What are labels? This is not me going all philosophical on you, although I reserve every right to do so, but the question is an important one for this community
What are labels? This is not me going all philosophical on you, although I reserve every right to do so, but the question is an important one for this community to answer. With crowd sourcing becoming bigger and genres falling apart, what is the function of labels in the contemporary metal world? More urgently, is there any meaning to the “nature” or “character” of a certain label? Before you answer that, take this in: Circa Survive have signed with Sumerian Records. Head on over the jump to read the full release.
Sumerian Records is proud to welcome Circa Survive to its worldwide roster and this partnership kicks off with the much-anticipated deluxe edition of the group’s last album, Violent Waves, on Sept. 9th. This disc was originally released by the band with no record label backing or traditional distribution outlet, yet still debuted at #15 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.The Violent Waves re-release will also feature a full-length DVD of the group’s sold-out performance from The Shrine in Los Angeles this past Dec. Check out the DVD trailer now at this link. This also has a slew of never before seen backstage footage, behind the scenes with the band, and more.Anthony Green (vocals) states: “We are so happy to be a part of the Sumerian family. To be able to have the same creative freedom as we did on our own plus the benefits of having their team helping us spread our music and message is a dream scenario.”Ash Avildsen (Sumerian Records Creator & CEO) further comments: “Today is one of the happiest and fulfilling days of my career and I think I speak for our entire staff when sharing that sentiment. Having Circa Survive join the Sumerian family is a dream come true. Their passion and approach of artistic transcendence as a band is exactly what we continue to strive for with Sumerian as a brand.“Their progressive, ethereal songwriting that conveys emotion in such a unique way has built them an incredible cult following while always staying true to themselves, which is the definition of musical success in my mind. Sumerian is honored to play a part in their career and vision. We hope to help them achieve even bigger goals while bringing their music to more new ears worldwide.”
While both sides of the deal are certainly worthy names, one has to wonder exactly what the two have in common with each other. Circa Survive are certainly a-typical of the label’s roster, to say the least, with their progressive rock attitude and plethora of other influences. This brings us back to our original question: what significance does that fact hold? Does it matter? Should we care? In the meantime, a few heads are obviously being scratched, trying to figure out this move. We’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds.
