Cassette Label Summit 2014

 

I’ve spent a lot of time covering cassettes here at THKD, not just because I dig them, but because I truly believe that some of the best and most interesting heavy music today is being released by smaller labels who have embraced the format as an affordable way to bring the underground to the masses.  As such, my relationship with several of these labels has become far more personal than just receiving an e-mail blast from some faceless PR company; their owners have proven to be incredibly personable and genuinely appreciative of the coverage I’ve given them.  But, as deeply as I’ve delved into cassettes and as much as I’ve chatted with those who are in the business of releasing them, I still had many unanswered questions.  What motivates them?  What brought them to the format?  At the end of the day, does the format even matter?  In an attempt to answer these and many other questions, I gathered the gents behind the labels for a virtual round table discussion of all things tape-related.

Tyrants Blood – Into the Kingdom of Graves (Tridroid Records, 2013)

I’m just going to come right out and say it; Into the Kingdom of Graves is a fucking force of nature. Having already been familiar with Tyrants Blood’s previous EP and album releases (2008’s Prophecy and 2010’s Crushing Onward Into Oblivion, respectively), I knew something of what to expect from these Canadians, but this is a band that gets more devastating with every release, and what we have here is nothing short of the musical equivalent of an F-5 level tornado of razor blades and sledgehammers coming straight for you, the unsuspecting listener.  In other words, it’s an album that wants to slash you to ribbons and smash you to bits simultaneously.