in trade with other labels might find THE killer band? I mean: most of the albums released are from bands that are quite known in the scene, or it's always the same bands that release something... but the bash of fresh putrid air comes from the underground and totally unknown bands! Right? So these labels who don't search much might always release the same rehashed stuffs...
Of course I listen
to demos I receive, I don’t search for bands on the web. Only if
bands ask me via e-mail to download their mp3 I visit their site,
but it’s not so often. Live is never good to chose bands, a lot
of underground gigs has so pure sound that you can’t hear what bands
are playing hahaha.
When I will find any interesting review in
some zine I ask the band for trade for their demos. Anyway, I am
in touch with so many bands that I haven’t any problem to get materials
to release.
For sure it’s easier to release band that has some
CDs out already if you put cash for releasing you want to have it
back. It’s nothing strange I think. Anyway, I work in another way.
All my CDs are strictly limited to 500 copies so I release this
what I like and mustn’t care about selling. 500 CDs is enough to
spread it in the underground even if band is completely unknown.
If I like band I will support them! That’s all!
12. Is the current situation of labels so hard and painful? Many owners of these full-time job of a label complain a lot about the bad sales of CDs and the fact it's not good to download mp3s... But on the other hand some of these who like to complain never answer when you ask them their list of wholesale prices, some happen to have higher wholesale-prices than consumer-prices (Incredible...but true! And it's a label from my suburb...), some labels don't stress that much their bands when they do not answer interviews, and some even don't hesitate to close the office and go on vacations for 1 month! (If the situation was so hard, there would be no room for vacations! For sure that would be: Work hard and keep it alive!!). I have doubts about all the situation, especially since the sales in my “rotten tapes and CDr” distro are OK, so give us your opinion!
Well, label isn’t
my job just only the passion! I have regular daily job and I earn
to pay for taxes, food, flat and other shits. Selling isn’t too
big (never was, I think maniacs still afraid to order stuff from
such “exotic” countries like Poland hahaha) but it’s still enough
to get cash back and to earn a few bucks more. It’s enough for me!
I got a lot of satisfaction working with my label and it’s the most
important thing for me!
It’s also the reason that my retail and
wholesale prices are so low.
I don’t care in which way work others.
I am deep Underground label and distro and I NEVER wanted to change
Time Before Time in “big factory” though of course TBTRec is the
official label with VAT number and the like shits.
13. What did you have to do to adapt your label to the current metal situation? Did you have to focus on given styles of metal? To be more selective with traders? To work much more on the web?
I really haven’t
got time to work with websites. I update TBT sire 2 or 3 times in
a year. My band (Throneum) website wasn’t updated since end of 2004
hahaha! Anyway I try to move my ass and work with it too. No time
for such crap like the web! I really don’t care about it!
Yes,
my trades are more selective lately. Really I haven’t got any customers
for porno-grind, modern, avantgarde, melodic or ambient stuff. First
of all I don’t listen to such genres (with some exceptions for a
few ambient projects like Nekya, Puissance or Endure I do like)
so I focus on old school Death/Black/Doom Metal only!
14. Do you or did you play in a band? Do you think it's helpful when you run a label? In a way it could help you to see easily when a band uses void-filling riffs or isn't as serious and motivated as they claim... How many copies of your own releases do you sell each month? Do you sell or trade most of it? How many distro-items do you sell each month, and how many orders do you receive each month?
Yes, I play in 2 bands – Throneum and Morbid Execution, I sell a lot of Throneum CDs through my distro. For sure it’s very helpful. I never count how many own release I sell each month, I trade a lot so I sell other titles too. Sometimes I get 15 order sometimes 50. Anyway, I never count them. For sure I have put cash back so everything is OK and I don’t need think about it.
15. What would be the perfect band you secretly dream to release something of? Did you ever release something you had been dreaming of the intense way? So what was it?
There are a lot
of such bands! It’s the reason I run my label all the time, just
I release band I adore!!! Well there are Vomitor, Sargatanas, Sabbat,
Slugathor, Necros Christos, Gravewurm, Obskure Torture, Apokalyptic
Raids, Witchmaster, Damnation (Pol), Abigail, Varathron, Morbosidad,
Heptameron and fucking more!!!!
I still think about Grand Belial’s
Key, Sathanas, Arghoslent and few others…
16. What's your opinion about tapes releases? Apart from the fact it takes time to copy all of this... do you like it, or do you think it's over and from the past? What's your opinion about "labels" who release only tapes and/ or CDr?
I don’t like CDr’s - they sucks, but I fucking like tapes, especially demo tapes! ARGH!!!! It’s the essence of the Underground! I copy my tapes in professional way, because I haven’t got time to dub them on my hi-fi. I started as tape label, now I realese CDs and tapes and slowly start to think about vinyl but it’s still terrible expensive!
++FORTHCOMING ASSAULTS OF NIGHTMARE++
17. Is there a kind of metal labels you hate? Maybe you're able to give us few names?
If I don’t like
a few official labels but I don’t care about them!
I think only
label I hate is agonia records that is a crap!
18. Since the Internet is becoming always bigger and bigger, I think some strange kind of cybernetic "labels" will take more importance: some websites offering musical downloads (sometimes for free) of stuffs you won't find another way (no CDs, no Lps...)... What are your feelings about it? Do you think this currently microscopic phenomenon will take much more importance in the future?
I don’t know such labels, also I don’t afraid about Metal condition in future. Metal is a music for maniacs and I believe that there are and will be still some maniacs that put a shit on official / internet scene and focuse on the Reall Underground!!!! The Underground Storms Eternally. Maybe labels stopped to release so many CDs and remains only unofficial ones but who care! Metal is the Underground, The Underground is Metal!!! 666!
19. Few years ago, when the Internet was even not a dream in the heads of most metallers, many labels of all kinds and sizes used to send promos everywhere to many fanzines... But what about now? Do you send a lot of promotional items to receive reviews? Do you focus on some websites? (maybe the biggest or the most regularly updated?) Do you still happen to send CDs to paper zines?
Yes, I still send some promos to paper zines and mags and NEVER sent any promo to webzine! I spread a lot of flyers and try to work in traditional way, anyway it’s fucking expensive so I am not able to send 200 promos whae I release CDs in 500 copies only.
20. What's a good review in your opinion? Does it need to be totally objective, subjective, or a mix of both? Do you think the reviewer has to bring some personal opinions or deliriums? Do you make a difference when you're the metaller reading reviews of the label-boss reading reviews? The difference of opinion could be very different. ;-)
I don’t like
objective reviews, it’s shit. I don’t read to official mags because
there are so called “objective” review that don’t bring anything
and “subjective” cock sucking reviews of label that paid for good
response and take advertisements. It sucks. I read only good UG
zine, with subjective reviews, so if it’s good I know that this
band is worthy of my attention.
I release only stuff that makes
my crazy and howling so in my own, subjective opinion these materials
are excellent hahahaha, but of course I accept all reviews no problem
if someone don’t like it. I DON”T CARE!!!! I release only this what
I want! It’s the (most important) difference between me and big
boss-label!
AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!
21. What's your opinion about paper zines? Do you still happen to read some, and maybe you have some for sale in your distro? Are there some good current paper zines you could advice us?
Sure, I still read and support paper zines (though I haven’t got time read all of them lately) and distribute them. In this moment I spread BYLEC TUM and Copmpletely Necro – very good zines!
22. How do you detect in few minutes if a zine would please or not your needs for alcoholic metal, objectivity and opinions? Do you rather have a look at the bands they interviewed, the notes given to the albums? ....Or the guestbook? Lol
Guestbook in the paper zine??? Hahahaha, no it doesn’t happened I think…. Well, I look at band set of course, read a few reviews and some parts of the inties, so in a few minutes you know it’s good zine or a crap.
23. Do you think somekind of competition between labels is something good? To which extant do you think that should remain? Did you already have problems with other labels who were too greedy or "visionary"? (If so what were the stronger menaces ?lol).
I never started with any competition either with my label or band. I fucking don’t care, just do what I want!!! Yes, some labels don’t want to trade with me because I have got too low prices in my catalogue but we can solve this problem in this or another way. So no bigger problems! Mostly I deal and trade with Underground labels that focus on the same ideas that me so everything is OK.
24. Did you already read my webzine? If so tell us honestly what's your opinion about it (positive and negative points) as well as what I should change or not to please your tastes!
No sorry, I don’t read webzines…
25. What were the last 10 albums you listened to?
SATHANAS “Entering
the Diabolical Trinity”
AGGRESSION "he Full Treatrment"
DRUDKH “The Swan Road”
HELL MILITIA “Canonisation of the
Foul Spirit”
NECROPLASMA “Gospel of The Antichristian Terror”
ASPHYX
“The Last One On Earth”
ABIGOR “Apokalypse”
MORGION “Cloaked
by Ages, Crowned in Earth”
RUNNING WILD “The First Years Of Piracy”
APOKALYPTIC
RAIDS “The Third Storm”
These 10 CDs and others lay under my
desk in this moment.
26. What are the last very good or killer bands you discovered? What will be your next releases? This interview is over, you can conclude and say whatever needed to convince more metallers to support you! Thanx for the answers. Greetz!
HEPTAMERON – it’s killer old school real Black Metal band inspired by Samael, Bathory, Sodom and early Mayhem, they will crash you! I released their reh tape 2 years ago. This summer I will release their debut CD with fucking honor. Together with HEPTAMERON I will unleash OBSKURE TORTURE MCD – next material after “Necro Ritual” CD released by TBT last year! These bands are my fucking proud !Now I am working on SLUGATHOR “Circle Of Death” CD and GRAVEWURM / SUICIDAL WINDS split CD – 2 excellent old school Death Metal monuments!!!!
Thanks for your
support! Till fucking Death!
Website: http://www.time-before-time.com
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