Moshpit Tragedy Records
Encyclopedia
Moshpit Tragedy Records is an independent record label
from Canada which releases punk
, metal
and some of their subgenres (crust
, sludge
, etc). In 2007, they became the first record label to abandon physical releases in favour of a fully "sliding-scale" or "pay-what-you-want" download model.
was brought to the emergency room and a doctor dubbed him a "moshpit tragedy." It wasn't until early 2006 that the first releases on the label were issued. Later that year the label moved to Montreal, Quebec.
printed an article in which Ozzy Osbourne
bassist Blasko
stated "This model could very well be the future of all indie labels." In 2009 Digby Pearson
(who signed some of the most infamous heavy metal acts worldwide) wrote on his 'Ask Earache
' blog "Rayny has a great promotional angle and decent taste in music, if he can persuade some biggish bands to join him then it could really spell trouble for the regular music industry."
In a review of the Amebix
album Monolith
, Punknews.org is quoted as saying "Moshpit Tragedy has actually put a decent amount of thought into what makes a good music download."
, His Hero is Gone
, From Ashes Rise
, Inepsy, Born Dead Icons
, etc. . Relapse Records
also joined the fold and have begun making one select album per week available in pay-what-you-want format.
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
from Canada which releases punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
and some of their subgenres (crust
Crust punk
Crust punk is a form of music influenced by anarcho-punk, hardcore punk and extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the mid-1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on political and social ills...
, sludge
Sludge metal
Sludge metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that melds elements of doom metal and hardcore punk, and sometimes incorporates influences from southern rock, stoner rock and grunge. Sludge metal is typically abrasive; often featuring shouted vocals, heavily distorted instruments and sharply contrasting...
, etc). In 2007, they became the first record label to abandon physical releases in favour of a fully "sliding-scale" or "pay-what-you-want" download model.
Origin
Moshpit Tragedy began in the mid nineties booking local punk concerts in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The name came about after one of these shows when founder Rayny ForsterRayny Forster
-The Posers:Forster was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada where he fronted the thrash-punk outfit The Posers, a band who "single rejuvenated the punk rock scene – making it relevant to a whole new generation – as well as inspiring the city’s young thrash scene and giving birth to Windsor’s hardcore...
was brought to the emergency room and a doctor dubbed him a "moshpit tragedy." It wasn't until early 2006 that the first releases on the label were issued. Later that year the label moved to Montreal, Quebec.
Pay-what-you-want downloading
In 2007, the label abandoned releasing CDs in favour of a new sliding scale download format in which fans could pay as much or as little as they want to - even free - for a high quality MP3 album with print-ready sleeve artwork. After becoming the first record label to do so, Metal HammerMetal Hammer
Metal Hammer is a monthly heavy metal music magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and in several other countries by different publishers. Metal Hammer articles feature both mainstream bands and more unusual acts from the whole spectrum of heavy metal music...
printed an article in which Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
bassist Blasko
Rob Nicholson (musician)
Rob "Blasko" Nicholson is a Heavy metal bassist who was born on November 24, 1969. His influences include the metal bands Iron Maiden, Motörhead, and Corrosion of Conformity...
stated "This model could very well be the future of all indie labels." In 2009 Digby Pearson
Digby Pearson
Digby Pearson, also known as "Dig," is a British musician who founded Earache Records, which signed some of the most infamous heavy metal acts worldwide in the 1980s and early 1990s....
(who signed some of the most infamous heavy metal acts worldwide) wrote on his 'Ask Earache
Earache Records
Earache Records is a heavy metal-oriented record label based in Nottingham, UK and New York, USA. It helped to pioneer extreme metal by releasing many of the earliest grindcore and death metal records in the period 1988-1994.-History:...
' blog "Rayny has a great promotional angle and decent taste in music, if he can persuade some biggish bands to join him then it could really spell trouble for the regular music industry."
In a review of the Amebix
Amebix
Amebix are an English crust punk/heavy metal band. Formed as "The Band with No Name," Amebix's original run was from 1978 to 1987, during which time they released three EPs and two full-length LPs...
album Monolith
Monolith
A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
, Punknews.org is quoted as saying "Moshpit Tragedy has actually put a decent amount of thought into what makes a good music download."
Bands (Past and Present)
- After The Bombs (Canada)
- Aldebaran
- AmebixAmebixAmebix are an English crust punk/heavy metal band. Formed as "The Band with No Name," Amebix's original run was from 1978 to 1987, during which time they released three EPs and two full-length LPs...
(UK) - Arrestum (Finland)
- Atakke (USA)
- Ballast (Canada)
- Born Dead Icons (Canada)
- Burnt Church (Canada)
- Burnt Cross (UK)
- Clusterfuxx (Canada)
- Contagium (Canada)
- Cop On Fire (USA)
- Corprophemia (Canada)
- Creative Waste (Saudi Arabia)
- Deportation (Poland)
- Descended From Rats (Hong Kong)
- Devil's Son-In-Law (USA)
- Disassociate (USA)
- Diskelma
- Doomed Youth (USA)
- The Dregs (USA)
- Eskatol
- EyehategodEyehategodEyehategod is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans who formed in 1988. They have become one of the most well known bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene...
(USA) - Extinction of MankindExtinction of MankindExtinction of Mankind is an English crust punk band, formed in 1992.-Biography:The original line-up consisted of Ste , Mass , Fozzy and Foz . After several gigs the band recorded their first split EP with the band Warcollapse, it saw a release at the end of 1993. Next, the band headed out on a...
(UK) - Extreme Noise TerrorExtreme Noise TerrorExtreme Noise Terror are a British crust punk / grindcore band originally formed in Ipswich, England in 1985. The band are widely considered one of the earliest and most influential European grindcore bands, and particularly the forefathers of the crustgrind subgenre.Notable for one of the...
(UK) - Filthpact (Scotland)
- From Ashes RiseFrom Ashes RiseFrom Ashes Rise is an American hardcore punk band, formed in Nashville, Tennessee in the mid-'90s. They helped define the gloom-heavy thrash sound attributed to groups like His Hero is Gone and Tragedy...
(USA) - Frustration (USA)
- Gruesome Stuff Relish
- Hangover Overdose (Finland)
- Hidden Structures (Canada)
- His Hero Is GoneHis Hero is GoneHis Hero Is Gone was an influential crust punk and sludge metal band from Memphis, Tennessee. Formed in 1995 from members of Copout, Man With Gun Lives Here, and FaceDown, they disbanded in 1999, playing their last show in Memphis. They toured the U.S. extensively several times, as well as Europe...
(USA) - Hulluus (USA/Canada)
- Inepsy (Canada)
- In Ruins (USA)
- In Vacuo (Canada)
- IskraIskraIskra was a political newspaper of Russian socialist emigrants established as the official organ of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Initially, it was managed by Vladimir Lenin, moving as he moved. The first edition was published in Stuttgart on December 1, 1900. Other editions were...
(Canada) - Jesus Fucking Christ (USA)
- Leper (Canada)
- Livstid (Norway)
- Misery (USA)
- Mutiny (Canada)
- No Souls Lost (USA)
- Nuclear Death Terror (Denmark)
- Oroku (USA)
- PhobiaPhobiaA phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational...
(USA) - Power is Poison (Netherlands)
- Preying Hands (Canada)
- Procession of Vultures (USA)
- Revolutionary Youth (USA)
- Sahn Maru
- Securicor (USA)
- SkarpSkarpSkarp is a grindcore band from Seattle, Washington, United States. The band has released one split EP with Human Error, one EP, and two full-length studio albums...
(USA) - SkavenSkavenSkaven are a race of man-sized anthropomorphic rat-creatures in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy setting. They were officially introduced as a new Chaos race in 1986 by Jes Goodwin....
(USA) - The Skuds (USA)
- Slightly Less Than Nothing
- Sod Hauler
- Splatterhouse
- Spring Break
- State of the Union
- Step On It
- Suicide Watch
- Survivors Will Be Shot Again (Canada)
- Total Fucking Destruction (USA)
- TragedyTragedyTragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
(USA) - War//Plague (USA)
- Whorehouse of Representatives (USA)
- Zombie Ritual
Partner labels
In January 2010, Moshpit Tragedy announced it will begin working with other record labels who would like to make their catalogs available via pay-what-you-want download format. Inimical Records made their entire 20-album catalog available that same month. In early 2011, Feral Ward Records made their catalog available as well, with titles from TragedyTragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
, His Hero is Gone
His Hero is Gone
His Hero Is Gone was an influential crust punk and sludge metal band from Memphis, Tennessee. Formed in 1995 from members of Copout, Man With Gun Lives Here, and FaceDown, they disbanded in 1999, playing their last show in Memphis. They toured the U.S. extensively several times, as well as Europe...
, From Ashes Rise
From Ashes Rise
From Ashes Rise is an American hardcore punk band, formed in Nashville, Tennessee in the mid-'90s. They helped define the gloom-heavy thrash sound attributed to groups like His Hero is Gone and Tragedy...
, Inepsy, Born Dead Icons
Born Dead Icons
Born Dead Icons was a hardcore punk band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They played melodic, heavy and dark d-beat hardcore punk with various influences, mainly British bands Amebix, Discharge, Zounds, and Motörhead. They are notable for playing slower and singing more clearly than most bands in...
, etc. . Relapse Records
Relapse Records
Relapse Records is an independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990.-History:The label was started by Matthew F. Jacobson in August, 1990 in his parents' basement in Aurora, Colorado...
also joined the fold and have begun making one select album per week available in pay-what-you-want format.
