10 Years of Values and Vices
There’s hardly anything I’ve been doing constantly for such a long time like Let it Burn Records… 10 years is a long fucking time and sometimes it surprises me, that the label is still alive. When I started LIB in 2000 with my friend Daniel, none of us would have thought that this would go ANYWHERE.
In fact it was the release of FEAR MY THOUGHT’s debut album “23” that accelerated the label growth for the first time. Even though there was no other label interested in releasing their album, there was already a bit of a “hype” around the band which rapidly lead to 1500 sold (oh well, most of the cd’s were traded for other label’s crap we never got rid off) copies. The band played constantly and the name “Let it Burn Records” got heard by more and more kids. FEAR MY THOUGHT’s second album “Vitriol” followed shortly after and doubled the buzz around the band and the label.
The next “big thing” for Let it Burn Records was continental licensing. SAVING THROW, ARMA ANGELUS (whose members are now in RISE AGAINST and FALL OUT BOY), SCARS OF TOMORROW and others were released for Europe. Unfortunatelly most of the bands never came over to tour or split up before they got a chance, so this kind of cooperation never was as close and thrilling as with European bands.
In 2003 we released another crucial debut album. This time it was a new and hot band from Hungary called BRIDGE TO SOLACE which had already gained international attention in a slightly different line up under the name: NEWBORN. BRIDGE TO SOLACE’s music was punk, hardcore and metal alike and it seemed as if the band offered what everyone had been waiting for. “Of bitterness and hope” sold 3000 copies and it’s successor “Kingdom of the Dead” another 2000.
It was until 2006 when we had the next “big album” at Let it Burn Records. FINAL PRAYER’s debut “Right Here Right Now” marked a new musical direction for the label (we hadn’t really released any “tough” hardcore so far) and attracted a whole bunch of new kids who had never heard of the label before. The album went well, just like the career of FINAL PRAYER, who, among very few others, form the spearhead of European Hardcore these days.
In 2007 we only had one release (the biggest failure by the way, we still have around 70% of the first press on the shelve) and everything that we put out since 2008 basically forms our current roster: RED TAPE PARADE, THE CASSIDY SCENARIO, STORM&STRESS, TODAY WE RISE and DEATHSPIRIT.
Our latest signings BLACK FRIDAY ‘29, ZERO MENTALITY, TO KILL, TEAMKILLER and GOLDUST outline very well what Let it Burn Records has become in 2010: One of Europe’s leading hardcore labels.
I am VERY proud of what we have accomplished within these 10 years. Most other labels that started their business around the time we did, called it a day when the music industry started suffering from “digital age cataclysm”. Without sound winy, we also had hard times and still do, but working with such amazing bands and releasing music that we personally go crazy to is one of the best things in the world. As long as this label pays for itself Let it Burn Records will be around delivering high quality wild music. That’s for sure.
