distro review thread

H

Hamock

New Metal Member
Jul 31, 2005
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hell >:]
NO SELF-PROMOTION

This thread is for reviews of online metal distros (not traders, you can do that here). You can mention places for folk/noise/whatever too I guess. I made a little template but as long as you're clear it doesn't matter how you post. Try to keep it to places you've ordered from more than once unless your experience was particularly bad. Redundancy is good so post about a place someone else has if you can.

Template works like this:

What country you are from: For reference with shipping times

Distro name (website)
Country: Where the distro is
Selection: What sort of music they sell
Orders: How many times you've ordered from them (approximate)
Shipping: How long orders take to arrive
Secure: Whether the site has a secure shopping cart setup. If you see a padlock on your browser at checkout then probably yes. If not than you should list what other ordering methods are available.
Additional comments:
Click to expand...

FOR INSTANCE

I'm from the USA!!!

Redstream Inc http://www.redstream.org/
Country: USA
Selection: Mostly death and black metal
Orders: 8
Shipping: <1 week
Secure: Yes
Comments: A very reliable distro with a well designed site

Supernal Music http://www.supernalmusic.com/
Country: England
Selection: Black and some death metal
Orders: 5
Shipping: 1 - 2 weeks
Secure: Yes
Comments: Expensive, but hard to find stuff pops up here sometimes

Moribund Cult http://www.moribundcult.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc
Country: USA
Selection: Black and death
Orders: 6
Shipping: 3 - 4 weeks
Secure: Yes
Comments: Slow but a great selection

Fullmoon Productions http://www.fmp666.com/index2.html
Country: USA
Selection: Black and some death
Orders: 2
Shipping: 1 month
Secure: Yes
Comments: SLOW

Metaldisc http://metaldisc.com/
Country: USA
Selection: Little bit of everything including lots of metal DVDs
Orders: 3
Shipping: 1 month
Secure: Yes
Comments: Slow and pricey but a very wide selection

;)
 
www.hevydevy.com

country: canada
shipping: They say 6/8 weeks, but 90% of the time orders come in 1/2 weeks
selection: all albums by devin townsend and strapping young lad
secure: yes
payment: paypal, credit/debit card, money order
comments: a great distribution for anything devin related. prices are good on cd's and merchandise. this is his own record label's distro service, so if youre ordering a devy album go through hevydevy so he gets more money. also, they have a "notes/comments" section in the order form where you can ask devin to sign albums or let them know anything you want done with the order. highly recommended.
 
www.amazon.com

country: worldwide
shipping: methods can be chosen, such as priority mail, standard UPS, etc.
selection: selection is great for all genres of metal and music, but they sometimes list albums they end up not being able to find (especially imports). you can also find a "used" section for cheaper prices.
secure: yes
payment: paypal, credit/debit card.
comments: im sure everyone is familiar with amazon so i dont have to write too much, here. amazon.com is hit or miss. selection is pretty good, but they're slow as hell in their delivery (especially the xmas season) and they can be very, very expensive. use as a last resort if you can't find what youre looking for elsewhere. ive been waiting for over one month for 2 albums to arrive, and they still havent even been shipped, to this day.
 
www.theendrecords.com

country - usa
selection - specializing in all types of metal from all genres. huge selection, consistantly restocking.
payment: paypal, credit/debitcard/money order
shipping: usa and worldwide. usa items are free shipping, last i checked.
secure: yes
comments: everyone knows about this distro. they have a great selection and good, fast service. there have only been two albums i have been unable to find from this distro, although im sure many of you have had harder luck with very, very obsecure albums. delivery takes one week on average. highly recommended.
 
Hello all. Black & death metal fans of the UK keep an eye out for ASA BAY DISTRIBUTION. I am setting up the distro to bring the best underground foreign black & death bands to the UK. Bands will include AMAGORTIS (Swiss), ANARAZEL (AUS) & VORE (USA). Keep checking the UM boards for updates!

Ben Corkhill
 
Century Media
http://www.centurymedia.com

Country: USA (California), UK, European (Worldwide)
Selection: All kinds of metal CDs/DVDs/limited clothing
Orders: About 10 times
Shipping: never more than 2 weeks
Secure: Yes
Additional comments: Great order site. Lots of different stuff for very cheap prices. They have lots of specials a lot, at one time they had a couple Emperor cds for $5 each.. stuff like that. Pretty fast delivery, none of my stuff has ever taken over 2 weeks to get here across country from California to New Jersey.. usually takes around 1 week.
 
Plastic Head Distribution http://www.plastichead.com/
Country: UK
Selection: All kinds cds,t-shirts,etc.
Orders:4
Shipping: depends on location
Secure: Yes
Comments: Has the most merchandise for bands ive ever seen, tons of t-shirts
and cds, even has vinyls, picture discs, and dvds. Has tons of Emperor cds, shirts. The only store I have ever seen Arcturus merchandise. reasonable prices, a little more espensive if you live in the usa,
 
I never actually successfully completed an order from PHD. I emailed them about exchange rates which weren't provided on the site, and never got a reply. Good selection of shirts, but only in L, XL.
 
I've got three that I've used multple times:

What country you are from: US

Distro name: Evil Legend Records (www.evillegendrecords.com)
Country: US
Selection: 80s-present NWOBHM, Heavy/Speed/Prog/Thrash/select Black
Orders: 4
Shipping: 3-4 days, though I'm fairly close
Secure: You write an e-mail to the record label with the list of CDs/Vinyl that you would like, and it goes from there.
Additional comments: Good customer service, the absolute best selection for rarities in this field of Metal. Paypal (+ 5%) is the easiest method.


Distro name: Barbarian Wrath (www.barbarianwrath.org (distro is www.thebasar.org))
Country: Germany
Selection: Predominantly Black Metal, select Thrash, Death
Orders: 6-7
Shipping: Never more than a week after receiving payment
Secure: You write an e-mail to the record label with the list of CDs/Vinyl that you would like, and it goes from there.
Additional comments: Paypal is the easiest method to use, but it is discouraged to use, and is an additional 6%. The CDs are on the pricy side, but it becomes worth it when balancing it out with the realization that this is the only distro that carries a lot of these titles. Ships without jewel cases to save on massive German shipping charges, and is very negotiable in terms of customs procedures.


Distro name: Alpha Draconis Records (www.alphadraconisrecords.org)
Country: US
Selection: Predominantly Black, Thrash, Death
Orders: 3
Shipping: 2-5 days
Secure: Yes, through Paypal
Additional comments: This distro was formerly Barbarian Wrath Vinland. They carry the majority of the still available Barbarian Wrath and Witches Brew titles (as does, obviously, The Basar). Outside of these, the selection is nothing amazing, but at $11-12 per CD and nifty 4 CDs for $40 deals, it's very affordable.
 
Dodens Grav said:
I've got three that I've used multple times:

What country you are from: US

Distro name: Evil Legend Records (www.evillegendrecords.com)
Country: US
Selection: 80s-present NWOBHM, Heavy/Speed/Prog/Thrash/select Black
Orders: 4
Shipping: 3-4 days, though I'm fairly close
Secure: You write an e-mail to the record label with the list of CDs/Vinyl that you would like, and it goes from there.
Additional comments: Good customer service, the absolute best selection for rarities in this field of Metal. Paypal (+ 5%) is the easiest method.
Click to expand...

THE best distro for hard-to-find nwobhm/traditional/true metal. Period. To top it all off, his prices cannot be beaten. Tim is a class dude.
 
Doomcifer said:
THE best distro for hard-to-find nwobhm/traditional/true metal. Period. To top it all off, his prices cannot be beaten. Tim is a class dude.
Click to expand...

I have to agree. Tim is just great to deal with. Awesome place.
 
Distro name: Goatowarex - http://slingshot.to/goatowarex
Country: Sydney, Australia
Selection: Black metal focus, some death and grind
Orders: 2
Shipping: 5 days from payment (I'm also in Syd though)
Secure: Payment via paypal is best way - doesn't have its own secure cart.
Additional comments: Jewel cases are excluded to save on shipping. Has good delivery response and great prices (especially for Australia - you can get 6 cds for $66). Generally stocks fairly obscure stuff, but it isn't a huge selection. Definitely worth ordering from if you can find stuff you want.

Others I have used that are good for prices include:
theendrecords (stock is generally weak though)
cdnow (good for prices and reliability)
vinland winds (good prices, reliable, but the stock is limited)

I'm also mid-order from displeased records, which has high prices but a good selection. Haven't ordered from there before though.
 
MasterOLightning said:
I never actually successfully completed an order from PHD. I emailed them about exchange rates which weren't provided on the site, and never got a reply. Good selection of shirts, but only in L, XL.
Click to expand...


Ya they dont show you in usd, but I just got my total and converted it at x-rates.com They have a currency converter.
 
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