Relapse Records
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Relapse Records | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Founded | 1990 |
| Founder | Matthew F. Jacobson |
| Genre | Grindcore Death metal Doom metal Stoner metal Crust punk Metalcore |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Upper Darby, Pennsylvania |
| Official website | http://www.relapse.com |
Relapse Records is a Upper Darby, Pennsylvania-based independent metal record label.
The label was started by Matthew F. Jacobson in August, 1990 in his parents' basement in Aurora, Colorado, with the guidance of his good friend and mentor Kevin Kopp.[citation needed] The first two releases on the label were 7-inch singles by the hardcore bands Velcro Overdose and Face of Decline, closely followed by three bands that would become among the biggest on the label, Deceased, Suffocation, and Incantation.
After this, Matt Jacobson became acquainted with William Yurkiewicz Jr., who became his partner in the record label. Yurkiewicz had founded his own record label, which was soon to release albums from the bands General Surgery, Disrupt, Destroy, Misery, and Exit-13. The two joined forces to create Relapse Records, aiming to release high-quality, professionally packaged extreme music.
In 1992, the label expanded its range with the creation of its subsidiary label called Release Entertainment, which specializes in experimental, ambient, industrial, and noise titles.
The label had a store off of South Street in Philadelphia, near several other notable underground record stores.
[edit] The music
The label specializes in extreme and experimental varieties of heavy metal and grindcore, and it has a history of signing bands that cultivate influence and devoted cult followings in the world of extreme music while being largely ignored by mainstream media.[citation needed] For instance, the acts Nile, Mortician, Amorphis, Neurosis, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Exhumed, Pig Destroyer, Nasum, and Alchemist. Recently, however, Relapse Records has become considerably more mainstream,[citation needed] with appearances on the front cover of the magazine Kerrang! and video plays on TV music channels, especially of such bands as The Dillinger Escape Plan and Mastodon and the label's 2005 signing of stand-up comedian Brian Posehn. The word has also been spread by the sponsorship of such festivals as the Milwaukee Metalfest.
In October 2006, Relapse Records became the first record label[citation needed] to launch its own branded search-and-win engine that allows fans to do Internet searches while giving them a chance to win exclusive prizes.
