Black Market Activities (BMA) is an American independent record label that was founded in 2003 by

Guy Kozowyk The Red Chord is an American extreme metal, metal band from Revere, Massachusetts, formed in 1999. The group comprises vocalist Guy Kozowyk, guitarist/vocalist Mike "Gunface" McKenzie, bassist Greg Weeks and drummer Jon Rice. The band gained a f ...

, the frontman of the Boston, Massachusetts-based extreme metal band

the Red Chord The Red Chord is an American metal band from Revere, Massachusetts, formed in 1999. The group comprises vocalist Guy Kozowyk, guitarist/vocalist Mike "Gunface" McKenzie, bassist Greg Weeks and drummer Jon Rice. The band gained a fanbase with its ...

History

Black Market Activities was started with the stated goal of releasing records by bands that are pushing the boundaries of extreme music while keeping a friendly artist-centered attitude that steers clear of a lot of the "major label" business-like dealings that tend to hurt and exploit bands. The founder of the label being an extreme musician himself, he can more easily relate to the issues that are important to the bands on the label, and attempts to balance the business and art aspects of the music world. BMA is a tight-knit group of bands and friends who share similar ideas and musical tastes. In the years since its creation, BMA has grown quickly and gained much recognition. Black Market Activities teamed up with long-running metal record label

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distr ...

on a production and distribution deal which allows all BMA releases to reach the same major stores as Metal Blade releases. This has propelled BMA and all its bands forward quite a bit. It has also, however, lead to some confusion as to which bands are on BMA and which bands are on Metal Blade, as both record labels' logos now appear on the backs of all BMA recordings.

Artists

Current artists

* The Abominable Iron Sloth *

Architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

* Behold... The Arctopus * Bird Eater *

Dance Club Massacre Dance Club Massacre was an American deathcore band from Chicago, Illinois. Formed in 2004, the group originated as a simple recording project between founding members Nick Seger and Kurt Latos. After recording three songs described as "Halloween- ...

Destroy Destroy Destroy Destroy Destroy Destroy is an American heavy metal band formed in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in late February 2003. With a line-up of rhythm guitarist Jeremiah Scott, vocalist Bryan Kemp and drummer Andrew Hall, they began writing songs; soon ther ...

Ed Gein Edward Theodore Gein (; August 27, 1906 – July 26, 1984), also known as the Butcher of Plainfield or the Plainfield Ghoul, was an American murderer and body snatcher. Gein's crimes, committed around his hometown of Plainfield, Wisconsin, ga ...

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

Fit for an Autopsy Fit for an Autopsy is an American deathcore band from Jersey City, New Jersey, formed in 2008. The band consists of guitarists Pat Sheridan, Will Putney and Tim Howley, drummer Josean Orta, vocalist Joe Badolato, and bassist Peter "Blue" Spinazo ...

* Khann * Lords *

Lye By Mistake Lye By Mistake were an American experimental metal band from St. Louis, Missouri, United States, that formed in 2004. They released their most recent album, '' Fea Jur'', on October 13, 2009. They blend many genres into their music, including ...

* the_Network *

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Stomach Earth The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and many other animals, including several invertebrates. The stomach has a dilated structure and functions as a vital organ in the digestive system. The stomach i ...

* Sweet Cobra * Today Is the Day

Past artists

Animosity Animosity may refer to: * ''Animosity'' (comic), an American comic book series published by AfterShock Comics *Animosity (band) Animosity was an American death metal band from San Francisco, California, formed in 2000. The band released three ...

(disbanded in 2009) *

Backstabbers Incorporated Backstabbers Incorporated (sometimes called Backstabbers Inc. or BSI, and previously known as Life Passed On) were an American hardcore/metal band based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. History Backstabbers Incorporated was formed as Life Pas ...

(inactive since 2008) *

Beyond the Sixth Seal Beyond the Sixth Seal is a side-project band of Mike McKenzie and Greg Weeks of The Red Chord. They were formed as a thrash metal band in the suburbs of Boston in 1998 and released a few demos. In the summer of 2000, bassist Adam Wentworth (The ...

(now on

Metal Blade Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distri ...

) * Born From Pain (now on Metal Blade) *

Cancer Bats Cancer Bats is a Canadian hardcore punk band from Toronto, Ontario. To date, they have released seven studio albums and six extended plays; with their most recent LP, ''Psychic Jailbreak'', having been released on 15 April 2022. The band is curr ...

(now on

Distort Entertainment Distort Entertainment is a Canadian independent record label based in Toronto, Ontario. The label specializes in bands performing hardcore punk-derived music, including Alexisonfire, Cancer Bats and Johnny Truant, but its sister division Distort L ...

) * Deadwater Drowning (disbanded in 2004) *

Found Dead Hanging Architect (formerly known as Found Dead Hanging and briefly as Ghost of the Saltwater Machine) is an American political mathcore band from Syracuse, New York, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The band featured vocalist Keith Allen ...

(changed name to

) *

From A Second Story Window From a Second Story Window (sometimes abbreviated as FASSW) was a metalcore band that formed in 1999 in Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and ...

(disbanded in 2008) * Gaza (disbanded in 2013) * Lamb Of God (now on Epic and

Roadrunner The roadrunners (genus ''Geococcyx''), also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, are two species of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests. They are found in the southwestern and south-central United States and Mexico, us ...

) * Paria (disbanded in 2010) * Premonitions of War (now on

Victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes ...

) *

Psyopus Psyopus (sometimes written as PsyOpus) was an American mathcore band from Rochester, New York. History Formed in 2002, the band is noted for the unorthodox and extremely technical guitar techniques of Christopher Arp, often referred to as "Arp ...

(disbanded in 2012) *

The Red Chord The Red Chord is an American metal band from Revere, Massachusetts, formed in 1999. The group comprises vocalist Guy Kozowyk, guitarist/vocalist Mike "Gunface" McKenzie, bassist Greg Weeks and drummer Jon Rice. The band gained a fanbase with its ...

(now on Metal Blade) *

Sleep Terror Night terror, also called sleep terror, is a sleep disorder A sleep disorder, or somnipathy, is a medical disorder of an individual's sleep patterns. Some sleep disorders are severe enough to interfere with normal physical, mental, social a ...

(inactive) *

The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza was an American mathcore band from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The band was founded (sans a vocalist) in Monroe, Louisiana by members Layne Meylain, Mason Crooks, Brad Thompson, and Mike Butler. They relocated ...

(disbanded in 2012)

Discography

References

External links

Black Market Activities
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

Metal Blade Records
official website {{Authority control American independent record labels Heavy metal record labels Record labels established in 2003