Canadian GODLESS NORTH are about to release their debut album "Summon the Age of Supremacy" through AR Records in late June. Cymophane will release a tribute album to mighty BURZUM at the end of June. The sampler will come as Double-CD with about 20 tracks. Watch out for these promising releases.
{05/09/00} Millenium Metal Music is currently negotiating about giving license for the AUTUMN album to a bigger label. Therefore this release is delayed. In case the negotiations are successful, the next CD and MCD by AUTUMN will be released by someone else. If the negotiations will fail, we will release the CD not later than the 30th of June.
{03/20/00} Millenium Metal Music signed a contract with the Spanish black metal band AKERBELTZ for the release of a limited CD. Some raw and old-fashioned black metal is to be expected here.
{03/20/00} UNIO MYSTICA, a new Swedish band, has signed up to Millenium Metal Music. They are currently recording their debutalbum together with Peter of ARCANA who will also help out with some vocals. This release will be something special far away from the traditional releases on our label. In fact there will be not so much metal influence but rather some gothic ones.
{03/20/00} The release of the HORNA album got delayed since we unfortunately had to face problems with the artwork. We are at the moment fixing the problems we had since it was impossible to open the artwork files on the delivered CD-R. An estimated release date is the 15th of May for the album.
{03/06/00} We have some definitive dates for our next two releases, they are as follows... FROZEN SHADOWS CD --- out 30th of March (limited edition 900 CD's) FOREFATHER CD --- out 30th of April (limited edition 900 CD's)
very interesting read !
Solistitium started as a little mailorder founded in July 1994. At this time we had been filled with passion for the music and we thought we might be able to do better than some other people involved in the label business. We have been especially disappointed by some major labels. At this time for example a well known German major still stated: "We will never get involved with the black metal scene. It is a temporary trend and not our intention to support this. Nobody will ever see our label releasing this kind of music and we will never distribute any album of this kind" (everybody knows how it looks nowadays !)
Other labels were still dedicated to grindcore what they try to hide as a secret nowadays and in general there was not much dedication towards black metal, except from labels like Osmose who released the first Samael album and Spinefarm who released the Beherit cult album "Drawing Down The Moon". Whatsoever, money changes the mind of some people. This does not only affect labels in general but also bands and magazines. If we did better now or will do ever is a question hard to answer. The major problem in this, is the business aspect in the musical field.
Unlike many people think all success is mainly based on financial hypes. Thus it is possible to buy good reviews in the major magazines and you can buy interviews there as well. It is a pity that not the quality of a band counts but the money which is invested in the band. To take a conclusion out of this: all you read in the mainstream press is manipulated. We prefer hailing the smaller magazines and individuals who put honest support and dedication to the bands. The same goes to the true bands who play music with spirit and passion. The list would be quite long to name all the bands which we know to be only inside this scene for money reason. It is also not our intention to attack specific bands but give this a thought: How come that a band changes its image ? Is it possible to be a heathenish one day and satanic another ? Why playing one day black metal and then changing to death metal or vice versa ? What is the next step ? Playing techno when it gets more attention ? Fuck that !!!
Unfortunately even some bands who are used to be being signed to Solistitium got involved in that. To go back in the year 1995 we had the chance to sign and release our first bands being ISVIND, HELHEIM and NATTVINDENS GRAAT. Especially ISVIND and HELHEIM were fairly successful and a cult following was formed around the bands. Many people still count ISVIND and HELHEIM as their favourite bands. We have been not very keen on the direction in which the aforementioned bands were heading but at the time being, back then, we were completly standing behind their ideas. In the end it is always the task to release timeless music and we managed this with some albums. It remains useless to name all the releases in a history, so you should better check with our release section.
The first years of the label were really great as the black metal scene was on the rise and each album released was a killer one. We can personally remember well our own waiting for new albums of IMMORTAL, DARKTHRONE or SATYRICON. New highlights were set and the whole movement was mysterious and nebulous. To state the truth we don't like the recent developments but we are a part of it since we also have released countless albums (not only good ones) and we have put advertisements in major magazines and such. Nevertheless, we have now setted the aim to change our direction a bit. Honestly we don't care so much any longer whether a band changes the name and then trying to become a second Marilyn Manson or if a band is featured in some teenie pop magazines. Everybody has to draw his / her own conclusions out of this.
We don't have any respect or understanding at all for such actions. Anyway, this is our personal opinion. Any persons shall stay true to themselves but we believe many guys do so nowadays and this is giving a view to the disgusting and disappointing truth. A hail to all individuals who keep the cult alive ! No offense whatsoever against people who always stated clearly what they intend to achieve. To become successful and popular is nothing negative, on the contrary. The only thing we deeply hate is the hypocrisy manifested in many people.
Over the years we have gathered some experience in how to handle releases and not to forget we have had the chance to organize some concerts by ourselves over whole Europe. It is still possible to do so and we will give our best to get some gigs going for selected bands. The competition against big concert agencies is a problem here but it won't hinder us from booking clubs. In the years 1994 / 1995 I was still attending school and my military service followed afterwards. From 1997 to the middle of 1999 I did a job education and the label always remained a hobby for me being in the background. Fortunately there have been people to help me over the years and now I am fully devoted to music. All guns blazing... Currently we are negotiating with a few bands in order to enter our label's roster. We are confident about presentating some new and old signings soon. Keep an open eye to our news section.
We have changed the label name recently from Solistitium to Millenium Metal Music. There have been many reasons for this but three shall be mentioned here. First of all I was tired to see the label name misspelled in 50% of the appearances. Then new people joined the label staff, so it was on the time to give notice to that. It is no longer just my hobby but a real company built upon new fundaments. The last important reason was that we would like to widen our release spectrum and not being labeled as a black metal label solely.
Black Metal shall still be an important factor but not the only one. What counts in the end is quality music and that is not only to be looked for in one genre. Just a few weeks ago we have gathered a new staff in some countries. It is hard for us to keep track on what is happening in the rest of the world. We live in Germany and can easily follow all developments here but since it got hard in some other countries, we decided to look for some friends who are helping us to establish sub-divisions in their countries. Thus some branches were founded and you can contact these directly. Take a look at the contact section. In case there are any questions, demands or inquiries you can feel free to drop us a line and we are fast in getting back to you. Important dates in the history of the label
1994: - foundation of Solistitium as a mailorder
- first signings with Nattvindens Graat (Fin) and Isvind (Nor)
1995: - Solistitium slowly is becoming a label
- releases of bands such as Helheim (Nor), Darkwoods My Betrothed (Fin), Behemoth (Pol)
1996: - more signings and releases see the light of day including bands such as Perished (Nor), Forbidden Site (Fra), Thy Grief (Nor)
- a first tour is organized in co-operation with Dutch Hammerheart Records featuring Helheim and Behemoth
1997: - the label expands the roster and signs Horna (Fin) and Autumn Verses (Fin)
- another tour is organized in co-operation with Hammerheart Records and Full Moon Productions featuring Helheim (Nor)and Isvind (Nor)
1998: - the Polish band Behemoth (Pol) is booked for an European tour organized by Metalysee.
- this year Solistitium organizes a short tour through Germany with Forbidden Site (Fra) in co-operation with Napalm Records and Ars Metalli
1999: - Solistitium releases the first German bands with Cryogenic (Ger) and Gorbalrog (Ger)
- the first offices are opened in the USA, in Benelux and in France
2000: - the label name is changed from Solistitium into Millenium Metal Music
- new signings include bands alike Frozen Shadows (Can), Forefather (Uk)
read more info on the label and their bands: MILLENIUM METAL MUSIC site