Hydra Head Records
| Hydra Head Records | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Founder | Aaron Turner |
| Distributor(s) | Redeye Distribution[1] |
| Genre | Extreme metal, experimental, hardcore punk, alternative rock |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Official website |
hydrahead |
Hydra Head Records is an independent record label that specializes in extreme metal music, founded in New Mexico by Aaron Turner (the frontman of Isis) in 1993. It has another imprint, Hydra Head Noise Industries, which specializes in experimental and noise music.
Hydra Head was founded in 1993 as a distribution company while Turner was still in high school.[2] In 1995, he moved to Boston to attend art school. In late 1995, he was handed a demo by local band Vent. That seven-inch single would be the first record released on Hydra Head.[2] The label grew to accommodate local bands such as Roswell, Corrin, Piebald, and Converge, and after Turner graduated from college in 1999, it became a full-time endeavor.[3] In 2011, Hydra Head relocated to Los Angeles, California, from its former home in Boston, Massachusetts.
Some of the bands signed to the label include Cave In, Xasthur, Kayo Dot, Boris, and Jesu. Its discography includes Botch, Khanate, and Harkonen, who were all signed to Hydra Head prior to their respective disbandings.
On September 11, 2012, Turner announced the "imminent demise of Hydra Head Records", stating that Hydra Head would take its first steps into shutdown "this December, at which point we are cutting off new releases from the label." The label would continue to stay operational, maintaining its back catalogue to pay off its "rather sizeable debts."[4] The label's final release of new material was Worship is the Cleansing of the Imagination, a split album between JK Flesh & Prurient.
In 2017, Hydra Head released Oxbow's Thin Black Duke, a long-germinating album that was slated to come out on Hydra Head and had been unable to find another label since Hydra Head's closure. Discussing the album, Turner appeared open to releasing more albums "on a case-by-case basis" [5]
Current roster
- 27
- Agoraphobic Nosebleed
- The Austerity Program
- Big Business
- Black Face
- Boris
- Cable
- Cave In
- Cavity
- Craw
- Dälek
- Daughters
- Discordance Axis
- Drawing Voices
- Everlovely Lightningheart
- Greymachine
- Gridlink
- Harkonen
- Harvey Milk
- Helms Alee
- Heresi
- Jesu
- Kayo Dot
- Keelhaul
- Khanate
- Khlyst
- Knut
- Logh
- Lotus Eaters
- Lustmord
- Mamiffer
- Merzbow
- Nihill
- The Octave Museum
- Oxbow
- Pet Genius
- Phantomsmasher
- Pyramids
- These Arms Are Snakes
- Torche
- Xasthur
- Zozobra
Tortuga
- The Gersch
- Old Man Gloom
- Scissorfight
- 5ive
- Tusk
Past artists
- Age of Reason
- Barbaro
- Botch
- Boxer Rebellion
- Buzzov*en
- Cattlepress
- Coalesce
- Converge
- Corrin
- Cult of Luna
- The Dillinger Escape Plan
- Drowningman
- Isis
- Jesuit
- Kid Kilowatt
- Mare
- Miltown
- Neurosis
- Pelican
- Piebald
- Roswell
- Seven Day Curse
- Six Going on Seven
- SOHNS
- Soilent Green
- Sunn O)))
- The Hollomen
- The Never Never
- Today Is the Day
- Unionsuit
- Vent
See also
References
- ↑ "Hydra Head Records is welcomed to the Redeye Distribution family". Redeye Distribution. 15 April 2009. Archived from the original on 31 October 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- 1 2 Hill, Mike (26 April 2011). "Isis and Hydra Head's Aaron Turner on DIY Beginnings – Exclusive Interview". Noise Creep. AOL. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
- ↑ "Punknews.org | About Hydra Head Records". Punknews.org. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
- ↑ "The Imminent Demise of Hydra Head Records". Retrieved 11 September 2012.
- ↑ "Oxbow’s Avant-Rock Experiments With Light and Shadow Oxbow". Bandcamp. Retrieved 21 June 2017.