We’ve been singing the praises of Bandcamp since the early days of that platform. In a relatively short time, it has become a vital source for the streaming and distribution of metal, recently expanding its service to become a vehicle for the distribution of merch as well as digital music in a variety of high-quality formats. One sign of Bandcamp’s success is the increasing use of the site by metal labels to stream and distribute albums in their catalogues.
Thanks to MaxR at Metal Bandcamp — which remains THE best way to keep up with the appearance of new metal releases on Bandcamp — we’ve learned that two more labels have recently established Bandcamp beachheads: Earache Records and Osmose Productions.
EARACHE
As far as we’re concerned, this is really big news. Earache Records was founded in the late 80s and was one of the true pioneers in releasing extreme music. Of course, they’re still going strong today, but their back catalogue is like a museum for the history of hardcore and metal.
So far, Earache has added five albums from their catalogue to Bandcamp: Slaughter of the Soul by At the Gates (1995); Five Serpent’s Teeth by Evile (2011); Pressure and Time (Redux) by Rival Sons (2012); Scum (1987) [Full Dynamic Range 2012 Edition] by Napalm Death; and From Enslavement To Obliteration (1988) [Full Dynamic Range 2012 Edition], also by Napalm Death.
Bear in mind that like everything on Bandcamp, these albums are available there in a variety of file formats, including high-quality lossless files. Those two Napalm Death re-issues are especially interesting. As Earache noted in a press release, these albums have “been specially remastered from the original tapes using Full Dynamic Range (FDR), allowing the music’s nuances to shine through, giving [them] a more ferocious and dynamic sound.” You can get more details about them in MaxR’s write-up here.
Via MaxR, we’ve also learned that Earache plans to add more digital content to their Bandcamp site in the near future and that they would be interested in getting feedback on what albums from their storied catalogue should be prioritized. I’ve got a few ideas of my own, and I’d encourage you to leave your own suggestions in the Comments, because I have a feeling that Earache will be reading them. If you need a refresher about the bands who at one time or another have been in the Earache stable, check the list here.
Assuming Earache still has the rights to the following releases, here are my suggestions:
Carcass: Reek of Putrefaction (1988)
Godflesh: Streetcleaner (1989)
Entombed: Left Hand Path (1990)
Bolt Thrower: War Master (1991) and …For Victory (1994)
Morbid Angel: Altars of Madness (1989) and Blessed Are the Sick (1991)
Brutal Truth: Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses (1992)
Vader: The Ultimate Incantation (1992)
OSMOSE PRODUCTIONS
Osmose is an independent French label whose roots go back to 1991. Specializing mainly in black and death metal, they’ve released albums by the likes of Rotting Christ, Absu, Benighted, Blasphemy, Dark Tranquillity, Enslaved, Impaled Nazarene, Immortal, Marduk, and many, many more. I found a partial list of their releases here.
We learned from MaxR that Osmose has recently added three albums to their Bandcamp page, all by Enslaved: Monumension (2001), Eld (1997), and Frost (1994). You can read Max’s feature about the Bandcamp release of Monumension here.
The Osmose back catalogue is another goldmine of metal, and I sure hope they continue uploading more of it to Bandcamp. Check out the Osmose Bandcamp page HERE. Now, listen to Enslaved:
17 Responses to “EARACHE AND OSMOSE ON BANDCAMP”
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And Osmose is uploading like crazy right now. Blodhemn is also up – 4 albums and counting 🙂
thanks for this!!!!
And now Mardraum -Beyond The Within- is up. Goddaiiim.
No way Bolt Thrower will approve given their tension with earache. But I would love to see the others on there, plus a copy of the grindcrusher comp!
Considering theyre just about to re-issue Real of Chaos on vinyl..not really sure Earache cares about Bolt Throwers approval
Yup.
Not sure Bolt Thrower would have any say in the matter. I assume Earache owns the rights to those releases — they’re still selling them:
http://earache.com/uswebstore/index.php/cPath/667_668_15
Yeah I remember reading the ask earache thing about the issue, a bit of a bitch move, but understandable when you consider the purpose of a record label as a business model. I hope Earache follows the Gamma Bomb / Dirge route of offering free downloads, am completely against paying to own music digitally, but thats another long winded rant.
put everything in bandcamp!!!!! plus if some of the old records have a booklet would be nice (if not is ok) good to see that you are finally on bandcamp!!!! this is awesome!!!
Those suggestions. Yes.
Embedding classic Enslaved is quite possibly the best way to get my attention! Words cannot express how much love I have for Bandcamp and record labels uploading their catalogs!
It was a great way for Osmose to start things off — and with Frost and Blodhemn just going up today, it’s going to be worth checking the Osmose page frequently. They’ve got so many gems they could dish out.
Frost, my fav ‘classic’ Enslaved record. too bad I already have it on Mp3 😉
Hi everyone – great article here, and thanks for your suggestions for the Earache Bandcamp! Just wanted to let you all know that we are indeed listening to your requests and we hope to get many of these albums up on the site in the near future. On that note, here’s the first treat for you – Bolt Thrower’s “War Master”!
http://earache.bandcamp.com/album/war-master
More to come soon. Enjoy!
FUUUUUUUCK YESSSS!!!!!
Had to spread this news ASAP:
https://www.nocleansinging.com/2012/11/14/earache-and-osmose-continue-to-kill-it-on-bandcamp-bolt-thrower-and-immortal-are-now-up/
Fantastic news, thanks for listening Rich.
Also a pretty effective stop to the above discussion of whether Bolt Thrower could end up on the Bandcamp 🙂