Rage Of Achilles call it quits...

[dill_the_devil]

Taken from the RoA website...

THE END OF AN ERA --- Rage Of Achilles RIP ????
After the Summer of 2004 we have decided that Rage Of Achilles will not be releasing any new records. After 5 years of hard work and some of the finest heavy metal records I've heard in a long time, we've decided to take a break. We'll still be around selling all our latest releases and all the back catalogue too, but there will be nothing new coming up in the near future.

Basically, being a small independent record label these days -- its literally not possible for us to compete against all the big labels in the European metal market so we decided to go awol while we're ahead. We'll be still looking after all our existing releases as ever, as previously mentioned -- so yeah, you can still go out and buy all our killers in stores and the webstore will still be flogging the dead horse.

Anyway -- its time for a new challenge. From ashes rise.....

Many thanks to all our fantastic bands over the 5 years for making this a very special time for us and hats off to all those crazy metal maniacs across the world who have been in our corner since we started.

Hails and necro beers for all.

Duncan / Rage Of Achilles Records

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I think this is a hell of a shame, RoA have been one of the most consistent and interesting labels in existence for quite some time - the presentation and quality of their releases has been continually top-notch, and frankly I felt like blubbing in the manner of a baby with a spanked ass when I read this.

Thoughts?

 

[NAD]

I only have a handful of their releases, but it sucks ass to see the little guy lose.

 

[dill_the_devil]

'It's a shit business,' as that sad old pub-rock geezer from The League Of Gentleman would say... sorry to hear about LETHAL being in the land of the unsigned again... better luck next time.

 

[J.]

Witches Brew went under????

 

[NAD]

Yeah I saw Sorath's post about that but forgot to comment. Sucks ass.

 

[Hell Mike]

Cheryl rules so no hard feelings from me at least. If someone is willing to donate some €45u93y4593854345u345y365357654354 to her she might be able to continue, though

 

[JayKeeley]

Who was a good band on Rage of Achilles? I thought the last While Heaven Wept album was very cool (in that epic & glory kind of way), and Elenium were promising in a prog-death manner (certainly their last album was better than Crimson ][ in my opinion). I guess Mistress got jerked all over by Terrorizer and Nate so that's another one. Seems like I've had that Forest of Shadows EP for years now. Oh well, what a shame.

Real shame about Witches Brew too, especially considering the tone of their closing remarks about being 'stabbed in the back'. Sooner or later, money is always an issue. Being a martyr for the underground is a lot easier said than done. Funny thing is, if a band quit for these reasons, people would probably be screaming 'sell out'.

In the meantime, I receive an email from Metal Blade re: their signing of Winter Solstice, a metalcore band because, you know, the world needs more metalcore. Heavy metal labels dwindling down to the big guns now...ugh, what a horrible prospect since none of them are interested in new heavy metal anymore.

LETHAL wanna get signed? Start playing melo-death and start negotiating.

 

[Hell Mike]

I have nothing against not being signed but I think it's easy to heap all the stuff-making and sending stuff (except for trades) onto someone else. You know my stance on compromising the music etc etc please don't get me started

 

[J.]

Cult of Luna were on Rage of Achilles before signing to Earache, and they were OK I guess.

I wonder if some of the "back stabbing" comments from Cheryl were aimed at The Chasm. I remember reading they didn't have a good relationship.

 

[JayKeeley]

Bands, on the other hand, are artists who should have no interest in making money. Thus, if a band quits saying "boo hoo the money was too bad" COUGHthe crownCOUGH then yes, they are sellouts, while labels can do the same with there being nothing wrong with that.

I see.

Not that I'm disagreeing with you, but just to be devils advocate here, why have labels in the first place? Why not just have all labels act soley as distributors? Or better still, why not the bands distribute themselves at zero profit? Shame then that these artists aren't then allowed to indulge in this full time for lack of money to buy food etc.

 

[NAD]

I have zero problems with a band wanting to make money, provided it isn't what drives them. If a band can profit from doing what they love and be able to live it fulltime without sleeping in the gutter, so be it. Sure the modern stance is more money = shittier music, but some of my favorite groups of all time were multi-millionaires, and probably still are.

 

[JayKeeley]

I see what you're saying Erik, and I guess if it wasn't for labels and 'zines, us fans wouldn't hear about all the bands out there if they were distributing their own records privately etc. It would be a shame to keep their art away from the public - indeed, I often wonder how many phenomenal bands are out there completely undiscovered. Probably hundreds.

Still, I hate to know that my favorite bands have to do side jobs just to make ends meet. From a purely selfish standpoint, this does nothing but delay the release of new material that I might be waiting impatiently for. Or it means they can't afford studio time, etc etc.

It's a domino effect caught within a catch-22. Bloody hell!

 

[JayKeeley]

...but in the end you get a better album. :Smug:

I'd rather wait five years for Ride the Lightning then get St. Anger every year, you know.

Or you never get anything at all, and a brilliant demo resides somewhere on a shelf collecting dust.

 

[Ayeka]

Shit, didn't hear about that Witches Brew thing

 

[Demonspell]

Damn, I always hate to see small operations bite the dust, and Rage of Achilles were starting to get more attention...I've always viewed record labels as sort of a necessary evil, sometimes inalvuable in promotion but just as often a deterrent to creativity, even the more artist friendly ones are vulnerable to the allure of profit...

 

[Krilons Resa]

Well, this fucking thread sucks a lot of ass. I wish them all the best of luck with their future endeavors.

 

[unhinged]

"Still, I hate to know that my favorite bands have to do side jobs just to make ends meet. From a purely selfish standpoint, this does nothing but delay the release of new material that I might be waiting impatiently for. Or it means they can't afford studio time, etc etc.

It's a domino effect caught within a catch-22. Bloody hell!"

absolutly jay
all three of scald are unemployed right now
so we are broke which doesn't bode well for putting out the next cd
we're not going to settle for bog standard packaging either so more expense
plus the studio we normally use has closed, all the others here cost 2-3 times as much or are shit
plus we've just lost another rehersal room

this is fairly typical of our luck and I suppose punters would say that the adversity of just keeping this thing going gives the band some of its edge

i doubt it actually, having some label support would increase our output, not just for financial reasons by freeing up a lot of time and effort

if we had ample cash of our own there would probably be double the scald releases
and I don't think quality would suffer either
since we already have the next few years work already written
we just have no money to reherse and record it

 

[JayKeeley]

"Still, I hate to know that my favorite bands have to do side jobs just to make ends meet. From a purely selfish standpoint, this does nothing but delay the release of new material that I might be waiting impatiently for. Or it means they can't afford studio time, etc etc.

It's a domino effect caught within a catch-22. Bloody hell!"

absolutly jay
all three of scald are unemployed right now
so we are broke which doesn't bode well for putting out the next cd
we're not going to settle for bog standard packaging either so more expense
plus the studio we normally use has closed, all the others here cost 2-3 times as much or are shit
plus we've just lost another rehersal room

this is fairly typical of our luck and I suppose punters would say that the adversity of just keeping this thing going gives the band some of its edge

i doubt it actually, having some label support would increase our output, not just for financial reasons by freeing up a lot of time and effort

if we had ample cash of our own there would probably be double the scald releases
and I don't think quality would suffer either
since we already have the next few years work already written
we just have no money to reherse and record it

That's a very interesting post, as I'm sure others here would agree. I'd be keen to see how this discussion develops, if at all, since it's quite the stalemate situation.

How we find all this 'undiscovered music' though is just based on pure luck, and that's not good enough IMO....

If I was ever to do RC again, or start something on the side, I would dedicate it soley on "heavy metal" acts that are either unsigned or are on very small labels/distributors AND have something new/distinct to offer the world. I'd perhaps even help distribute their demos or whatever to other fans like me wanting to hear undiscovered talent.

I dunno...just thinking aloud really.

 

[unhinged]

there is also the factor of the huge glut of substandard or just horribly dirivitive music that id floating around
not that many are prepared to wade through the endless shit as would say some of the people on this forum who activey seek new and interesting sounds

it makes it hard to sell enough copies of a cd to cover much of the costs
if that were easier then DIY would still be best for us (as an example)
so each release could pay for the next

as it stands after putting all our money into the album and making it as good as we could which took considerable time (could have cut 6-7 months of that given some funds)
we were left with no cash for promotion
sending it to a bunch of labels around the world was a waste of fucking money for a start
withthe next cd we won't be doing that
fuck em

I could see it working for other bands I know because they tour a bit and can shift cds that way,
what I'm saying is that its hard to bring it to peoples attention with the glut of music thats around
sorry to turn most of my posts into scald topics its just thats how I relate to things
it pretty much rules my life

 

[Demonspell]

Agreed, the rush to sign derivative bands to make quick cash only hurts the struggling innovator, and as a result the truly independent labels cannot afford to compete with the Century Medias of the world...self-releasing albums may be the only means left of ensuring complete freedom, but it comes at a heavy price...