Interview with DANIHELL SLAUGHTER from MURDER RECORDS
Danihell Slaughter is the man behind MURDER RECORDS. Luckily, there are people like Danihell Slaughter who help bands release their records via his record label and keep the true underground flag high by bombarding listeners with his powerful releases. We had a very interesting conversation about the label, the music business, his music projects, and many more. Enjoy!
Hello Danihell Slaughter and welcome to the FILTHY DOGS OF METAL Webzine. It is really pleasant to have a chat with you! You are the founder of MURDER RECORDS. What was the reason to do your own record company?
HELL-o necro brother Stavros, first of all thank you very much for your support and interest in doing an interview with me with the aim of helping to promote Murder Records and present my work a little better known. I started Murder Records in 1998 when I was still living in Portugal and the reason that led me to found my own label was to be able to release and promote my project Disfigured Human Mind without being dependent on anything or anyone. Over time and after moving to the Netherlands, I also started to support other projects and bands with the aim of giving my contribution and support in keeping the true spirit of the Underground alive, always maintaining my attitude without being dependent on anything... Murder Records, regardless of being a label, is above all a reflection of myself where I expose my way of being and where I keep my support for the True Underground alive...
How difficult or easy is it to run a record company in the Netherlands?
There are always difficulties that make us fight and that at the same time become challenges that we have to face if we want to move forward. Murder Records is me, so whether in Holland or at the end of the world, regardless of where I live, Murder Records will always be present and active with the same purpose of staying true to the essence of what I believe it is and how I see the true Underground, which in my point of view is a lifestyle that I adopted many years ago with other projects such as fanzines, labels and bands, even before I started Murder Records...
How do you go about finding and signing new bands? What qualities do you look for in a band before offering them a contract?
Sometimes it's the bands that find me and follow or know my work and ask for help to launch and help promote the band, other times it's me who contacts the bands and shows my interest in giving my support, it all depends and in a way it's relative... I've always been very active in the musical underworld so it's not difficult to find me or for me to find bands or projects that catch my attention and that deserve my support... I only work with bands that I identify with that or have a correct and true attitude... For me the most important thing is the message that the band wants to convey with its sound, I don't support bands with political philosophies be they Antifa, Communist, Nazi, I hate all types of politics and those types of ideological trends that mean absolutely nothing to me...FUCK POLITIC SHIT... In order for me to work with a band, I have to completely identify with the music or the noise that the band presents, as well as with the message and ideology presented by the band... Only those who want to work with me can work with me, just as I only work with and support those I want, without any games of interest or capitalist interests that have nothing to do with the true meaning of the Underground... For me, when the Underground starts to be a business, it simply stops being Underground...
Which are the best ways to promote your releases? Do you trade with other record labels or only sell them?
In my opinion, the best way to promote my releases is to make exchanges that allow me to support and be supported... I don't work with bands or commercial projects, so I would be a hypocrite to myself if I were only concerned with selling my releases... For me, the most important thing is to be able to support and exchange my releases with other labels that see the Underground as I do and not with the commercial intention of making money, which for me is anything but Underground... I am aware that you also need to sell in order to have the capacity to continue investing and that is why I have my store Hellstore Europe where I sell music, however all the money that the store makes is invested in new releases and those who know me know that when you buy anything from me, you are contributing to Murder Records being able to continue making new releases and supporting bands... FUCK CAPITALISM & COMMERCIAL SHIT!!!
How do you see the evolution of extreme metal over the past few years, and where do you think the genre is heading?
In my honest opinion, Extreme Metal is becoming less and less extreme and more and more pathetic... Nowadays everything is offensive, everything is this, everything is that and the true essence of Extreme Metal is simply disappearing... I have difficulty understanding certain attitudes and I don't intend to adapt to the modern Underground or Extreme Metal where you have to belong to a herd of idiots to feel like you fit in and where the true spirit of Extreme Metal simply doesn't exist... Nowadays, all you have to do is go to a concert and look at the mosh pit which is disgusting and looks more like a porcelain doll dance... If it used to be too extreme, now it's less extreme, but I come from the beginning and I don't intend to or can't adapt to this current Extreme Metal, but I think it's going to get even worse... EXTREME METAL IS FOR EXTREME PEOPLE!!!
Can you share with us some of the most memorable moments or stories you've had while working with bands on your roster?
There are many memorable moments as well as many disappointments and to describe these memories I would need to write a book hahahaha... Maybe it's better not to talk about the most memorable moments because they are too extreme for most idiots who today claim to be the real ones but are nothing more than puppets who don't understand anything about extreme attitudes... I miss the 80s where everything was more genuine and true, nowadays everything is very artificial and full of nothing...
As a record label founder, what challenges have you encountered when working with manufacturing factories (vinyl, CDs, cassettes, etc.), especially with the evolution of digital music formats? Have you noticed significant changes in production quality or costs over the years?
In the past, the challenges were greater, but nowadays everything is much easier and with new technologies everything has become simpler. Everything is constantly changing and evolution is a constant and like everything, it has its pros and cons. The difference is that in the past there were no computers or cell phones and to stay up to date you had to be active. Nowadays you don't need to look for anything, things come to you like a digital tsunami and that's why ignorance prevails. Nowadays everything is very easy and this leaves people incapable of doing things well because it's simply easier to be a copy of others and forget to use your brain and think for yourself... I think many of them don't even know what the brain is for hahahahaha.
What advice would you give to a new band entering the extreme metal scene so they can be on a record label like MURDER RECORDS?
I'm not the best person to give advice, but if you want to work with me, I must inform you that you should first check my work before contacting me. There are many bands that don't know how to work on their music and are only looking for prominence. For those types of bands or projects, I suggest that you don't waste your time with me and that I don't waste my time with you. Murder Records intends to work with and support bands with attitude and that know and want to work and promote their music in a serious way. I'm not looking for, much less do I intend to work with commercial bands or bands with political ideologies... Murder Records will follow its path faithful to Extreme Metal and true Underground, so don't expect anything from me, because I don't expect anything from anyone either...
Besides your work with Murder Records, you also have your music projects Disfigured Human Mind and Anonimuus Creature. Can you tell our readers some things about these projects?
As I had the opportunity to say at the beginning of this interview, Murder Records was created to release Disfigured Human Mind and for this reason these two projects are interconnected and both complement each other. Disfigured Human Mind is an Improvised Necro Noise Violent Grindcore project where there are no rules or limits to expose my protest campaigns and manifestos in an explicit way without worrying about pleasing anyone, my goal is to irritate and cause discomfort to whoever dares to listen to the nauseating noise sessions that I record. Anonimuus Creature is an organic and catatonic noise project where I expose the conversations I have with my demons and where I address self-criticism of myself as a human being... I do not intend to please anyone with my projects, much less do I feel the need to be tied to sentimentalism, these projects are discharges of hatred and where I extract the extremism that lives within me in the form of noise...
How do you feel about the rise of AI in music production? Do you see it as a tool that can enhance creativity, or do you think it poses challenges to the authenticity of music creation?
I think AI is something that leaves people without creativity and without the ability to think for themselves. Everyone is free to use the tools that exist and to do things their own way. Lazy people might like to use AI because it doesn't require work and makes things easier, but for people like me, I think AI cannot and will never be able to replace the DIY attitude, much less the interest in discovering alternatives that allow us to have the ability to be ourselves... It's like crafts or mass production, they are completely different things and have different values, but everyone is free to choose what they prefer and what they identify with...
From your experience in the music industry, what would you tell a new record label to avoid or what to do?
I am no one to tell others what they should do or what they should avoid, I think that everyone should follow their own path and be genuine, everyone is different, everyone is equal... No one is more or superior to anyone else and in my opinion it is a mistake to do anything in the form of competition... Everyone should follow their own path, be true to themselves and have the right attitude... We are not obliged to like everything nor should we force anyone to like what we do, our freedom ends where the freedom of others begins and above all respect and do not be afraid to be yourselves without being dependent or tied to ideological herds.
In the last 4 years, worldwide, we have faced many dark, strange, and new situations in our everyday lives (covid, lockdown, etc.). Did all of this affect you positively or negatively?
I must say that the damn world we live in is always in constant change, as well as society and humanity itself. All these problems, whether you like it or not, always end up affecting us in some way, but they also end up being the fuel that gives us the strength to continue facing the difficulties that arise. It has always been like this and will continue to be like this... In Extreme Metal we have always been against the grain and in constant protest. However, in the past, the Headbanger legions or even the Punk communities were much more united. Nowadays, I think that our own enemy is ourselves, with the lack of unity that can keep the gear alive and active. Nowadays, everything is mixed together like a fruit salad, which has left Extreme Metal increasingly weaker and where the true essence and spirit have simply been disappearing until the day it will disappear due to the weakness of the scene itself. Nowadays, bands are even boycotted at festivals for being too extreme. In my opinion, this type of attitude explains everything, and the worst thing is that no one revolts against it. Simply ridiculous but it is easier to blame what happens around us instead of facing these situations with the right attitudes that allow us to keep Extreme Metal in its rightful place but that will not happen because the human is a self-destructive virus... FUCK THE WORLD... HUMAN = SHIT.... ANTISOCIAL FOREVER....
What will we see and hear from MURDER RECORDS in the near future?
Murder Records is already preparing many things for the next year of 2025 and in due time I will start announcing the next releases. I can say that I am preparing new noise protests with my projects as well as establishing partnerships with bands that I intend to support and everything will be announced soon. It will be a very active year and where I intend to remain faithful to my ideals and continue to support the true Underground and keeping Extreme Metal alive, so stay tuned.
Danihell Slaughter, thank you very much for this interview. We wish you the best for the future. The closure is yours.
I am grateful for the support shown by Filthy Dogs Of Metal Webzine for their support and interest in conducting this interview. A big hug to Stavros for his friendship and all the support given to the Underground, keep up your excellent work in keeping true Extreme Metal alive... To end this interview I would like to send greetings and thank the support to all the demons of the underworld who follow and support my work with Murder Records, you know who you are and I will not mention names so as not to forget anyone... SUPPORT THE TRUE CADAVERIC UNDERGROUND... NOISE ON... WORLD OFF...
By Steve the Filthy Dog.
MURDER RECORDS CONTACT:
https://www.murder-records.eu/
https://murderrecords.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.instagram.com/murder666records/