R.I.P. Roadrunner Records?

So after Devildriver quitting Roadrunner, now Machine Head are also on the way out! Or at least it seems so. Thing which is not surprising after the recent events that happened in the labels grounds, where all the international offices were closed down by the Big Cheese, Warner Music! With some info that some other bands might be quitting Roadrunner and notably Hatebreed, just a rumour at the moment, is this the end of the greatest metal label up to date? Is it time for the coyote to finally catch that damn bird? Whatever it may be, thanks for giving the world some of the best metal bands in the world. Somewhere, at some point, you went wrong and it’s a shame, but we’ll always respect you for the music you shared!

Pirates of the Majors

First of all read this. Now think about this: Adele sold almost 9 million copies of "21" worldwide. No one can argue that "21" is not a great album because it just is. Maybe not your style, but still, you've heard the majority of tracks and you probably enjoy them. At the same time, we are being spoon fed and brainwashed that the music industry is having troubles, that CD sales are dropping and that the main reason for all of these is piracy. So, the UK government recently invaded people’s freedom and blocked thepiratebay.se from all UK ISPs, since that should solve the problem. 

I have always thought that whoever said that piracy was the reason for the demise of the music industry was either a fool or just didn’t understand the music industry. Funnily enough, last week was full of remarks blaming piracy for the closure of Roadrunner’s international offices and frankly, that annoyed the hell out of me, especially when these remarks came from artists. Sure enough, piracy is not helping with the sales of albums and honestly, thank god it’s not!

Why am I saying this? Because it feels as if artists, guided by their labels, are every year releasing shit ,after shit, after shit. Yes, SHIT! You’re wondering how I know it? I know it because you told me so. Or because you’ve showed me so! Adele sold 9 million copies of "21" and has been in the charts for 65 weeks. It is now the 5^th best-selling album of all times, in the UK! And that’s because it is a great album, because it’s not SHIT! See, if every artist released great albums, like "21", then you would had bought it, therefore creating more revenue for the music industry. So, have you bought the latest Nicki Minaj? No! Why? Because it's shit. And for those of you who downloaded it, why did you do so? Because it's not worth the money! (Those of you who bought it, you clicked on the wrong link and get the hell out of here!) With the labels focusing on shitty artists that they will drop after their 2nd album, it’s no wonder that nobody wants to buy albums anymore. Why the hell would I want to give £10 or $20 to buy a shitty album that has been placed under my nose by the majors? Give me something good and I’ll buy it. But keep on throwing shit at consumers, and they'll keep on downloading your shit. The music industry’s slow and painful death is not due to piracy, it's mostly due to shit music. It's due to the fact that the majors are trying to force you to buy whatever turd they try to polish. Good music sells and Adele is the proof.

Posted by Nick

Roadrunner Records- The Beginning of the End?

So, if you are following some metal acts and a bunch of metal music industry people on Twitter or Facebook, you couldn’t possibly have missed the story about Roadrunner which has been going around the net today (26^th April 2012). Originally started as a rumour in the early morning hours, and eventually being confirmed by a vast amount of Roadrunner workers via Twitter, Roadrunner Records is shutting down its European and Canadian offices.  For some this may not seem like a big deal but honestly it is a pretty big deal for anyone involved in metal. First of all, think of all the people that are losing their jobs. People who have devoted their lives to metal and to getting you the best acts that, they thought, deserved to be on stage. People who have made metal what it is today and who have worked their asses off, just because they love metal. So our initial thoughts go to all of them and we wish them only the best. Secondly, this is a very sad day for metal and for metal fans regardless of whether they like Roadrunner or not. Roadrunner has been one of the leading metal labels out there, and it has been responsible for the fact that many of us are metalheads today. 

So what happened? In 2010 Warner Music Group (WMG) bought Roadrunner Records in an attempt to get its foot in the heavy metal door. Today 2 years later, WMG seems to be unhappy with the ways things are going at Roadrunner and therefore are closing down its international offices and firing another 16 people in the US. Why? Well, WMG could be doing this for a variety of reasons with the most dominant being that they just want to reduce RR’s budget.

Whatever the case may be, the sheer fact that the metal label is the one that gets hit should be very worrying to all of us. If the majors start to disregard metal like this, it can only mean that we’re not  progressing very well, despite the fact that metal has been one of the most stable genres in the world. Metal Blade Records founder Brian Slagel very rightly twitted today that “What happened today to Roadrunner is one of the biggest reasons I never sold to a major” while Chimaira’s lead guitarist Emil Werstler wondered:  “[…] why people are so concerned about RR. It's 2012. It sucks for our pals there, but did we not see this coming?”.  Well, Emil is right and so is Brian. Did we not see this coming? Probably not, but it makes sense. When Roadrunner got bought by WMG in 2010 it could only go towards a very limited amount of directions. Unfortunately it went towards the direction we would had wished it never went, and this was a gamble that Roadrunner took when they signed the deal with WMG.

For the RR bands this is very bad news too. If this is indeed a reduction of budget, then a bunch of them will be dropped and many bands will have to look for new homes. The big ones obviously don’t have much to worry, but the smaller RR bands should be considering some other labels right now. This could also potentially mean the end of Signmeto which has been recruiting young bands and signed them to Roadrunner for a few years now. It could also mean that the remaining RR bands will get a smaller advance for their next album, which could lead to smaller tours, less products and limited reach. So this automatically takes us to a very limited quantity of metal being released and with one less label, it makes it harder for every band to get signed anywhere else, since competition will be tougher.

For the fans, I think it’s pretty obvious what will happen. Less metal, less gigs, less ways to express yourself, less freedom. Might sound a bit dramatic, but don’t tell me that you don’t feel free and relieved after listening to metal.

So from all points of view we are in deep shit. Who is to blame? Well, first of all, I get very annoyed with all the people tweeting that piracy is to blame. This is bullshit! Although piracy might have something to do with it, it is definitely not the reason why this happened, so stop mentioning piracy as the reason for this. In my opinion, the main reason for this situation, is corporate greed. WMG doesn’t really care if what they do, means anything to anybody or if it will affect thousands of people.  We are in a changing industry where the future is uncertain and definitely very exciting. The majors are struggling to retain control and as they are losing money they are becoming greedier. As long as something saves them money, they’ll go for it and they’ll be happy about it! And by reducing the RR offices and incorporating all the Roadrunner activities within their own offices, well let me tell you that they will save money.

Concluding this blog post I just hope that this will be the end of this story and that the whole label won’t get absorbed into WMG and become history. Roadrunner is a historic label, and maybe in the last few years they haven’t been what they used to, but nevertheless we should honour and respect the label for what it has done and for bringing us some of the heaviest, craziest and best metal acts that ever walked on stage.

“Money should not dictate art. Art should dictate money.” - Shawn Crahan (Slipknot)

Posted by Nick

Heritage - Opeth (2011)

I like to consider every new Opeth release as an event. There has been many times where I could just imagine kids of the 70s, gathering altogether to hear a new Led Zeppelin album for the first time and feel the music that these masters were creating. Somehow, I get the desire to do exactly the same with every new Opeth release. When I got Watershed and listened to it for the first time it was an absolutely amazing voyage on the Opeth cruise and I just couldn’t wait to see if Heritage could  give me even more.

Heritage is the new album from Swedish Progressive metalers Opeth released on the 13 of September via Roadrunner Records. The record starts with a very dark and gloomy piano track which bares the title of the album only to kick in to the first single out of Heritage, The Devil’s Orchard. The album has many atmospheric elements into it which we’ve got used to through the years of listening to Opeth. With the many fusion inspired passages Opeth will not disappoint all the fans of progressive metal. The screaming solos and the amazing production of the album will definitely give you chills while the haunting atmosphere that is created throughout the album is just mind travelling! However, passionate Opeth fans will definitely observe that there are no growls on this album. All of the vocals are clean and their melodies seem to carry and support the very gloomy feeling that the album gives out. This results in a lack of aggression that we usually get with Opeth, but I believe that the amount of new elements that are presented on the album are so many and so well executed, that it really doesn’t feel as if anything is missing. This could ultimately be an album which, when assembled with other Opeth’s album, could represent a very different era and sound in the band’s history. In general a very interesting work by Opeth which didn’t disappoint me but, will, I imagine, disappoint some with the lack of growls and aggression. Nevertheless this album is a true masterpiece in its own and only makes you to want to hear it live! By witnessing Opeth live at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2010, when listening to this album I couldn’t stop thinking how amazing this album would have sounded live in there!

There are many tracks on this album which really caught our attention and could be labelled as favourites. Slither gives out a very Rainbow-ish or Deep Purple-ish vibe with its high tempo and the melodies that Akerfeldt uses on the vocals melodies! Compared to previous Opeth releases, the influences that Akerfeldt has been talking about for so long now, are visible more than ever on this album. No surprise that Slither is a tribute to the late Ronnie James Dio. Nepenthe could easily be described as a fusion metal song with the very nu-jazz, in my opinion, intro and the blasting solo which is followed by a typical Opeth passage that most of us adore! Nepenthe was a drug used in ancient days to forget sorrow which relates quite nicely with the lyrics on this album! Finally, but not least, Famine is a very interesting track with a very oriental feel, which has Opeth introducing to us some flute parts which add a very interesting element to the whole sound.

Heritage: 9/10

Posted by Nick