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 and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

conceived by

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

Converge Converge may refer to: * Converge (band), American hardcore punk band * Converge (Baptist denomination), American national evangelical Baptist body * Limit (mathematics) In mathematics, a limit is the value that a function (or sequence) app ...

and Tre McCarthy in 2000. Their first release was '' Deeper the Wound'', 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 (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

and aggressive music in general. After having previously worked with

RED Distribution RED Music, stylized RED MUSIC, formerly RED Distribution, LLC (Relativity Entertainment Distribution) was a Sony Music, Sony-owned sales and marketing division that merged under The Orchard (company), The Orchard in 2017. RED previously hand ...

, 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., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

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. A large portion of the record label, known as Hellcat Records, is owned by Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk rock band Rancid. Several ...

Rise Records Rise Records is an American record label currently based in Beaverton, Oregon, mainly focusing on alternative rock, heavy metal, and punk rock music artists. History Rise was founded in 1991 by Craig Ericson in Nevada City, California. He relea ...

, 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

Related labels

In 1999, Linas Garsys 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 "Big Three" music labels 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 t ...

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 Jeremy X. Bolm is an American vocalist, record label owner, music producer and writer. In his music career, he is most known for being the full-time vocalist of the post-hardcore band Touché Amoré. He has also performed with the part-time bands ...

Touché Amoré Touché Amoré is an American post-hardcore band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2007. Since 2010, the band has consisted of vocalist Jeremy Bolm, guitarists Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt, bassist Tyler Kirby, and drummer Elliot Ba ...

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. The ...

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 music, punk, hardcore punk, hardcore, and indie rock music. It was once home to bands such as Brand New (band), Brand N ...

, 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 is an American rock drummer, drum-tech and recording engineer from Boston, Massachusetts. He has been the drummer for the bands Shelter, Piebald, Good Clean Fun, Bloodhorse, 454 Big Block, Saves The Day, Cold Cave, but i ...

(

Alex Garcia-Rivera Alex Garcia-Rivera is an American rock drummer, drum-tech and recording engineer from Boston, Massachusetts. He has been the drummer for the bands Shelter, Piebald, Good Clean Fun, Bloodhorse, 454 Big Block, Saves The Day, Cold Cave, but i ...

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) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

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 TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

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 2025, Deathwish Inc's discography includes over 240 releases from over 120 different bands (including non-Deathwish artists featured on split releases). Its main discography most prominently features 25 releases from

, 13 from Self Defense Family (End of a Year) and 11 from

Blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

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

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

Current artists

* Bitter End *

* Bossk *

Burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ionizing radiation (such as sunburn, caused by ultraviolet radiation). Most burns are due to heat from hot fluids (called scalding), soli ...

Cold Cave Cold Cave is the solo project for musician Wesley Eisold, described as a "collage of dark wave, darkwave, noise music, noise, and synthpop." A number of reviewers note the affinity with early 1980s post-punk and early synthpop, in particular Jo ...

* Cold World *

Cult Leader Cult Leader is an American hardcore punk band that formed in 2013 in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was founded by three members of Gaza following the band's break-up. Cult Leader signed to Jacob Bannon's record label Deathwish Inc. and have released ...

(featuring three members of

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...

) *

Doomriders Doomriders is an American stoner metal, stoner/sludge metal band from Boston, Massachusetts. The band has released three albums on Deathwish, Inc. The band's vocalist/guitarist Nate Newton (musician), Nate Newton also plays bass in Converge (ban ...

* Frail Body *

Glare Glare may refer to: * Glare (vision), difficulty seeing in the presence of very bright light * Glaring, a facial expression of squinted eyes and look of contempt * A call collision in telecommunications * GLARE, Glass reinforced aluminium, an ...

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 Pixies, The Jesus Lizard, Fugazi, Unwound, the Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower and Nirvan ...

* Greet Death * HarborLights * HeavenlyBLue *

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 Inc. Biography With the help of Mark Thompson of Tort ...

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

* Mad Honey *

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-inch EP. Despite a growing profile on ...

* Oathbreaker *

Planes Mistaken for Stars Planes Mistaken for Stars was an American rock band. The group was founded in Peoria, Illinois in 1997 and later relocated to Denver, Colorado in 1999. Working with several different labels, they released three studio albums and four EPs before ...

* Process Black *

State Faults State Faults (formerly known as Brother Bear) are an American post-hardcore band formed in Santa Rosa, California in 2010. Noisey included their album "Resonate/Desperate" as one of the records that best captures the last decade of hardcore punk. ...

* Wear Your Wounds

Former artists

100 Demons 100 Demons are 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 ...

* 108 * AC4 * Acid Tiger *

A Life Once Lost A Life Once Lost was an American metal band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History A Life Once Lost formed in 1999 in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After the release of their first album, '' Open Your Mouth for the Speechless... i ...

* American Nightmare/Give Up the Ghost * Birds in Row * 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 Nat Gray, drummer Jared Shavelson, and bassists Chris Rakus and Robert Ehre ...

Breather Resist Breather Resist was an American hardcore punk and mathcore 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 rec ...

Burning Love "Burning Love" is a 1972 song by Elvis Presley, written by Dennis Linde, originally released by Arthur Alexander earlier in 1972. Presley found major success with the song, it becoming his final Top 10 hit in the American Hot 100 or pop charts, ...

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

The Carrier ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

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 language, Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil ...

(

) * Code Orange (formerly Code Orange Kids) *

Coliseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ...

* Cursed * Damage *

Deafheaven Deafheaven is an American black 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 (musician), Kerry McCoy, who recorded and self-released Demo (Deafh ...

* Death Index * 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 ...

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'' is a 1982 American war action film starring Sylvester Stallone as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. Directed by Ted Kotcheff, the film was co-written by Michael Kozoll, William Sackheim, and Stallone, deriving from the 1972 no ...

* Frameworks * The Great Deceiver * Harm's Way * Harm Wülf ( George Hirsch of

) * Heiress * Hellchild * Holyghost * Horror Show * I Hate You *

Integrity Integrity is the quality of being honest and having a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and Honesty, truthfulness or of one's actions. Integr ...

* Irons *

* 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 tilte ...

* New Lows * The Power and The Glory * The Promise * Pulling Teeth * Punch * Razor Crusade * Reach the Sky *

Ringworm Dermatophytosis, also known as tinea and ringworm, is a mycosis, fungal infection of the skin (a dermatomycosis), that may affect skin, hair, and nails. Typically it results in a red, itchy, scaly, circular rash. Hair loss may occur in the a ...

* Rise and Fall * Rot In Hell * Quentin Sauvé (Q. of Birds in Row) * So Be It *

* Shipwreck A.D. *

Some Girls ''Some Girls'' is the fourteenth studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 9 June 1978 by Rolling Stones Records. It was recorded in sessions held from October 1977 to February 1978 at Pathé Marconi Studios in Paris ...

* Starkweather *

The Suicide File The Suicide File was an American hardcore punk band from Boston that formed in April 2001. The band wrote songs mostly about social and personal problems. Most of the band's output was released on the Southern California-based hardcore label Ind ...

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 Penn ...

(featuring Meghan O'Neil from Punch) * 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 M ...

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

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

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 ...

Related labels artists

Malfunction artists (1999–2008)

* American Nightmare * Barfight * Cast Aside *

* Four Walls Falling * 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 spoken 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 ability to wi ...

* Wheelbite * Worn Thin

Icarus artists (2003–2005)

* Halfacre Gunroom * Switchblade

Secret Voice artists (2012–present)

* Dangers * Drug Church * Hesitation Wounds * Infant Island * 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 death, divorce, break-up, abandonment, beco ...

* Sonagi * 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