| Prophecy Productions | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
| Founder | Martin Koller |
| Distributor(s) | Soulfood (GER/AT), Alternative Distribution Alliance (US) |
| Genre | Black Metal, Neofolk, Gothic metal |
| Country of origin | Germany |
| Location | Zeltingen-Rachtig, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany |
| Official Website | Prophecy Productions |
Prophecy Productions is a German record label located in Zeltingen-Rachtig, founded by Martin Koller in 1996. It proclaims being a "label for eerie emotional music"[1], which roughly comprises artists with a dark metal, black metal, or neofolk background, but a unique and unconventional approach to music.
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Since 1993, Martin Koller used the moniker Prophecy for his small, self-operated mail-order business. According to him, the actual birth of Prophecy Productions as a label was the release of the album A Wintersunset... by Empyrium. While this record was intended to be the sole release under the name of Prophecy, the success of it encouraged Koller to continue the label.[2] In 1998, the place of business was moved from Wittlich to nearby Zeltingen-Rachtig[3], and a long-term cooperation was decided on with Markus Stock and his recording studio Klangschmiede Studio E to ensure a continuous high standard for Prophecy's music productions. The year 2002 saw Prophecy emerge as a book publisher as well, the first release being the German translation of the book Lords of Chaos by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind. In 2005, they released the book Looking for Europe, a history of apocalyptic folk by Andreas Diesel and Dieter Gerten. In the meantime, Index Verlag continues the book-publishing business.
On their admission, it is Prophecy's underlying idea to release "high-quality, 'eerie emotional' music."[4] Their goal is to enchant listeners not only by the music, but also by beautifully designed products. Prophecy isn't restricted to just one specific style of music. On the label's roster, there is a wide range from dark metal via intense acoustic music to progressive and indie rock, not shying away from unconventional music of every stripe.[2] The label's releases aren't bound to any particular genre, even though the majority of them are from the fields of black metal, rock/metal, and neofolk but sometimes also pop music.
In 2003, the sub-labels Lupus Lounge and Auerbach Tonträger were founded, mainly out of practical considerations: the different labels were meant as a sort of guidance for the audience, and they were considered helpful to press and distribution partners in classifying Prophecy's diversified output.[2] While Lupus Lounge primarily is a platform for cooperation with musicians from the black metal genre[5], Auerbach Tonträger is principally devoted to styles of music that, because of predominantly acoustic arrangements and a more tranquil nature, can be described as contemporary folk in the widest sense of the word.[6]