SENTINEL IRELAND
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This is the first
time for Behind The Veil to interview a label and not a heavy metal act
and the reason why we do this is because we think that underground should
be supported in every possible way. Sentinel Ireland is a new Irish label
working hard and supporting their bands. See what Brian Taube told us…
1.FIRST OF ALL TELL US HOW YOU'VE DECIDED
TO CREATE THIS LABEL. ARE YOU THE ONLY FOUNDER OR ARE THERE ANY OTHER PEOPLE
THAT STARTED THE WHOLE THING ALONG WITH YOU?
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Ok a little history. I worked for Misanthropy
for a year and a half up until it’s closure as a label in 1999. During
my time there I got talking with Adrian Butler about releasing a compilation
of Irish Metal bands, something which I had attempted unsuccessfully to
do twice before. On my return from England we got together and started
compiling the compilation, which was released in March 2001. And from there
we developed into a label.
2.WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SUCCEED WITH
THIS LABEL? WHICH ARE YOUR DREAMS/AIMS?
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I suppose we’re aiming to just keep
releasing Metal and have our releases distributed on a world-wide basis.
3.HOW MANY BANDS DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR
ROSTER? CAN YOU MAKE A SHORT PRESENTATION OF EACH ONE OF THEM? DO YOU SIGN
BANDS ONLY FROM IRELAND?
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Well the only band now officially signed
to Sentinel is Bastardsun. This is the new band from Stuart Anstis (ex-Cradle
of Filth) and David Wayne (ex-Metal Church). The music is a lot more Heavy
Metal orientated and songs are very catchy. There is a rough promo track
available for download from the Sentinel site but it features the old vocalist.
The album should be out sometime early in 2004. We will also have a new
signing very soon, but I cannot say anything as yet. Abaddon Incarnate
have now signed to Xtreem Music in Spain and Mourning Beloveth have signed
to Aftermath Music in Norway, which is great for both bands.
4.DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE METAL GENRE?
DO YOU "SPECIALIZE" IN A SPECIFIC BRANCH OR ARE YOU WILLING TO SIGN BANDS
FROM ALL KINDS OF HEAVY METAL?
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We’ll personally I suppose I listen
to a lot of Death Metal, some classic Metal and a mixture of a lot of styles.
Adrian is more into all things miserable but he too is into a bit of everything,
actually he a lot more open minded than I am. We don’t specialise in any
specific genre but of course we wouldn’t touch any of these pop/nu so called
Metal bands, that shit doesn’t deserve the name Metal in it’s title.
5.WITH WHAT CRITERIA DO YOU SELECT
WHICH BANDS YOU WILL SIGN? WHAT DO YOU VALUE THE MOST? THE FEELINGS, THE
MUSICAL KNOWLEDGE...?
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We just both have to like them musically.
So far though we have known all the people we have worked with before hand
and we’re already familiar with their music.
6.YOU ARE A LABEL BASED IN IRELAND.
HOW EASY OR DIFFICULT IS IT FOR YOU TO DISTRIBUTE YOUR RELEASES? WITH WHICH
LABELS AND PERSONS DO YOU COOPERATE FOR DISTRIBUTING YOUR RELEASES? HOW
MANY PEOPLE WORK IN SENTINEL?
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It’s definitely not easy, it takes
a lot of time and money to get known and a lot of people are simply unaware
that there’s a strong scene here. Greece and surrounding islands are taken
care of by Eternal Shadows (http://www.eternalshadows.com).
We have distribution in the main stores here and in the UK through Shellshock.
We also have PHD Canada for Canada and they will also soon be exporting
to stores in the US. German distribution has been very difficult, at the
moment we only have mailorders and some stores selling our stuff. Irond
license our releases for Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Belarus.
Crestfallen in Australia also had our release in stores over there but
they are now no longer distributing, although there is some talk of them
beginning again. Adipocere in France also stock Sentinel releases and supply
some stores there too. There should be a cassette license sorted soon for
Indonesia too. All other distribution is done via selling to mailorders
and trading with other labels. You’ll find our products distributed by
the likes of Morbid, Relapse, Aftermath, Avantgarde, Copro, Dark Symphonies,
Dark Realm, Displeased, Hellion, Last Episode, Forensick, Metalblood, LSP
Company, Perverted Taste, Red Stream, Weird Truth and many more. Just myself
and Adrian work for Sentinel, Adrian handles all the press and promotion
and also works full time in another job. I handle sales and mailorder,
I left my job a few months back to concentrate on the label.
7.HOW IS YOUR COOPERATION WITH THE
PRESS? DO YOU PREFER TO SEND PROMOS TO GUYS THAT WRITE A GOOD REVIEW OR
DO YOU PREFER SINCERE REVIEWS EVEN IF THEY HAVE TO BE BAD?
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Cooperation in getting better I suppose.
Of course it’s still difficult to get into some bigger magazines. We spent
a lot of money promoting Abaddon Incarnate in a certain UK mag and although
they got a favourable review the magazine just ignored the band when it
came to interviews. Some other bigger names always seem to misplace the
CDs sent and the review doesn’t even get done. I’d prefer to see the review
done than not at all. If it’s a bad review I hope at least they’ll say
why they don’t like it and not just slag it off.
8.TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT YOUR RELEASES
AND WHICH ONE IS YOUR "BEST-SELLER"?
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GOK001: In Unison – The
definitive guide to the Irish Metal scene. Double CD compilation with 19
bands. Includes previously unreleased material, classic album and demo
tracks. Booklet comes complete with contacts, discographys, photos, etc.
Designed by Stephen O'Malley and mastered by Stuart Anstis. Abaddon
Incarnate, Arcane Sun, Scald, Mephitis, Morphosis, Cruachan, Mourning Beloveth,
Lunar Gate, Karnayna, Primordial, Geasa, Primal Dawn, Mael Mordha, Moonfog,
Hexxed, Inhumane, Desolate, Kingdom & Waylander.
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GOK002: Abaddon Incarnate : Nadir
- The second full length by Ireland's purveyors of hate. Abaddon
Incarnate have taken their early Death Metal leanings and incorporated
explosive Grindcore to produce seriously intense, insane, blast beat laden
Hell! 24 tracks and 45 minutes produced to near perfection in Soundlab
Studios, Sweden by Mieszko of Nasum. Booklet comes with complete lyrics,
with artwork and design by Paul McCarroll.
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GOK003 : Mourning Beloveth :
Dust - The stunning debut by Ireland by Ireland's masters of DOOM!
Already self-released, limited to 1000 copies and now out of print, Dust
comes complete with revised cover art, new booklet and two special bonus
tracks; "Forever Lost Emeralds" from their Autumnal Fires demo and
"It Almost Looked Human" taken from their yet to be released second full-length
The Sullen Sulcus. Recorded at Academy Studios, England, produced by Mags
and remastered by Stuart Anstis. 74 minutes of pure misery!
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The best seller so far would be Nadir
but Dust is doing ok too. There’s under a hundred compilations left out
of a 1000.
9.HOW HAVE YOU DECIDED TO RELEASE THE
COMPILATION "IN UNISON" WHICH CONTAINED ONLY METAL BANDS FROM IRELAND AND
WHY WERE ALL THE BANDS FROM THE EXTREME GENRE?
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As I said before it was something I
attempted to do twice before and it seemed like the perfect start for an
Irish label. The reason why the compilation lacks less extreme bands is
that there’s not so many around here. It’s really only in the last few
years that more Heavy Metal bands have appeared here.
10.WHAT CAN YOU OFFER TO A BAND THAT
WILL SIGN WITH YOU?
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Well we’re a small label so naturally
money is not in great abundance, I’d like to think that we work hard for
any release we put out and dedicate a lot time to each.
11.CAN YOU REVEAL TO OUR READERS SOME
OF YOU’RE FUTURE PLANS?
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We’re building up the mail-order as
much as possible, trying to get a good mix of underground and more popular
titles. On the release front there’s the limited edition split picture
disc 7” between Mourning Beloveth & Lunar Gate coming out on the 31st
of July, this the first of 5 split picture discs. The other 4 7”s will
follow gradually, they’ll include Primordial/Mael Mordha, Geasa/Old Season,
Abaddon Incarnate/Hexxed & Cruachan/Waylander. We’re doing an LP for
some of Europe of the new Antimatter album (featuring Duncan Patterson,
ex-Anathema) and there should be a CD release of our new signing before
the end of the year. And then the long awaited Bastardsun CD next year.
12.BY THE WAY, WHY DID YOU NAME THE
LABEL SENTINEL IRELAND?
13.I THINK THAT'S ALL FOR NOW. YOU
CAN CLOSE THE INTERVIEW THE WAY YOU LIKE OR ADD SOMETHING THAT I MIGHT
HAVE FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU...
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Cheers Nick for the interview, the
coverage is much appreciated. Hail to all Greek Metal heads. Our mailorder
is available to view at www.sentinelireland.com
and is updated every few days. Anyone looking to buy Sentinel releases
in Greece should be able to find them in the store now. Brian
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidis