Tad Morose starting to create a serious buzz in the metal world....

[Bryant]

Inside out is my favorite label by far.

1) All their releases have great production
2) Their packaging is fabulous!
3) They give all their band a lot of promotion and know the scene thus their promotion is effective
4) All of their bands tour! One of the reasons I am very happy that Shadow Gallery signed with them.

I really, really hope that Sieges Even will sign with them :Spin:

Though of course I am biased, but I find the production on Vanden Plas "Beyond Daylight" to be downright incredible. The boys of VP actually did more of the prodcuing than not but, Markus Teske (who I never even heard of) did the engineering and some co-producing. The sound on the recordings are so spacious, you would think it would be in Dolby digital surround as opposed to simple stereo. Their previous work was produced nicely, but it doesn't compare to that one.
Dead Soul Tribe (though not one of my favorite bands) also has some incredible studio work on "A Murder of Crows." The drum sounds are great on that one.

Bryant

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

Yeah, Inside Out would probably take third place in most bands by a single label in my collection. Ayreon, Dead Soul Tribe, Symphony X, Vanden Plas, Evergrey and Threshold are all on my shelf, and many others are on my wish list (like Magnitude Nine, Flower Kings, and Tiles).

Behind Inside Out is probably Nuclear Blast or Metal Blade.

 

[Walter_Langkowski]

I'm afraid that all the dirt I have is on CM alone, so I don't have any other interesting or otherwise stories on anyone else. :Spin: And TSO, I don't blame you one bit about taking my comments with a grain of salt because essentially I am just an internet weirdo to you , as well as some of my observations lying more on the "what if?" side of the fence.

But I will tell you that Stuck Mojo having a possible opening in the USA for Pantera was a DEFINITE offer made. That was unfortunate because even if one was a total newbie Metalhead (not us! :Spin: ), they would know that Pantera was massively popular (for Metal) in the mid-to-late 90's and I KNOW they would have blown Pantera off the stage. Whatever you think of ANY band, you have got to have some sort of vision to make things better for your own label and as well as the bands. We all know THEY come last.

Oh, and one last bit about Roadrunner, the band I was using as comparasion to CM. Do you guys realize they have the Canadian Rock band Nickleback on their roster? How many million albums have they sold? And how do you think Roadrunner were able to assault multiple radio stations with their product? Because it was a good song (hardly )? No, because the company had grown so much in the 90's and they were wise with their money and just kept re-investing it into their business until they got something that they thought had huge Rock Radio potential (it did!) All CM did until recently was have No faith in the scene, no faith in the industry, no faith in the fans, and most of all, NO faith in their musicians. The window of opportunity has passed for so many bands and it is a shame. *phew*

And for TSO's question, I think that SPV AND Inside Out have some great artists, and I am happy to purchase their product. Since I am a stickler for good packaging, they both admirably fit the bill for me! They really give you their money's worth. Evergrey for me is a great band and their packaging is second to none IMO. Simply top notch to the core.

 

[Walter_Langkowski]

Though of course I am biased, but I find the production on Vanden Plas "Beyond Daylight" to be downright incredible. The boys of VP actually did more of the prodcuing than not but, Markus Teske (who I never even heard of) did the engineering and some co-producing. The sound on the recordings are so spacious, you would think it would be in Dolby digital surround as opposed to simple stereo. Their previous work was produced nicely, but it doesn't compare to that one.
Dead Soul Tribe (though not one of my favorite bands) also has some incredible studio work on "A Murder of Crows." The drum sounds are great on that one.

Bryant

I just heard that DST album this past weekend Bryant and it is really interesting atypical Prog. I like stuff like that where it isn't so paint by numbers and I was pretty impressed with what I heard.

 

[Bryant]

I just heard that DST album this past weekend Bryant and it is really interesting atypical Prog. I like stuff like that where it isn't so paint by numbers and I was pretty impressed with what I heard.

Ditto.... I am not a "progger" in essence as I love many forms of metal music, but I do like prog metal and I like different to a point. Some bands can take it too far for my taste like POS and Spiral Achitect. I don't dislike them, but just can't quite "get" their style.
The "paint by numbers" isn't ALWAYS a bad thing either, though. For the most part if a band doesn't have their own style I won't like them, but.......... when I first heard Vanden Plas' "The God Thing" it really reminded me of what Dream Theater should have released after "Images and Words." It was similar to DT, but at the same time, I think VP "found" their identity with that release even though there were considerable similarities with DT. They certainly "grew" after that release as well and the next sounded little like DT.
There is a fine line between expressing your influences in your style and blatantly copying ideas/riffs etc. from other bands. If you sound absolutely nothing like your influences as an artist, you are probably playing music for the wrong reasons. If I write a guitar solo and it sounds exactly (or very close) to one Wolf Hoffmann has already written/played then I have failed as a unique guitarist who can express his own ideas. On the same token, if my solo sounds nothing like his, I have failed just as miserably as a guitarist. I have such a respect for Wolf as an influence in my style, that if there are no similarities in our respected styles, I must suck pretty bad.


Bryant