Warhead Records was an

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 ...

based in

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

that specialised in releasing albums by

Australian heavy metal Australian heavy metal music has its roots in both the Australian hard rock and pub rock tradition of the 1970s and the American and British heavy metal scenes. Since the mid-1980s, Australian heavy metal has been particularly influenced by for ...

bands. It was formed in 1992 by British migrant Brad Sims and Julie Martin (now Sims) who began by selling demo tapes of local bands at heavy metal shows at Sydney's

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

Hotel. In February 1993 Warhead Records released its first recording, the EP ''Atavism'' by Sydney doom/death band Cruciform, a group Sims was also managing. This was followed six months later by Neophobia's ''Fear of the Future''. By the beginning of 1996 the label had an extensive roster of Australian bands from across the heavy metal spectrum. Most of its signings were from Sydney, although they included several non-Sydney acts on their label such as Psychrist from

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, Manticore from

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

, Misery from

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

an
Epitaph
from

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. Along with its CD releases, Warhead also acted as a demo distribution service for a number of acts. In 1995 several of these were collected for the compilation album ''Warhead Records Vol. 1''. Warhead was run in tandem with the Hammerhouse, a CD store in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta which sold underground heavy metal music and other merchandise from around the world. In Your Face magazine also came out in 1993 and lasted for 9 issues, it was resurrected again in 1998 and another four issues were released. In mid-1999, with several albums still awaiting release, Warhead Records ceased trading. The remaining artists were forced to seek their own avenue of release. The label officially wound up in 2001. The block which had contained the Hammerhouse was demolished in 2005.

Releases

External links

Warhead Records
- Tribute channel on YouTube {{Authority control Australian record labels Australian independent record labels Record labels established in 1992 Record labels disestablished in 2001 Record labels based in Sydney