HORROR RECORDS & PENTAGRAM WARFARE RECORDS
'BURNING EYES UPON EDEN'

The Danish extreme-metal underground is really nothing to brag about on the surface of things, but those who are willing to look deeper into its abyss in search of integrity, dedication and quality cannot get around the releases that are vomited forth by the two Danish record labels, respectively named Horror Records and Pentagram Warfare Records. Both labels aim to bring about the best bands that the metal underground has to offer these days, and after having conducted this interview with Azter, who is in charge of Horror Records (HR), and Jens Pedersen, who is the man behind Pentagram Warfare Records (PWR), there is no denying the fact that these two maniacs believe in what they do and that there is absolutely no compromise when it comes to staying true to themselves and do releases with bands that they believe in 100 %. Read on and learn more about the two labels and what their aims and philosophies are concerning true underground extremity and spirit.

# For those readers who are unfamiliar with your label, could you please provide us with an introduction as well as a rundown of its history so far? Were there any particular circumstances that led you to start up your own label?

HR: “Horror Records was formed in 1997 as a distribution and became a record label with its first release in 1998. The circumstances were, besides my long-time utter devotion to metal music, that I really felt there was something missing. Around 1997 there were not as many labels as now and vinyl was largely being ignored by lots of labels around. And of course, like now, in my opinion most labels had absolutely no idea what they were doing, and I felt someone had to do something about it! Another reason why I formed Horror Records was that there was basically no real underground distribution in Denmark, so that was another thing I felt was absolutely needed. I wanted to release vinyl of bands that I felt were really outstanding and that is what I have been doing ever since! So far I have released vinyls and one cassette of Feikn, Brandpest, Denial Of God, Strychnos, Arghoslent, NunSlaughter, Grand Belial’s Key, Impaler, Blood Thirsty Demons, Abysmal Grief, Victimizer, Slaughter and Sodomizer!”

PWR: “Pentagram Warfare Records is a young but dedicated label formed in the ashes of the Danish underground in October 2004 by me, Jens Pedersen, with great help and support from my wife Pernille. The label was named after a Victimizer song and so far we have released:

Nunslaughter (USA) / Victimizer (Den): “On Our Way to Hell” / “Revenge of the Hellhorde” split rehearsal tape (limited 150 copies – sold out)
Opus Obscurium: “Trilemma” Pro CD-r with 8-page booklet (limited to 120 copies – few copies left)
Kill (Swe): “Morbid Curse” 7”EP (co-released with Australian Apocalyptor Records, limited to 500 copies – very few copies left).

The reasons for forming the label was mainly that I felt I had the energy to start to give something back to the scene that has given me so much. I also wanted to sign, release and distribute bands that are often ignored in the pathetic and commercial so-called ‘metal’ scene of today. Pentagram Warfare is my vision of how the scene should be – pure and simple.”
 

# How, when and why did you become addicted to heavy metal music, and do you remember exactly which album took away your metal virginity?

HR: “This was in 1986, and it was a day I will never ever forget. I was only 12 at this time and a friend (who was not even into metal) brought a tape and said ‘You have to listen to this; this is the wildest music ever!’ The tape was a dub of Venom’s Black Metal LP and it blew me away, to use the most cliché phrase I can come up with! At that time I had a heard a little metal which I did not like, but despite (or maybe because of) the relentless brutality and infernal darkness spewing forth from the loudspeakers that day, my life has never been the same since! From that moment on I was hooked on metal and have been ever since! Needless to say, this album is still one of my absolute favorites, and thousands of bands have followed and corrupted me ever since.”

PWR: “I first discovered heavy metal in 1988 when I at the age of 11 bought my first original tape: Iron Maiden – Seventh Son of the Seventh Son. I was very fascinated by the aggressive music as well the cover artworks and dark images of heavy metal bands. Soon after I discovered bands like Alice Cooper, Metallica and the likes. When I was around 14 I was introduced to more extreme thrash and death metal bands (Slayer, Rigor Mortis, Morbid Angel, Obituary, Sepultura, etc) and was hooked on that and it developed from there. To be honest, I kind of lost interest in the metal scene for some years (reasons were many… My life has not exactly been normal) but got back into it about nine years ago again and eventually discovered the underground metal scene and a whole new world opened up for me, and by all means this is my life in all aspects now. The underground is where serious ideology is rooted and bands of much more interesting character are to be found, compared to the ‘media metal scene’.”

# What do you look for in a band? Which musical genres do you prefer?

HR: “There is never anything specific I am looking for in a band, because all bands are (or rather: should be) different from each other. Of course, I am looking for bands that are somehow original and unique and that have a dark sound, but if I have to say one thing: they just have to have ‘it’ and send shivers down my spine when I listen to their music. Music that totally overwhelms you and almost takes possession of you. Mainly, I am into anything that has a dark and/or occult feeling to it, but as I said, the band just has to give me that certain something that cannot be explained and makes me want to work my ass off for them!”

PWR: “I have a very varied taste in music and listen to black/speed/thrash/death/heavy/doom/horror metal as well as some non-metal stuff like soundtracks, 70s rock and other stuff. I like music that is honest and is able to create a certain dark atmosphere regardless of genre. There are only two kinds of music: good and bad. It’s that simple, really. So far PWR has released very different acts, but common words for them would be underground dedication and darkness. Any band that is able to send chills down my spine and give me the creeps could be considered worthy for the label.”

# Are your personal beliefs/philosophies somehow linked to the philosophies of the bands you release stuff by? What musical concepts appeal to you? Do you aim to spread any sort of message via your label?

HR: “Good question, but I would say yes because since I only release bands I am really deeply into I think it’s pretty obvious that I can relate to what they are doing. So one might find that my personal thinking links to that of the bands, at least in general. I would never release something of a band I cannot relate to, so I think lyrics are very important too. As to which musical concepts appeal to me, I will again have to speak in general terms and what I am looking for is a dark sound and a dark concept, so anything satanic and/or occult is definitely something I am all in favor of. These are concepts that go along the lines of my own beliefs, and of course you must not forget the feeling of sheer horror. But this feeling is always somehow present with occult bands, so I get that plenty! I do not intend to spread any particular message with the label, I just release what I think should be released. But of course, I do see my releases as merciless fists in the faces of all the pathetic labels and bands around. Death to posers!”

PWR: “In some ways, yes. I do prefer bands with a strong satanic message that reeks of death and destruction since that fits my own views 100 %. PWR is a satanic statement as well as a fist in the face of the wimpy and shitty scene of today. We aim to spread glorious darkness in audio format. Let those who have ears listen; the deaf will be corrupted sooner or later anyways.”

# Besides the label you also have a mailorder/distribution going on the side with a lot of sick and obscure releases for sale. Isn’t it sometimes a tough job to keep the distribution afloat when taking into consideration that a lot of the stuff you sell only appeals to a select few underground maniacs?

HR: “As I already said, I started the distribution in 1997, a little before I had my first release out in early 1998. Back then there was basically no Danish distributions that cared for underground bands, so it was pretty obvious that something needed to be done about that and so I did. It started with only a few titles but has grown quite a lot since then. I have also come to the conclusion that it is almost impossible to run a label without running a distribution as well, because of the simple fact that not many distributions want to buy from you, especially new and yet unknown bands that almost none has heard about. Yes, it is indeed a lot of work sometimes and not always easy, but it is a necessary evil, you could say. The problem is that there are a lot of labels and distributions around, but to be honest, most of them release bands that in my opinion are both unoriginal, useless and even plain shit, and I really try to avoid getting bands like that in the distribution, because I don’t like them nor feel they deserve any support. And besides, most of them would never sell a single copy here – so what is the point? Of course it takes a little longer to get my complete editions distributed, but I really think this is the only way to do it for me, and so far all of my releases have sold out sooner or later! It is true that a lot of the bands I release and distribute only will appeal to a select few, but this is more than fine as long as these select and enlightened ones know they can get those releases from Horror Records!”

PWR: “Running a distribution is almost a must if you have a label since you can trade your releases against other labels releases and in that way get rid of your releases faster at the same time as building up your stock. It would take a looong time to sell 500 vinyl copies to separate customers, perhaps even impossible. You are absolutely right: sometimes it can be like throwing pearls to swine and it can be very tough at times, but then again the more you spread the name of the label the better it gets. Right now it is going pretty steady and the distribution has build up rather fast considering that everything was started only a year and a few months ago. The keyword is again dedication. I could of course sell tons of stuff if I advertised on all message boards and carried commercial Jew ‘metal’, but I will not compromise for the sake of money. PWR lives and dies with my enthusiasm and failure is never an option.”

# It is obvious that you support vinyl, which is understandable since vinyl releases often sound a lot better than sterile CDs. Could you elaborate a bit on your affection for vinyls?

HR: “You are absolutely right; vinyl does sound better than CDs, and it is as simple as that! The sound is much warmer than on a CD and way more authentic. And the quality of vinyl pressing has never been better than now, I think. I know some people will disagree, and sure, a CD is way more convenient at times... But that is so typical of these days: everything has to be so fucking convenient and easily consumable as everything else in this modern fast-food culture! Besides the sound none can deny the fact that vinyl also looks way better with the bigger covers. Of course, some CDs are very nice too (and the music is of course always more important than the format it is presented on!), but can you show me any CD that will get just somewhere near the greatness of vinyl LPs like Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies or From the Inside? I dare you on that one! And how can an Iron Maiden album like Live after Death ever become as great on CD as on the original gatefold double LP??? I tell you – it can’t!”

PWR: “Vinyl is the ultimate format for metal music in all aspects. The sound is so warm and heavy and the covers look so much better compared to CDs. I really like the small sounds and cracks a vinyl record makes as well. I do however have nothing against CDs as they serve their purpose as well and are good for releases that have too long a playing time for vinyl, for example. If I had the money I would only release deluxe vinyl versions but at the moment the label is too small for that as vinyl pressings are very expensive indeed. Vinyl is glorious!”

# How many hours do you approximately spend on your label activities each day? What makes you keep pouring your energy into your label/distribution?

HR: “This is hard to say, but sometimes it feels like a fulltime job without pay, because whatever little is earned is put directly back into the label. What keeps me going is my infinite devotion to metal and my visions of releases that the world should not be without. If this had been about money I would have given up after the first month!”

PWR: “It varies a lot, but everything from 1 to 5 hours a day, be it talking to bands, arranging trades, preparing releases, answering emails and letters or packing and sending out orders. What keeps me going? Good question. At times I really feel like ending it all because of the state of the scene, but I am a very stubborn man and it is up to guys like me and my allies to keep the ancient flame burning and support the real stuff. If hard-working and honest metal heads like us were not around, the scene would die out completely and that must never happen.”

# You are involved in a number of bands yourself and I can imagine that being a musician helps when it comes to managing a small label, in the sense that it allows you to relate to the bands that are connected to your label in ways that are different from many other labels. Would you comment on this assertion?

HR: “I have to say that you are right in your assumption. It truly does make a difference, I believe. Being a musician and recording artist myself, I am totally aware of how much a release can mean to a band, so when I do a release I always discuss every small detail with the band before anything is released. I mean, after all it is their music and not mine and I have great respect for that! Of course, I come up with a lot of suggestions for the layout or cover designs as well as promotional campaigns, but I always make sure that the final result is somehow totally reflecting what the band is about, and I guarantee you that I will always have the bands approve everything before anything goes to press, because anything else is unfair. I myself have experienced labels that have done things totally contrary to what I or my fellow musicians wanted and such an act is not only despicable, it is an insult to the art itself! And yes, I dare call this art!”

PWR: “Yes, at the time I do vocals for Victimizer (satanic thrashing speed metal), Ad Noctum (morbid and extreme black metal) and Church Bizarre (obscure and evil death/black metal) as well as helping friends with session stuff here and there, so I have my hands full, ha ha. In some aspects it helps, for sure. I never screw over any of the bands I work with, always give them what I promise and keep in touch with them. I know what it’s like being in a band and how some labels work on a very unserious level and PWR will never be like that. After all, we are not business people but passionate metal fans ourselves. No money is made from PWR, everything goes straight into the label and we barely make ends meet. Also, we are a very small label and focus on one release at the time, which is an advantage compared to the huge labels where bands are often just small fish in one big pond, so to speak.”

# How do you look upon the metal underground today? A lot of other labels seem to prefer quantity over quality. Especially the black/death metal scene is flooded by mediocre releases with bands that never seem to go anywhere. It must be difficult to discover the ‘diamonds hiding in the dirt’ sometimes?

HR: “Sadly, I look upon it with great sadness and glowing anger! I am disgusted at the state of the underground these days, because it is so full of mediocre labels and bands. It seems sometimes that there are still a lot of people involved with the underground, but on the other hand it is so extremely overcrowded and the market is fed up. As you know, there are more bands around than ever before, and most of them are so below average it makes me puke. Bands totally devoid of any feeling or originality, bands I like to call ‘fast food bands’. They come out and some of them even sell lots of records, but who will remember them in two years? Nobody! They are like a McDonald’s meal: one fart and you are hungry again. While there are way too many bands around the biggest problem is all the idiotic labels who will release just about anything and thereby flood the market with so many unnecessary releases that none is able to see through it. People in general do not know what to look out for and just seem to consume what is marketed aggressively and hyped by the corrupt media! It is hard for anyone to go anywhere these days, because when you have to choose between thousands of releases and everyone says their stuff is great (obviously), it does not leave much room for the individual band and it becomes almost impossible to sell a decent amount of copies if you are not a part of the media circus hype! I wish all those labels would die because it is clear that if these bands would not all get a record deal immediately, most of them would give up after their first year, and the underground would become a better place again. It is way too easy to form a band these days and to get a record deal, and I wish people would be more critical and not so easily fooled!”

PWR: “The scene is rather pathetic and commercial. Everything is so clean, modern and sterile, but there is still a very strong underground foundation for those who care to search instead of just devouring the feces that are dictated to them by the commercial media and pathetic chat-rooms. Indeed the situation seems to be quantity over quality these days; so many bands with nothing to offer whatsoever pop out from out of the blue and release a shit album without earning their dues. I would not say it is difficult to find good stuff to release as I have a very good knowledge of metal music as well as having my finger on the pulsating corpse of the underground. However, there are not really many completely new bands that do the trick for me, I must say. One new band that has blown me away, however, are the Swedish gods Funeral. So far very few people have heard them, yet they are one of the very best bands in the underground right now. PWR are really proud to be working with them in the future and give them some of the respect they certainly deserve.”

#What are the most negative aspects of running a label/distribution?

HR: “Sometimes it feels like there are more negative than positive aspects of doing what I do, because my glass is half empty and not half full! The worst thing is definitely being ripped off by people, but I must say that in general I have been pretty lucky with the people I am dealing with. Another never-ending nuisance is receiving seemingly thousands of mails every month from people who ask for totally ridiculous trades and seem to want all for nothing! Not to mention all those webzines around who ask for free stuff constantly... Why would I send out a record I could sell, and pay millions of $ to send stuff to ignorant children who will write two or three lines of nonsense – which clearly shows their lack of knowledge – on their website which has about two visitors a year? The postal system is another nuisance with their terrible treatment of packages (and people who pack their records badly are just as bad, by the way!), ridiculous prices and of course the customs are a never-ending disgrace as well. It seems to be way easier to get tons of hard drugs and child prostitutes into this country than some fucking records!”

PWR: “The time factor is sometimes a problem, especially when you have three bands as well as a wife and soon I will also start a job again. Another annoying factor is labels that rip you off or are just plain slow. I really hate when the greedy customs confiscate your records and you have to pay a lot of money to get it back just so they can sit on their ass, have it easy and bust some small fish instead of concentrating on more important stuff – FUCK YOU, CUSTOM SERVICES!!! It is also bad when you trade stuff and receive shit, but sometimes you have to take chances to discover some killer stuff.”

# If you could have any band, past or present, on your label, who would it be?

HR: “Oh, if I would count all the bands from the past (who have mostly disappointed me greatly later on or sadly have split up), I could go on forever! There are too many too mention and I have also decided not to say anything about past bands that I would like to work with, simply because I will try to work with some of them and to be honest, I don’t want anyone to ‘steal’ them from me. In the past I had some releases in mind that ended up being released on other labels, mainly because of financial reasons, and such things are always great disappointments to me! I don’t want to give any other labels good ideas about which bands to release when I have them in mind! However, I will re-release some of my all-time favorite albums like Metal from Hell of Satan’s Host and In Death of Steve Sylvester of Death SS on Horror Records in 2006, and even if these are ‘just’ re-issues (although they will be far superior to the originals), I am extremely happy that I will get to do these releases and work on albums that mean so much to me. But sure, there are lots of releases on my mind to keep me going for many years to come, so beware! There is still many a great thing to come from Horror Records. But, of course, I would have loved to be around and release early albums of bands like Venom, Mayhem, Bathory, Hellhammer, Mercyful Fate or even bands like Hell and Pagan Altar who never got much of a chance when they were around in their early days.”

PWR: “Ha ha, that’s a very tough question but from the old days I would really like to have worked with: Black Sabbath (70s line-up), Alice Cooper, Slayer, Mercyful Fate/King Diamond, Sodom, Hellhammer, Rigor Mortis, Destruction, Slaughter (Can), Death SS, Bathory, Venom, Mortuary Drape, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Celtic Frost, Darkthrone, Mayhem, Iron Angel, Infernal Majesty, Grotesque, Razor, Morbid Angel, Exodus (with Paul Baloff), Violent Force, Exciter (with Dan Beehler), Frigid Bitch, Angel Witch, Pentagram (USA), Living Death, Autopsy, The Misfits, Sarcofago, Running Wild, W.A.S.P and tons more of my old favorites – the list is endless. Bands still going that I would love to work with are among others: Watain, Funeral Mist, Hellish Crossfire, Denial Of God, Ondskapt, Reverend Bizarre, Necroplasma, Witchcraft (Swe), Antaeus, Witchmaster (Pol), Nortt, Nocturnal Graves, Vomitor, Necros Christos, Nifelheim, Haatstrijd, Ofermod, Kaamos, Repugnant, Grand Belials Key, Arghoslent, Abysmal Grief, and some more.”

# What are your future plans in terms of releases, etc?

HR: “As I am writing this I am waiting for the Church Bizarre “Enigma of Hades” 7” EP to arrive from the pressing plant, so this one will be the first release in 2006. Then as soon as possible the Satan’s Host Metal from Hell LP will follow, and the next LPs will be Sodomizer’s second album The Dead Shall Rise to Kill and the picture disc of the classick Death SS debut album In Death of Steve Sylvester. These are the releases planned for the near future along with some picture disc versions of past 7” EPs of Impaler, Abysmal Grief and Nunslaughter/Slaughter. As you can see I am moving more towards LPs now than in the past where most releases have been 7” EPs. I promise that each and every release will be outstanding in every sense!”

PWR: “Currently, I am working on the next release which will be Funeral (Swe): “Forgotten Abominations” 7”EP (black vinyl limited to 500 copies). This release will be a real treat for fans of utter dark and heavy death worship; furthermore it will be one of the best underground death metal releases in the last 10 years in my opinion. This release will hopefully be out in Feb 2006. Next up is a CD-release by Swedish thrash metal titans Incinerator containing their sold out Thrash Attack MCD, demos and unreleased tracks. This CD will be limited to 1000 copies and come with a 12-page booklet with lyrics, photos and liner notes, and it will be out in spring /summer 2006. Further down the line there are plans for a LP release of a magnificent and obscure Danish heavy metal act (too early to mention names yet). This release will most likely be released as a collaboration with our highly respected allies of Horror Records. Other than that I just plan to build up the label and distribution and take it as far as I can while staying true to myself.”

# Any final and closing comments for the Evilution readers?

HR: “Infernal blessings to you for the opportunity to spread forth the curse of Horror Records! Stay hard and watch out for the upcoming releases – Evil it will be!!!”

PWR: “Support the real underground bands and labels and fuck the commercial shit. Check my website for distribution list, label releases and updates: www.pentagramwarfare.dk. Darkness it shall be!!! J. Pedersen on December 30^th 2005 Anno Serpenti

I strongly encourage everyone to check out the two labels’ web-pages for more information regarding their releases and release-plans, not to forget their distributions which carry loads of great LPs, CDs, tapes, shirts, magazines, patches, etc. Support what is worth supporting!

Horror Records: www.horrorrecords.com
Pentagram Warfare Records: www.pentagramwarfare.dk

Conducted and written by Svest.

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