A small death metal label zoomed into focus this year when it signed a classic death metal act for a split album. That label, Brutal Art Records is run by a reclusive person who literally lives in a van down by the river, if you do not neglect to mention that the van is armored and its radar and cameras constantly scan the surrounding area. This person was kind enough to put down the H&K MP5 for a moment and answer a few questions about Brutal Art Records…
When did you start Brutal Art Records, and why did you decide to start a label? Had you previously run a distro?
I started this little underground label in the middle of 2013 because I’m a huge vinyl collector and I don’t like the stupid black releases. We all know them: you can buy the black edition of an release everytime everywhere. The industry destroys the dream of every collector, which is to have a limited record in different versions and there will be no repress. That’s why I started this label, only limited stuff and there will be no repress in future. Sold out is sold out ;)
You have released a number of underground death metal records. Why did you decide on this style? Do you think it has a large number of fans?
The reason is the same as in the first question: I’m a vinyl collector haha. Vinyl is more more old school so it fits perfectly with the first bands I released, Obscure Infinity – old school death metal from Germany and Humiliation – old school death from Malaysia. Both are great underground bands and it was a real great project for me.
Every label can release a CD version, it’s cheap and you can sell it to everybody, but only the old school music maniacs also have a vinyl record player.
With your most recent release, you have signed one of the most respected names in the underground for over twenty years: Fleshcrawl. Did you know the band? How did this release come about?
I know the music they did in the past and yes, I like them. It was not my idea to start this project; the founder was Ferli the Men behind Skinned Alive (also member of Demonbreed and Milking the Goatmachine). He is a real freak, a really crazy one, and he told me “let’s start a tape project because I want to release this old school shit.” I agreed and we started to search for a perfect split band. Ferli knows Sven, the front beast of Fleshcrawl, so he asked him and Sven agreed. The work with Fleshcrawl started. The band is really friendly and they’re no superstars. That’s why I love this shit.
There seem to be a lot of death metal releases these days, but almost none have made it to “classic” quality. Do we have too much death metal? Is there still life in the style?
The scene is alive, but there are a lot of stupid bands. We have some really great young bands for the job like Deserted Fear, Obscure Infinity, Demonbreed, Skinned Alive, and many more but also some real old tanks like Fleshcrawl, Postmortem from Berlin and much more.
What is the German death metal scene like? Are there many fans and bands? Do you think it is changing, or will it stay within the classic death metal styles?
There are a lot of both bands and fans. I think the scene splits into the old school and the more brutal one. A lot of bands play the typical old school style like Entombed, Grave or Obituary. The other ones play much faster or more like the doom style so the scene is bigger than in the past. A lot of sub styles were created. For me it’s very interesting.
How has Brutal Art Records grown over the past few years? Do you have a goal for where you want to be next? Will this become a full-time job for you and your staff?
The label was born in the underground and it will die in the underground! It will not be a huge label because it’s only for great underground bands not for the big ones. I don’t have a real goal; I only want to have fun with every band and every release. Thanks a lot for the bands I worked in the past like Humiliation (Malaysia), Paganizer (Sweden), Down Among the Dead Men (UK), Obscure Infinity (Germany), Graveyard after Graveyard (Sweden), Fleshcrawl (Germany), Miseo (Germany), Revel in Flesh (Germany), Skinned Alive (Germany), Mass Burial (Spain) and Savage Deity (Thailand).
Normally its work for a full time job but its only a hobby for me.
In your view, what are the classic bands and releases from German death metal? Are there any that people outside of Germany should know about, but do not?
That’s a bad question because there are too many great releases. Check the German bands like Fleshcrawl, Lay Down Rotten, Sarx, Revel in Flesh, Blood and so much more. I don’t like it to say this is good or this one not.
If people want to learn about you and your bands, where should they go? Are you soliciting demos from bands, and how do they contact you?
We publish as much as we can on Facebook. Every band can write us on Facebook (facebook.com/brutalartrecords) or by email (brutalartrecords@web.de). We are interested in good underground bands but we can’t release everything. Feel free to send us your sickest work.
Tags: brutal art records, death metal, germany
Humiliation are a great band? They’re Bolt Thrower for retards if Bolt Thrower watched Das Boot everyday as chidren.
Pointless interviews with ‘underground’ nostalgists make a refreshing change from tobacco fetishism. 10/10
Oh look, an article for you:
https://www.deathmetal.org/article/are-you-untrue/
This guy’s van is probably filled to the ceiling with shitty vinyls he’s listened to once and then shelved as a “collector’s item”.
Buy GOOD music, not COLLECTABLE music! These trve kvlt collectors can go fuck themselves, Metal is not Pokemon.
I wanna be the biggest nerd, that no one ever was.
To collect them is my real quest, to horde them is my cause.
I will travel across the land, searching far and wide.
Each metal vinyl to understand, the kvltness it resides.
Metal Vinyls, Gotta Collect ‘Em All
It’s you and me
I know it’s my destiny
Metal Vinyl
Oh you’re my only friend
I’ve got nothing left to defend
Metal Vinyl, Gotta Collect ‘Em All
A love so true
My nerd rage will pull us through
You teach me and I’ll teach you
Metal Vinyls
Gotta Collect ‘Em All
Gotta Collect ‘Em All
Oh yeaaaaahhhh
SJW’s infiltrated METAL through nerds. SJW’s were able to get into comics and gaming because those people WANT to fit in with the mainstream because they loathe themselves, and when they saw SJW’s paying attention to their stuff they let them in.
How did nerds get in? THE INTERNET. Because before the internet, music was SOCIAL, meaning that you had to be SOCIALLY WELL ADJUSTED to get into anything. The internet took that away, and that’s why CULTURE is the way it is now, the SOCIAL CONTEXT is gone, so anyone can just look up something on the internet, download/buy online without ever having to interact with others who are really into something, and just go on the internet and spout off bullshit.
“Nerds” damaged the image of METAL…METAL ISN’T NERDY SHIT!!!!
The problem is that the internet IS SOCIAL. Too social infact. It has been turned from an information medium into a social medium.
You’re not wrong; however, worse: everything can be made social because humans are social.
Thats something which can be fixed by either lobodomy, or death.
Philosophy and Literature are hardly “social” things are they?
I didn’t clarify exactly what I meant when I said social…TO me social means a face to face interaction in which you can feel someone out based on multiple levels of communication because most communication is non-verbal. When you are on the internet, you can only see TEXT and it takes time to see what someone is really about, so that’s how these people are able to get in. In the real world these people wouldn’t even try to do what they do because as soon as they were seen in person they would be laughed at…
I need to work on my writing, my mind has too much going on in it and it’s hard to get my point across with people…
I get where you’re coming from.
Tape trading, going to shows etc all require social interaction. It’s the best way to be fully engaged with any music scene. It should be more prevalent, like how you guys had it back then, but not everyone has a scene or one worth partaking in.
Without the internet I wouldn’t have gotten into half of the music I’m into.
Point is, the internet has its benefits and negatives. Would I have discovered Nespithe without the internet? Probably not. Did I make some bad choices along the way because of how accessible music has become? Hell yeah, but that’s why there’s websites like DMU to guide us.
However, what would you say is a nerd? Metal is an outcast in very much the way the nerd is an outcast in the social hierarchy of school. I think the two correlate, even though there’s many exuberant larger than life characters in metal like Ozzy.
It depends on what you mean by “nerd”. According to Merriam-Webster, a nerd is:
1. A person who behaves awkwardly around other people and usually has unstylish clothes, hair, etc.
2. A person who is very interested in technical subjects, computers, etc.
What of the above doesn’t fit metalheads? Do you think aspies like Ozzy, Lemmy, Varg, Fenriz, Trey or Kerry King appear “socially well adjusted” around anyone that’s not like them?
Nerds are people who obsess over things in a superficial way and loathe themselves for doing so because they let their obsessions keep them from really LIVING. I can’t call people like Lemmy, Varg, Kerry King and Trey nerds because they LIVE and CREATE, and I wasn’t addressing artists and people who actually create, I was addressing fans who buy up multiple copies of shitty Metal for their “collections” which causes Metal to be flooded with garbage.
As for “Socially Well Adjusted”, there are two types of people who are outside of society. There is the one type, who leaves because they don’t like it, and another who isn’t in it because they got ran out, and the former is usually better adjusted than the latter because they were able to observe and make choices and the latter can’t.
Oh you mean THAT nerd.
Yes being a music horder is lame.
I don’t disagree, but the rise of the Internet in the metal scene is a double edged sword, and you’re only looking at one side of it. The internet empowers metalheads and music fans in general fans by letting them search for and discover new bands on their own instead of being limited to word of mouth from the scene, if a scene even exists near you. Albums like Nespithe and To the Depths… would probably never have found their way into yours or my collection were it not for the internet. Though the sheer amount of information can be overwhelming, that’s why there are sites like this one.
There were print magazines before the internet that gave you information about bands, but the internet killed print. The internet basically let anyone participate without being vetted and people hopped on it for convenience and the fact that they wouldn’t have to put money down (buying magazines/demos/albums) to get in. Look at the state of culture now, this is what the INTERNET was created for, because the masses can’t help themselves.
More information is here and more people can talk about things and more things are available and it’s right at the palm of your hand, but why is everything getting worse? Did internet really do any good overall to METAL?
The information bubble needs to burst.
Convenience KILLS EVERYTHING.
Convenience kills the MAGIC and MYTHOLOGY of life.
The internet still provides information on bands and many people trial out albums online before buying them.
…a practice I support, especially using YouTube, BandCamp, ReverbNation, Facebook or other services that make it quick, possibly legal and easy.
When comes the limited pink vinyl edition of Anal Excavator – Ironspiked Sodomy?
Thank you!
“Abominable Goatpenis” lmao
Goatpenis being one word is a nice touch