Hello, thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. After all these years of covering bands released through Sentient Ruin I really wanted to give the readers more insight into the label and discuss some of the really decimating releases that you have in the works coming out this year. To begin, what was your original plan when you started Sentient Ruin and what were some of your early goals when the label first began?
Thanks to you for the interest. I've been a music fan/collector/musician/consumer for most of my life, at a serious level even since before adolescence. Later I became very interested in underground punk/metal via bands like Napalm Death, Godflesh, Voivod, Killing Joke, etc. At the same time I began to follow closely at first labels like Earache and Relapse, and then more underground labels like Aurora Borealis, Cold Meat Industries, Cold Spring, Osmose, HydreaHead, Nuclear War Now, etc. I observed the packaging and arworks/layouts of records I would buy closely, and always elaborated on what I would have done better or different. Around the mid 00s I began to think more seriously of all I would do and the kinds of bands I'd release if I had a label and the thought never left my head.
Over the years Sentient Ruin has worked with a plethora of underground extreme music artists from all around the globe and that is what I find makes the label really stand out. How would you compare Sentient Ruin to other extreme music labels? What do you feel has contributed to the labels success when pertaining to establishing a strong and loyal following?
I've always been inspired by things, but I never really cared for imitating anyone. As I said previously, admiration and respect for many labels would make me think that I too wanted to start a label, but more as in how I would do it differently, if I had a label. I don't know if Sentient Ruin qualifies as "successful", but I try to release stuff that I like. Stuff that I would buy as well as a simple music fan. Since I like anything from goth to post-punk, to noise rock and hardcore punk to dark ambient and avantagarde all the way to harsh noise and bestial metal, you can likely see all this stuff coming out on the label and everything in between. I think SR somewhat sits in its own corner for that: we just don't stick to any genre, which could make the label seem aimless and chaotic, yet all the bands have a visible connecting thread: darkness.
Something I’ve noticed when reviewing bands from Sentient Ruin is that the albums from top to bottom are typically extremely well produced. Very few Sentient Ruin artists record an album to where there are only a couple good tracks and then the rest are filler. Who are some of the artists you have really enjoyed working over the years? What are some of your favorite releases that you have put out?
I think like any or most labels I just try to release stuff that is good, that is strong, feels complete and that gives the listener a full satisfying experience and not just a listen. Something worth their money, time, and which they can chew on and spend time with. Perhaps it's for this reason you feel the records are good back to back. I am indeed not a huge fan of lo-fi music in general, aside from some very sparse exceptions, and I tend to avoid splits, 7"s, EPs etc in favor of full-lengths which give a more exhaustive experience. I like recordings that sound full, dense and overbearing. I am happy you think that because that's what we're (hopefully) striving for. I enjoy working with all our bands, picking favorites is very hard. I'll say to anyone discovering SR for the first time could check out Rotting Sky's "Sedation", Pseudocommando's "A Home Beneath the Floodboards", Cryptae's "Nightmare Traversal", or DSKNT's "Vacuum Gamma Noise Transition" if you wanna know what this label is about.
Besides running the label you are also very much involved in creating music and have been involved in numerous bands/extreme metal projects. I wanted to know how long you have been playing in bands and what influenced you when you were growing up?
Been in bands non stop since the mid 00s. Just as I'd collect and buy records, I'd also go to as many shows as I could. Just as buying records made me think how it would be cool to release them myself one day, seeing bands on stage made think it would also be cool to be on the stage one day.
One of my favorite bands that has released albums through Sentient Ruin is Abstracter. I actually reviewed the band’s first album, “Tomb of Feathers,” for another music website when I was first starting out doing reviews and articles. I was wondering if you could talk about the band's most recent release, “Abominion.” I feel as though it was one of the most profound releases to come out last year in my opinion and I was impressed by the work you did with the different vinyl variants. How do you feel about that album when comparing it to previous Abstracter releases? Also, what inspired you to create some of the variants for the vinyl such as the limited edition “radioactive” vinyl, which I definitely made sure to order?
The album sounded so massive it sounded like it needed something equally grandiose for the packaging. The band put such work in recording it that I felt like complementing that with equally ambitious and enveloping packaging. The album is Abstracter's best and it shows a band that is constantly growing and exploring and pushing to not repeat themselves. The lyrics and concept paired with the monumental music create a dense and enveloping experience, so we all agreed it should also be given appropriate visual expression to complete the opera and close the concept circle. It all came naturally. We did the glow in the dark variant because the band on this album touches the concept of nuclear energy, and also to stimulate people to listen to it in the dark. The purple/red variant was done as a symbolism for blood and pollution and also cause it just married the black and white artwork nicely.
2020 was sure a challenging and frustrating year for a lot of people, but I wanted to commend you for being sort of an inspiring entity during that whole year, especially when dealing with a global pandemic. Even with everything going on during that year, you released a ton of great releases from so many bands like Diabolic Oath, Dearth, Deadlight Sanctuary, 6th Circle and Ceremonial Bloodbath. What albums stood out to you during that year and what were some of the challenges you faced as a business dealing with the global pandemic?
The ones you mentioned are good example stand outs. The main challenge was vinyl turnaround times becoming dismal and prices rising for basically everything. And things are fucking FAR from back to normal. They are actually the furthest from normal now than they were in 2020.... So I will say this now to anyone reading: support the underground now more than ever, because we're all struggling and scraping by right now.
Over the years what have been some challenges you have faced when running the label? Have you had to deal with difficult artists, or do you have strong relationships with most of the bands you work with, and if so what would you attribute to the strong bonds you share with the artists on the label?
Thankfully I have a wonderful relationship with all my bands. Something I feel very lucky about and which really means a lot to me. I consider every one of them friends. Challenges are many and the more the label grows and has to maintain and lose, the more the challenges. Some main challenges over the years have been: distributing our stuff well globally, keeping releases affordable to everyone while putting a lot of work and quality in them and not cutting corners, finding a way to find the time and energies, and just staying motivated and focused in something that can be very stressful and tiring.
There is another band I thought I should talk about given the band’s well deserved continued success and recognition amongst the metal community in recent years. Necrot, an undeniably fearsome Bay Area death metal trio, has worked with Sentient Ruin in the past on cassette releases for some of their albums. Actually, “Labyrinth” was an album I covered for the blog when you were releasing the cassette version back in 2016. What has it been like working with the band on those cassette releases? Do you have a favorite Necrot album?
Necrot are an awesome band. I've known those guys from far before the label existed. I was a roomate with Luca a long time and we probably just worked on stuff together for fun cause we know each other so well. We're all friends and that's what got us collaborating on stuff. Members have their own label now and they work with bigger labels for their releases because after years of hard work and ass kicking music they've gotten to a place where they just need and deserve more infrastructure and visibility. I'm very happy I got to be a part of their music in the earlier days and proud of them for where they have gotten. I was a fan then and I am a fan now, and always will be one. They are probably the one band I have seen more times play live in my life and I still try to see them play live whenever I can.
Looking ahead, 2022 is already shaping up to be another crushing year for the label with some utterly devastating releases coming out. For example, the new Black Fucking Cancer album, which might be one of the sickest looking vinyl formats I have ever seen in my life. What releases are you most excited for this year? Would you say that 2022 will see more new Sentient Ruin releases compared to previous years, or about the same?
I don't' think there will be more because we already release the max we humanly can. The BFC one is certainly a highlight, as well as the debut Exaltation album, the new Golgothan Remains album, new Assumption, debut Anticreation album, debut Ash Prison, debut Vile Ritual and something from Uranium that will ruin people's lives.
I do not know if you are aware of this, but you hold the record currently for the most wins in the Label of the Year category for my yearly award special I do for the blog. The reason is that every year you seem to be the one label that I find releases some of the most outstanding extreme metal artists. What advice would you give young independent label owners who are just starting out? Do think independent extreme music labels have more opportunities now to grow as diehard fans continue to want physical formats like vinyl?
Didn't know this, that's awesome. To anyone starting I say: this is a painful life choice. So you have to be ok with a lot of time alone, a lot of work, a lot of repetitive, tedious work, a lot of financial rollercoasters. I also suggest not chasing trends or caring for that stuff because someone else already monopolizes those. Those are one of those things that are the first to be capitalized on by others. I actually suggest just doing things differently, as basic as that sounds. While I would never discourage anyone from starting a label, I don't think it's something for everyone, there is a degree of masochism going into it which very few people can find enjoyable. There are also obvious temporal and context challenges to face right now. Bandcamp and the rise of laptops and home recording have created an insane influx of bands and of people releasing music or looking for labels, and for this reason a lot of the music out there creates an anesthetizing feeling of conformation and uniformity and of everything sounding already done and heard before, and in massive quantities where it becomes kind of cumbersome to pick which bands and releases to work with.
Well, I just want to say thank you again for doing this interview. I really appreciate all the work you do to promote extreme metal music. I’ve been introduced to a significant amount of bands over the years now thanks to Sentient Ruin and I look forward to hearing more hellacious releases from the label!
Cheers!
Great interview Robby.
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