Voyage Into Sickness: Comatose Music
I’d like to start this off by sending a bloody, gore-soaked salute to anyone who enjoyed last week’s voyage into the world of underground death metal. As I’ve stated before, this music truly isn’t for everyone and knowing that some of you dig it really puts a smile on my face. This week, I’ll be continuing in a somewhat similar fashion by introducing you to the people in our beloved genre that make it possible for the bands to get their music to the public. Death Metal is one of the only genres that puts the same importance upon it’s record labels as it does upon it’s own bands.
You see, a label is only as good as the albums it releases, and unfortunately some labels put out horrible releases. That’s a given with any genre of music, but in death metal, the quality of the albums a label puts out is essential not only to a label’s reputation but it’s success as a whole. The people behind the labels play a big role in this as well, in the way they present themselves. In any other genre, it wouldn’t matter much to anyone if the label head is a prick, as long as the music they release is somewhat decent. However, in death metal things are a bit different.
Annual festivals such as the Central Illinois Metalfest, Maryland Deathfest, Gathering of The Sick, etc. are gathering points for the global death metal community. Rather than sending lackeys to do their dirty work, the owners of the labels travel to the festivals, set up shop, and proceed to sell merchandise for their own bands, scout unsigned acts, and even distribute titles for other bands. Fans of the genre get a chance to interact with the very people who give them their favorite releases, and in situations like that, how you present yourself to the public really does make or break you as a label.
One label that has always presented itself in a very positive manner towards the fans in death metal is North Carolina’s Comatose Music. Whether it be from the bands on the label or the fans who purchase items from them, Comatose Music is always regarded as one of the best in the scene. One of the reasons for this is the attitude and dedication of the label’s founder, Steve Green. Over the years, I’ve interacted with numerous labels and honestly, I’ve never met anyone as devoted to the bands they sign as Steve is.
“I started Comatose Music in the Summer of 2001 as a CD distribution source for underground brutal death metal music”, Green recounts. “After about six months of doing that I decided the next step was to sign bands and release their music.” Luckily, the realization of what Steve intended to do for his label couldn’t have come at a better time, as his own brutal death metal band, Lust of Decay, was preparing to unleash their debut Infesting The Exhumed on the underground death metal scene. “The timing was perfect for me to release it as the debut album on Comatose Music, and since then, we’ve only continued to grow even more as a label.”
The latter is somewhat of an understatement. Since Lust of Decay’s debut, Comatose Music has only continued in their quest to release the sickest death metal our planet has to offer. With the legendary Dislimb and Dycrasia split, Necrotic Disgorgement’s Suffocated In Shrinkwrap , Vomit The Soul’s Portraits of Inhuman Abominations , and Exulcerate’s Remnants of A Cannibalistic Debauchery , along with two more violent, sicker albums by Lust of Decay, Comatose has put out some of the sickest and most unadulterated releases to ever grace the Death Metal genre.
That begs an important question…what plans do they have in store, for the future?
“I plan to keep things going in the same general direction with about four to six new releases per year!” Steve says, as enthusiastic as ever about the bands his label will be releasing. Among those bands are the new project from Matt Bishop (ex-Lividity) Human Artifacts, along with a double dose of brutality from Texas in the form of Aversion To Life and Vitality. As far as the expectations for each release is concerned, Steve promises “Just continue to expect the sickest, most brutal and vile death metal possible!”
Steve Green is a man of his word…and therefore, I have no choice but to believe him and rejoice at the implications of such a statement. Comatose has an incredibly bright future ahead of them, and for death metal fans across the globe who enjoy the sickest this genre has to offer, that future is welcomed with open, bleeding arms. To hear their bands and stop by their webstore, go to the site. I promise, you won’t be disappointed.
Until next time, my brutal brothers and sisters…
Link: comatosemusic.com
Josh | 06/28/2006