Relapse Records 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 ...

based in

Upper Darby, Pennsylvania Upper Darby Township, often shortened to Upper Darby, is a home rule township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The township borders Philadelphia, the nation's sixth most populous city as of 2020 with 1.6 million residents. As of the 2020 ce ...

. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. G ...

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

and

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge or sludge doom) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated through combining elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. It is typically harsh and abrasive, often featuring shouted vocals, heavi ...

artists.

History

The label was started by Matthew F. Jacobson in August, 1990 in his parents' basement in

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe, Adams County, Colorado, Adams, and Douglas County, Colorado, Douglas List of counties in Colorado, ...

. The first two releases on the label were 7-inch singles by the bands Velcro Overdose and Face of Decline, closely followed by three death metal bands that would become among the biggest on the label,

Deceased Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

Suffocation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...

, and

Incantation An incantation, a spell, a charm, an enchantment or a bewitchery, is a magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or objects. The formula can be spoken, sung or chanted. An incantation can also be performed during ceremo ...

. After this, Jacobson became acquainted with William Yurkiewicz Jr., who became his partner in the record label. Yurkiewicz had founded his own record label, which was soon to release albums from the bands

General Surgery General surgery is a surgical specialty that focuses on alimentary canal and abdominal contents including the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, appendix and bile ducts, and often the thyroid ...

Disrupt Disrupt was an American crust punk band from Lynn, Massachusetts that was active from 1987 to 1993. The lineup was Jay Stiles and Pete Kamarinos (vocals), Chris Drake (guitar), Harry Haralabatos (drums), Tony Leone (bass). After recording one ...

Destroy Destroy may refer to: * Destroy (album), ''Destroy'' (album), a 2004 album by Ektomorf * Destroy!, a Minneapolis Crust punk band * ''Destroy!!'', a comic book by Scott McCloud See also

* Destroyer (disambiguation) * Destruction (disambiguat ...

, Misery, and Yurkiewicz's own band

Exit-13 Exit-13 was an American grindcore band from Millersville, Pennsylvania, United States. The band were formed in 1989 by Relapse Records founder and co-owner Bill Yurkiewicz (vocals), guitarist Steve O'Donnell and bassist Joel DiPietro. Their ea ...

. The two joined forces to create Relapse Records, aiming to release high-quality, professionally packaged extreme music. In 1991, the label moved their headquarters to

Millersville, Pennsylvania Millersville is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 7,629 and in 2021 it was estimated at 7,593. Geography Millersville is located in central Lancaster County at (40.006148, -76.35134 ...

. In 1992, the label expanded its range with the creation of its subsidiary label called Release Entertainment, which specializes in

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

, ambient,

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

, and

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

titles. With continued growth came a mail-order/wholesale operation that soon became the largest underground distribution center for all things metal in the United States . The mail-order service carried a wide array of extreme music recordings and merchandise, as well as publications from around the world. Throughout the years Relapse has continued to grow and sign on more influential artists from a broader range of genres. In 1996, Relapse unveiled the Resound Music Resource Guide. Resound gave fans direct access to the label's roster through interviews and reviews, as well as being part mail-order catalog. In 1998, Relapse opened a promotions office in Berlin, as well as establishing a German Distribution deal. In 2003, Relapse held a music festival - the Relapse Contamination Festival took place on January 18 and 19 at the

Trocadero Theatre The Trocadero Theatre (opened as the Arch Street Opera House) is a historic theater located in Chinatown in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It offered musical comedies, vaudeville, opera, and burlesque. The Trocadero Theatre was refurbished for us ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and featured various Relapse artists. In 2000, the label relocated to

Upper Darby Upper Darby Township, often shortened to Upper Darby, is a home rule township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The township borders Philadelphia, the nation's sixth most populous city as of 2020 with 1.6 million residents. As of the 2020 cen ...

, outside of

and began plans to include a physical record store . In June 2001, the label opened their first record store off of South Street in

. In 2010, Relapse announced that they had done a deal with intellectual property lawyer

Eric Greif Eric Greif (1962 – 2021) was an American lawyer and entertainment personality known for a management and record production career within the heavy metal musical genre in the 1980s and early 1990s, and later within the legal profession. He was ...

and Perseverance Holdings Ltd. to take over

Chuck Schuldiner Charles Schuldiner (born May 13, 1967 – December 13, 2001) was an American musician. He founded the death metal band Death in 1983, in which he was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter and only consistent member until his death in ...

's catalog and the

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

and Control Denied names internationally. Death's 1995 sixth studio album, Symbolic was excluded from the deal as the rights for said record remain with

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is an American record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock bands. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. History The label was launched in 1980 in t ...

. On August 5, 2011, Relapse announced a 24-week

pay what you want Pay what you want (or PWYW, also referred to as value-for-value model) is a pricing strategy where buyers pay their desired amount for a given commodity. This amount can sometimes include zero. A minimum (floor) price may be set, and/or a suggeste ...

partnership with

Moshpit Tragedy Records Moshpit Tragedy Records was a Canadian independent record label founded in Windsor, Ontario in 2006. The label specializes releases punk, metal and some of their subgenres ( crust, sludge, etc.). In 2007, they became the first record label to ...

, issuing one mp3 album from the Relapse catalog every week through Moshpit Tragedy's website.

Musical style

The label specializes in various types of heavy metal. Recently, with the increasing popularity of extreme metal, Relapse Records has ostensibly become more mainstream, with bands on their roster frequently appearing on the front cover of the magazine ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' and video plays on TV music channels, along with some albums charting on the ''Billboard'' 200. The word has also been spread by the sponsorship of such festivals as the Milwaukee Metalfest. It would be hard however to label the company as dealing in one specific style or another, as there are artists of such a wide variety on their roster, ranging from

stoner rock Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep. ...

and

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

bands through to

and

all the way to retro

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

and

doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...

. Although much of the music released on Relapse is from bands in various punk and metal subgenres, the label has also released records from several artists in other genres, including

math rock Math rock is a style of progressive and indie rock with roots in bands such as King Crimson and Rush as well as 20th-century minimal music composers such as Steve Reich. It is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (includi ...

(

Don Caballero Don Caballero (often shortened by members as 'Don Cab') was an American instrumental rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Although the band has had numerous lineup changes with co-founder Damon Che (drums and percussion) being the only con ...

, Dysrhythmia),

shoegazing Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

(

Nothing Nothing, the complete absence of anything, has been a matter of philosophical debate since at least the 5th century BC. Early Greek philosophers argued that it was impossible for ''nothing'' to exist. The atomists allowed ''nothing'' but only i ...

Cloakroom A cloakroom, or sometimes coatroom, is a room for people to hang their coats, cloaks or other outerwear when they enter a building. Cloakrooms are typically found inside large buildings, such as gymnasiums, schools, churches or meeting halls. ...

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

(Publicist UK,

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) ...

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

( Zombi),

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

(

Brian Posehn Brian Edmund Posehn (; born July 6, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice actor, musician, and writer. After numerous appearances as a television guest star, Posehn acquired his first major recurring role in HBO's '' Mr. Show wi ...

) and

synthwave Synthwave (also called outrun, retrowave, or futuresynth) is an electronic music microgenre that is based predominantly on the music associated with action, science-fiction, and horror film soundtracks of the 1980s. Other influences are drawn fr ...

(

Survive Survival, or the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things (or, hypotheti ...

). The officially licensed reissues the label has also released also adds many other genres into their style.

Artists

Current artists

Former artists

References

External links

*
Relapse's entire back catalogue
on

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 ...

{{Authority control American independent record labels Heavy metal record labels Hardcore record labels Death metal record labels Grindcore record labels Record labels established in 1990