Willowtip vs. Relapse

[Nate The Great]

So I have 3 new Willowtip releases:

Arsis - A Celebration Of Guilt
Vulgar Pigeons - Imperialism
Crowpath - Red On Chrome


. . . and 3 new Relapse releases.

Uphill Battle - Wreck Of Nerves
Gadget - Remote
The End - Within Dividia


So I reviewed the Willowtip releases because they were free (promos), but I had actually planned on reviewing the Relapse stuff as well. Unfortunately, they are so average, I don't have the time or energy for them.

Relapse is letting a lot of good bands slip to Willowtip. Of course this is a good thing for Willowtip, but what is happening with Relapse.

Obvisouly they will have stuff from Today is the Day, Neurosis, and Mastodon to be released in 2004, but Willowtip has absolutely crushed them so far this year.

If you think about it, the labels are very similar . . . with Relapse having infinitely more money and name recognition. They both focus on genre-pushing music in the death and grind styles.

Anyway . . . has anybody else thought about this?

 

[Black Winter Day]

willowtip are one of the three best metal labels around right now, the others being code666 and the end. prophecy is pretty damn good as well.

relapse have their moments, i.e. stuff like daylight dies (and other non-traditional relapse bands).

 

[En Vind Av Sorg]

Overall Relapse is the better company if you factor in the overall years. But lately, and if you consider willowtips lack of promotion, funds, recognition, etc. The scales tip signifigantly. Honestly Ive bought a couple excellent albums there for pretty damn cheap. $10 each for bands like Watchmaker, Circle of Dead Children, Pig Destroyer is damn good in my opinion.

 

[J.]

I agree with En Vind Av Sorg. If you count all the years Relapse has been in business, they win. Willowtip has yet to release stuff from bands like Morgion, Mindrot or dISEMBOWELMENT. That's not to say they won't, but I don't think they really want to.

Relapse has a proven track record, but recently, other than a few bands, I have been seriously unimpressed. Mastodon was the last "new" band that impressed ,me on their roster. Other than that, I've been searchng their back catalogue.

Willowtip has been the more consistent label lately. I've enjoyed many more releases from them in the past year or so. Goatsblood, Watchmaker, and Rune were all strong releaes last year.

And I like that Willowtip will sign the "unknown" band nowadays. To sign with Relapse, a band almost has to have lots of touring under their belts as well as an album or two, and at the least, a fanbase. So basically, it seems Relapse goes for the sure thing. Willowtip is more adventurous, and I respect that.

THat being said, it still pisses me off that neither of these labels have signed Scald, as they'd be a perfect fit for either. Maybe code666 or Rage of Achilles will.

 

[Demonspell]

I agree with BWD, Relapse has had more success (artistically speaking) with their nongrind bands lately, and have successfully expanded the scope of their roster.

 

[tipton]

don't forget the CAPHARNAUM cd which is one one of the best tech/progressive death metal cd's in ages. i am years and years away from competing with relapse sales wise, but quality wise i think i am right there. we just don't have a band that has gotten HUGE with huge sales and hell Willowtip = me... relapse is Matt plus like 40 people helping and way way more money, experience,, etc... new Commit Suicide, Harakiri, Neuraxis, and a few more surprises this year will make this an extremely strong year for WT release wise though and i don't think there is a label that will have a stronger overall year for quality releases.

relapse will release the new Necrophagist album though which i helped to assist in many ways and this will be the greatest DM album perhaps ever.

thank you for the kind words and support... you have no idea how depressing it can get sometimes when you know you have better products, yet you see all these shitty shitty bands get all the recognition and sales...but i see improvement each month so i only expect things to continue getting better, and god knows it could be alot worse.

 

[tipton]

i have to give big props to LISTENABLE as well..probably my personal favorite label right now. laurent puts out great stuff.. my god the TEXTURES cd is fucking amazing and i'm pissed i didn't discover that band, amazing cd. plus, IMMOLATION is perphaps my favorite DM band...can't wait for their new full length.

 

[NAD]

Yeah I'm not sure how fair it is to compare Relapse with Willowtip, since Relapse is one of the "bigger" labels in the underground.

But I would say at least 80% of what I've heard from Willowtip is golden, keep up the great work Tipton.

 

[Nate The Great]

I didn't compare Capharnaum in my original comparison between the labels, because I was only comparing the 3 very latest releases from both labels.

Capharnaum does kick ass, though. More of you people need to check them out. They are technical, but not in a proggy kind of way. All songs are about 3 minutes . . . and the album is around 30 min.

 

[Demonspell]

I'll definitely check out that Necrophagist album seeing that the guitar work on the first one is excellent, and I agree that Listenable has released some good shit lately...

 

[Rodrigo]

The new The End is a pretty good album but it does take some time to get into it but by no means is it close in quality to the last 4 Willowtip albums I have bought (Capharnaum, Arsis, Crowpath, Watchmaker).