SO, DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN HAVE LEFT RELAPSE
Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 12:45pm by Vince Neilstein
This interesting bit of news trickled down the Interwebs grapevine yesterday. Seems DEP’s contract with Relapse has ended, and the band will release their next record on Season of Mist in collaboration with their own Phonogetic Records.
Zuh?
While I’m sure Relapse are pretty bummed DEP chose not to re-up and Season of Mist — whose current roster includes Cynic and several other really good bands with a high level of artistic integrity — must be beyond stoked, at this stage in DEP’s career I believe it ultimately matters not what record label is printed on the back of their CD packaging. DEP has a dedicated core following that will buy their records and go to their shows no matter what, so it’d take a colossal fuck-up for any record label to blow a DEP release.
It is peculiar, though, that DEP wouldn’t choose to sign with a larger label — and I’m sure there would be plenty of label interest there — one that might be able to elevate their presence to the next level, or at least re-up with Relapse. Relapse did a fantastic job on the Ireworks album cycle, getting the band massive exposure online, on MTV, and even the band’s first live TV appearance on Conan O’Brien. Things are on the up-and-up for Dillinger. Season of Mist, based primarily in Europe, seems less well-equipped to spend the kind of money necessary to keep the band on this upward trajectory. But perhaps DEP are now at the point where they can create their own upward trajectory by continuing to write innovative and thought-provoking music.
In short: this is a bizarre business decision, and I’m curious to see how it’ll pan out for the band. No matter what the record label the band is on, we anxiously await new DEP music, despite how President Obama might feel about the matter.
-VN
thats kind of step down right???
Uhh, no… Season of Mist is a fantastic label that boats an impressive band roster, and a wordwide distribution network. To me, that’s not a step down whatsoever.
GIVE ME THE LIST!
Apparently the band are hoping to pull a few Trent Reznors in the future so im shure the deal with Seasons is not just an ordinary record deal but some kind of collab. Exciting to see where they take this.
they signed with a small label because they want artistic freedom and ownership rights, check out more of the story here http://bit.ly/17osBC
What does a band called “Owl” have to do with DEP?
I remember strong rumors that they were gonna go major label in time for Miss Machine. Whatever; they do what they do, I always wind up more impressed by their achievement than wanting to listen to the music for pleasure, and the earth keeps on turning.
They signed with a smaller label because SoM just wants them on and doesn’t care how much they spend or if they break even on the project. They’re trying to establish themselves as a bigger label.
Basically, Dillinger just wanted the most money they could possibly get.
Yup, cos signing with a smaller label will definitely have them racking in the dough.
Who do SoM distribute through, by the way?
According to a Dillinger tweet, Phonogetic Records is not their record label. http://twitter.com/dillingerescpln
damn, @deathmetaldave …. beat me to it.
I thought I read in Revolver or somewhere that Ire Works didn’t really sell as good as their other albums???
Relapse isn’t that great to actually be on that label, but they have a good store.
So you could imagine my disappoint when I walked through Philadelphia looking for it last summer, and found that it was closed. I stole some Testament promotional materials from their mail though.
Seems like a questionable decision, not saying that relapse is perfect no label is, but a step down in label size especially in the American market seems odd especially with the more mainstream sounding parts of the last cd and being on conan, mtv like you mentioned as well as being in an episode of CSI NY. Cant say I have faith in season of mist being able to give them the push they need.
@Mike, yeah it didn’t sell amazingly, but then they’ve never sold too much.
Can’t wait for the new record, regardless of the label. Ire Works is one of my favourite albums of all time
If you look at DEP’s history, they signed a really shitty deal just to be able to release “calculating”…Matt Jacobson @ Relapse smelled their desperation and took advantage of it. From what I’ve read, he got to keep a lot of the masters for later re-release. I’m sure the band has lots more leverage and freedom with this new deal.
Look at Nike…they took a huge risk by offering Michael Jordan a signature shoe. I think it was Adidas who were the brand he wanted to sign a deal with, but they didn’t give him a signature shoe…I bet they regret that now.
Obviously there’s a lot that we’re all not seeing here. Whether or not it pays off is only determined by the future.
First let me state that I love a lot of bands signed to SoM (Atheist, Mayhem, Astarte, Rotting Christ, Cynic, Cadaveria, and formerly Anaal Nathrakh) but let me also state that SoM’s distro is a ripoff. You can buy SoM CDs from The End and Century Media for half the cost. SoM totally fucks over their fans by charging $20 plus shipping.