Deathwish, Inc. is an American

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

conceived by Jacob Bannon of Converge and Tre McCarthy in 2000. Their first release was ''

Deeper the Wound ''Deeper the Wound'' is a split album between American band Converge and Japanese band Hellchild. The album was released through Deathwish Inc. in America on April 23, 2001. ''Deeper the Wound'' was also the first album released through Deathwish ...

'', a split album between Converge and Japanese band Hellchild on April 23, 2001. Deathwish established itself quickly, working with a diverse group of bands and eventually becoming one of the most respected and innovative labels in contemporary

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

and aggressive music in general. After having previously worked with RED Distribution, in March 2016, Deathwish signed a global deal with

Alternative Distribution Alliance Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) is a music distribution company owned by Warner Music Group, which represents the rights to various independent record labels. ADA provides "independent artist and label partners with access to the resource ...

(ADA), an independent distribution label under

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

that has also partnered with other punk labels including

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo bands ...

, Rise Records, and

Run for Cover Records Run for Cover Records is an American independent record label based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 2004 by Jeff Casazza at the age of 17 with a $1,000 loan, the label functioned as a small one-person bedroom operation in Brighton, until Casa ...

. Deathwish, Inc. has also expanded into releasing exclusive archived prints from various artists, which include Jacob Bannon.

Related labels

In 1999,

Linas Garsys Linas Garsys is an American punk rock graphic designer and co-founder of the record label, Malfunction Records. Garsys began making artwork for local punk and hardcore bands in his teens. Over time this expanded to making work for national a ...

and Tru Pray founded the hardcore punk independent record label Malfunction Records. Deathwish merged with Malfunction in August 2007, and originally announced that the two labels would still exist as separate entities with Malfunction acting as an

imprint label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

and Deathwish's staff operating both businesses. However, one of Malfunction's last releases was Bitter Ends' 2008 self-titled EP. Deathwish still distributes some of Malfunction's back catalog. In 2012, Jeremy Bolm of

Touché Amoré Touché Amoré is an American post-hardcore band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2007. The band consists of vocalist Jeremy Bolm, guitarists Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt, bassist Tyler Kirby, and drummer Elliot Babin. Among other ...

formed his own imprint label under Deathwish dubbed Secret Voice. In 2014, Jami Morgan of Code Orange along with Pat Kindlon of

Self Defense Family Self Defense Family (shortened to Self Defense and previously known as End of a Year) are an American rock band with members from across the United States and England. The band has released six full-length albums and several EPs and splits. Thei ...

formed their own imprint under Deathwish titled Harm Reduction Records. The label in the past has operated an imprint label Icarus Records, for more experimental and ambient sounding bands, though it has been dormant for many years and only released albums from two artists. In 2009, Deathwish expanded into independent music distribution offering exclusive and featured distribution of other record labels. Currently, Deathwish distributes many labels including: Closed Casket Activities, ConCult (Converge self-released titles),

Iodine Recordings Iodine Recordings is an independent record label based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Iodine Recordings releases punk, hardcore, and indie rock music. It was once home to bands such as Brand New, Orange Island, Smoke or Fire (Jericho ...

, Discos Huelga, Grave Mistake Records, Nonbeliever, React! Records, Painkiller Records, Perfect Victim Records, Six Feet Under Records, State of Mind Recordings, and Vitriol Records.

Deathwish Fest

For two nights in July 2014, Deathwish hosted back-to-back concerts in Massachusetts featuring current and formerly signed bands of the label. Both nights featured headliners Converge and Trap Them, the first show had Modern Life is War, Doomriders, Cult Leader, Self Defense Family and Harm Wülf as openers; while the second night had Young and in the Way, Code Orange, Oathbreaker, New Lows and Chrome Over Brass ( Alex Garcia-Rivera of Give Up the Ghost, Bloodhorse) as openers. The label also stated that this is the first of a series of events. In May/June, the Deathwish Fest toured Europe for a 7-day gig featuring Converge, Trap Them, Harm's Way and Young and in the Way.

Former MMA sponsorship

Deathwish began sponsoring several

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

fighters in 2008. Among the label's sponsored fighters includes: Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy, Joe "J-Lau" Lauzon, Dan "The Upgrade" Lauzon, Toby "Tigerheart" Grear and several local Boston grapplers. Bannon is also a licensed MMA judge, and designed some of the fighters' clothing. Deathwish's sponsorship of MMA declined in the early 2010s and all references to this subject have been removed from its official website.

Label discography

As of January 2015, Deathwish Inc's discography includes over 170 releases from over 90 different bands (including non-Deathwish artists featured on split releases). Its main discography most prominently features 10 releases from Converge, eight from Self Defense Family (End of a Year) and seven from

Blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

. In March 2014, Deathwish uploaded its entire catalog onto the music streaming/purchasing service,

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

Current artists

* Birds in Row * Bitter End *

* Bossk * Burn * Chrome Over Brass ( Alex Garcia-Rivera) * Cold Cave * Cold World * Converge *

Cult Leader In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This s ...

(featuring three members of Gaza) * Death Index *

Doomriders Doomriders is an American stoner/ sludge metal band from Boston, Massachusetts. The band has released three albums on Deathwish, Inc. The band's vocalist/guitarist Nate Newton also plays bass in Converge and guitar in Old Man Gloom. Jebb Riley ...

* Frail Body *

Frameworks A framework is a generic term commonly referring to an essential supporting structure which other things are built on top of. Framework may refer to: Computing * Application framework, used to implement the structure of an application for an op ...

Gouge Away Gouge Away is an American hardcore punk band based in Florida that formed in 2012. The band is influenced by post-hardcore and noise rock bands such as The Jesus Lizard, Fugazi, Unwound, The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower and Nirvana. Gouge ...

* Greet Death * HarborLights * Harm Wülf (

George Hirsch George Aaron Hirsch (born June 21, 1934), is a magazine publisher, a founder of the New York City Marathon, a candidate for United States Congress and a television commentator. Hirsch was the founding publisher of New York, New Times and The R ...

) *

Hesitation Wounds Hesitation Wounds is an American hardcore punk supergroup formed in 2012. The band was founded by Jeremy Bolm of Touché Amoré; guitarist Neeraj Kane of The Hope Conspiracy and formerly of The Suicide File and Holy Fever; bassist Stephen LaCour ...

The Hope Conspiracy The Hope Conspiracy is an American hardcore punk band from Boston formed in late 1999. They were picked up by Equal Vision Records and Bridge 9 Records before signing a deal with Deathwish Records. Biography With the help of Mark Thompson of ...

Loma Prieta Loma Prieta (from Spanish ''loma'' -hill, ''prieta'' -dark) is high and is the highest peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California. Although the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was named for this mountain, the actual epicenter was fi ...

Modern Life Is War Modern Life Is War is an American hardcore punk band formed in Marshalltown, Iowa in 2002. During Modern Life Is War's six-year original run, the band released three full-length albums and one self-titled 7" EP. Despite a growing profile on the u ...

* New Lows * Oathbreaker *

Planes Mistaken for Stars Planes Mistaken for Stars is an American rock band formed in Peoria, Illinois in 1997. Working with several different labels, they released three studio albums and four EPs before breaking up in 2008. While rooted in the post-hardcore and emo ...

* Process Black * Quentin Sauvé (Q. of Birds in Row) * Shipwreck A.D. * Starkweather *

Super Unison Super Unison was an American post-hardcore band that formed in 2014. The band's name was derived from the song of the same name released on 90s post-hardcore band Drive Like Jehu's second studio album ''Yank Crime''. Vocalist Meghan O'Neil Pennie ...

(featuring Meghan O'Neil from

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

) *

Wear Your Wounds Jacob Bannon (born October 15, 1976) is an American musician who is the vocalist, lyricist and graphic artist for the metalcore band Converge. He is the co-founder and owner of the record label Deathwish Inc. and the author of many visual works ...

Former artists

100 Demons 100 Demons is an American metalcore band from Waterbury, Connecticut. Being fans of tattoos, the band derived their name from a book of traditional Japanese tattoo artwork by Horiyoshi III. The band usually incorporates their agnostic beliefs i ...

108 108 may refer to: * 108 (number) * AD 108, a year * 108 BC, a year * 108 (artist) (born 1978), Italian street artist * 108 (band), an American hardcore band * 108 (emergency telephone number), an emergency telephone number in several states in Ind ...

* AC4 *

Acid Tiger Acid Tiger is an American rock supergroup composed of Ben Koller (Converge, All Pigs Must Die), Lukas Previn (Thursday, United Nations), Adam Wentworth ( Bloodhorse, All Pigs Must Die) and J. Rattlesnake. Previn described the band as hav ...

* A Life Once Lost * American Nightmare/Give Up the Ghost * The Blinding Light *

Boysetsfire boysetsfire is an American post-hardcore band from Newark, Delaware. Formed in October 1994, boysetsfire is composed of guitarists Chad Istvan and Josh Latshaw, vocalist Nathan Gray, and bassists Chris Rakus and Robert Ehrenbrand. Lyrical theme ...

Breather Resist Breather Resist was an American hardcore punk band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 2002 and dissolved in 2006. They take their name from the song “Breather Resist” by Hoover. History Breather Resist formed in 2002 and recorded 8 songs, ...

Burning Love "Burning Love" is a 1972 song by Elvis Presley written by Dennis Linde, originally released by Arthur Alexander earlier in 1972. Elvis Presley had a major hit with the song, becoming his biggest hit single in the United States since "Suspicious M ...

Carpathian The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

The Carrier ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

Ceremony A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular) ...

* Code Orange (formerly Code Orange Kids) *

Coliseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world t ...

* Cursed * Damage *

Deafheaven Deafheaven is an American post-metal band formed in 2010. Originally based in San Francisco, the group began as a two-piece with singer George Clarke and guitarist Kerry McCoy, who recorded and self-released a demo album together. Following i ...

* Death of Lovers * The Dedication *

Embrace Today Embrace Today were an American straight edge metalcore–hardcore punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. They have toured with such bands as Bleeding Through, Champion, Bury Your Dead, Ion Dissonance, Premonitions of War, Since The Flood, and Hast ...

Extreme Noise Terror Extreme Noise Terror (often abbreviated to ENT) are a British extreme metal band formed in Ipswich, England in 1985 and one of the earliest and most influential crust bands. Noted for one of the earliest uses of dual vocalists in hardcore,Bonn ...

First Blood ''First Blood'' (also known as ''Rambo: First Blood'') is a 1982 American action film directed by Ted Kotcheff, and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also stars as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. It co-stars Richard Crenna as Rambo's mentor ...

* The Great Deceiver * Harm's Way * Heiress * Hellchild * Holyghost * Horror Show * I Hate You * Integrity * Irons * Jacob Bannon * Jesuseater *

Killing the Dream Killing the Dream was an American hardcore punk band from Sacramento, California, that formed in 2002 and broke up in 2011. The group signed to Deathwish Inc. in 2004, and released three studio albums through the label: '' In Place Apart'' (2005 ...

* Knives Out * Life Long Tragedy * Lies (featuring members of

and Skin Like Iron) * Living Eyes *

Narrows A narrows or narrow (used interchangeably but usually in the plural form), is a restricted land or water passage. Most commonly a narrows is a strait, though it can also be a water gap. A narrows may form where a stream passes through a tilted ...

* The Power and The Glory * The Promise * Pulling Teeth *

* Razor Crusade *

Reach the Sky Reach the Sky was an American hardcore punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, United States. History Reach the Sky formed in 1997, and they released two EPs in 1999; their debut full-length, ''So Far From Home'', followed on Victory Records late ...

* Ringworm * Rise and Fall * Rot In Hell * So Be It *

* Some Girls *

The Suicide File The Suicide File was an American hardcore punk band from Boston that formed in April 2001. The band wrote songs with a mostly political message, although many songs also dealt with social and personal problems. Most of the band's output was relea ...

* Terror *

Trap Them Trap Them was an American hardcore punk band formed in Salem, New Hampshire in 2001. They released five studio albums and five EPs, including a split EP with Extreme Noise Terror. History Trap Them began in 2001 as a side-project for Ryan McKe ...

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Victims Victim(s) or The Victim may refer to: People * Crime victim * Victim, in psychotherapy, a posited role in the Karpman drama triangle model of transactional analysis Films and television * ''The Victim'' (1916 film), an American silent film by t ...

* Whips/Chains * White Jazz (featuring three members of Rise and Fall) *

Wovenhand Wovenhand (also stylized Woven Hand) is an American rock band from Denver, Colorado, United States, led by former 16 Horsepower frontman David Eugene Edwards. Wovenhand's songs are known for their strong and unsettling Biblical references, in ...

Young and in the Way Young and in the Way was a blackened crust band from Charlotte, North Carolina, formed in 2009. Their music was described as "cold, hard and loud." They were formerly signed to Deathwish Inc. History Since forming in 2009 the band have released b ...

Related labels artists

Malfunction artists (1999–2008)

* American Nightmare * Barfight * Cast Aside *

Four Walls Falling Four Walls Falling was an American hardcore punk band from Richmond, Virginia, active between 1987 and 1995. Their most successful release was ''Culture Shock'' in 1991. Band members Original lineup *Greta Brinkman (Unseen Force and later ...

* Internal Affairs * Learn * Meltdown * Moment of Youth * Piece by Piece * Rag Men * Reign Supreme * Right On * Shitfit * Time Flies * TouchXDown *

Trash Talk Trash talk is a form of insult usually found in sports events, although it is not exclusive to sports or similarly characterized events. It is often used to intimidate the opposition and/or make them less confident in their abilities as to win e ...

* Wheelbite * Worn Thin

Icarus artists (2003–2005)

* Halfacre Gunroom * Switchblade

Secret Voice artists (2012–present)

* Dangers * Drug Church *

* Newmoon *

Single Mothers A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include divorce, break-up, abandonment, becoming wid ...

* Andrew Thomson * Warm Thoughts (formally Dad Punchers)

Harm Reduction artists (2014–present)

* Axis * Drown * Purge * Resistance Wire * Steel Nation * Detain * Unit 731 * Threat 2 Society

References

External links

*
Deathwish Inc.
at

(also
Deathwish Live SeriesMalfunctionSecret Voice
an
Harm Reduction
{{Authority control Record labels established in 2000 2000 establishments in Massachusetts Companies based in Beverly, Massachusetts American independent record labels Hardcore record labels Punk record labels Heavy metal record labels Doom metal record labels Grindcore record labels Post-hardcore record labels