Prophecy Productions
| Prophecy Productions | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
| Founder | Martin Koller |
| Distributor(s) | Soulfood (GER/AT), Alternative Distribution Alliance (US) |
| Genre | Black metal, neofolk, gothic metal |
| Country of origin | Germany |
| Location | Zeltingen-Rachtig, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany |
| Official website | Prophecy Productions |
Prophecy Productions is a German record label located in Zeltingen-Rachtig, founded by Martin Koller in 1996. It proclaims being a "label for eerie emotional music", which roughly comprises artists with a dark metal, black metal, or neofolk background, but a unique and unconventional approach to music.
Since 1993, Martin Koller used the moniker Prophecy for his small, self-operated mail-order business. According to him, the actual birth of Prophecy Productions as a label was the release of the album A Wintersunset... by Empyrium. While this record was intended to be the sole release under the name of Prophecy, the success of it encouraged Koller to continue the label.
Even in the early days, it was obvious that Prophecy took interest in single musicians' entire work and that some of the label's artists felt attached the label. In 1998, for example, Autumnblaze were signed, a new band with musicians from Paragon of Beauty, as well as Sun Of The Sleepless, the side project of Markus Stock from Empyrium. Throughout Prophecy's history, there are many more collaborations of that kind between the label and new projects or bands.
Also in 1998, the place of business was moved from Wittlich to nearby Zeltingen-Rachtig, and a long-term cooperation was decided on with Markus Stock and his recording studio Klangschmiede Studio E to ensure a continuous high standard for Prophecy's music productions. In the same year, Prophecy put out Hallavedet, the first official release by progressive Folk band Tenhi. The Finnish group quickly became one of the most popular artists on Prophecy and is currently (as of December 2014) still signed to the label.
In 1999, Prophecy announced contracts with the established and renowned bands In the Woods... and Bethlehem. Those were two A&R-coups which put significantly more attention on the label and heightened its status.
The next groundbreaking signing was that of Dornenreich in 2000, whose label-debut Her von welken Nächten (2001) ranks amongst the most successful releases in Prophecy's history. Likewise, Dornenreich have stayed loyal ever since and belong to the label's figureheads.
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