Earache Records | |
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Founded | 1985 |
Founder | Digby Pearson |
Distributor(s) | Caroline Distribution |
Genre | Extreme metal, heavy metal, hardcore punk, rock, experimental |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Location | Nottingham, England |
Official website | www |
Earache Records is an independent record label based in Nottingham, England and New York, United States. It helped to pioneer extreme metal by releasing many of the earliest grindcore and death metal records between 1988 and 1994.
Earache was founded in 1985 by Digby "Dig" Pearson. In 1985, before adopting the name "Earache Records," Pearson released Anglican Scrape Attic, a compilation of early hardcore punk and crossover acts (Hirax, Lipcream, Concrete Sox, etc.). The first official Earache release, on vinyl in 1987 and with the catalogue reference MOSH 1, was The Accüsed's The Return of Martha Splatterhead. This was followed by a split LP by the crust/crossover band Concrete Sox and the proto-grind band Heresy. The label's first release to gain attention outside the hardcore scene was MOSH 3, Napalm Death's Scum. The record did well, getting airplay on John Peel's show on BBC Radio 1, and going to number 7 in the UK indie chart. Following on from the success of Scum, the label signed many acts from the then-emerging genres of grindcore and death metal, such as Morbid Angel, Carcass, Entombed and Terrorizer, all of whom, along with Napalm Death and Heresy, are now recognised as pioneers of the two genres.