Metal Blade Records history by Dan Slessor:
Founded upon owner Brian Slagel's enduring drive to find great bands and get their music out to as many people as possible, since 1982 Metal Blade has brought wave after wave of powerful, innovative, and often genre-defining music to the ever-hungry metal masses. It is this ethos that has seen Metal Blade build up a stunning and diverse catalogue, weather the various storms facing any independent label, and in an age of declining record sales boast the most successful years of its existence as it strides into its fourth decade.

What perhaps makes this achievement all the more notable is the fact that Slagel never even intended to start a label. Working in an LA record store and writing for various publications, Slagel was acutely aware that many great bands in the local metal scene were being ignored, and he decided to release a compilation of tracks drawn from these ranks. "There were a lot of really good bands and I was just bummed out that nobody could hear them. It just seemed like I could help them out and have some fun at the same time, and that compilation was the first Metal Massacre," he states. Collating tracks from then unknown bands including Ratt, Bitch, Cirith Ungol, and Metallica amongst others, the compilation sold out immediately. "How important is Metal Blade to our career? They're only the reason we are enjoying the worldwide success we have today," states Metallica's James Hetfield. "Without Brian's openness to some raunchy teens with a crap sounding cassette tape we would be who knows where, and playing who knows what!" With the popularity of the tape spurring Slagel on, the first seeds of Metal Blade were sown. "After the success of those compilations I just started putting out records of bands that I was friends with, but without ever really intending it to be a label at all," he explains. "After I put out four or five releases I started to feel like something was happening, and I decided to quit the record store and quit college and see where it went."

Battling through the first few lean years, when the label consisted solely of Slagel working out of his mom's poorly ventilated garage in the San Fernando Valley, it gradually grew in both revenue and stature. Within a few years Metal Blade would go on to release the debuts of Slayer, Armored Saint, Trouble, and Corrosion Of Conformity amongst others, fanning the flames of the burgeoning metal scene and launching careers of bands that would go onto reap global success. "Without Metal Blade, there is a damn good chance we never would've made it out of L.A," says Slayer's Kerry King. "That was the one bit of luck we needed. You can be the most awesome band on the scene, and if no one notices you, you don't catch on. And Brian Slagel is still one of the biggest metalheads I know!" This genuine love and devotion to metal is central to the relationship many of the artists have with Metal Blade, and King Diamond credits much of its relevance and strength to this passion. "I refer to it as having 'boots on the ground'," the mighty Dane states. "It's not like a major label where some people might be into what you're doing but a lot of them just see it as a job – there's a genuine love for metal there. Through staying true to that and doing their own thing they've carved out a very specific niche that they control, and as an artist it's wonderful to be a part of that."over the years. Clearly without those people we couldn't do what we do, and to everyone out there who has helped us along by being a fan we are so very grateful to you."

Read more: http://www.metalblade.com/us/about-us/

Ochelie Soroki plays pagan dark folk, based on slavic old traditional songs as well as
Norse mythology.

Ochelie Soroki participants share a common interest in the culture of the ancient peoples, which is an endless source of inspiration for the music group experiments. The musicians are revealing deep connections of different cultures through music as a universal language.

Musicians assign a special role to the atmosphere 
of their performances: the mesmerizing voice of Uliana Shulepina and Elizabeth Solovieva intertwined with the sound of many ethnic instruments, immersing the listener in a journey through time from our day to ancient ages of the Northern Kingdom.

North. For musicians of "Ochelie Soroki" this word has its sacred meaning. The North, in their view, it is not so much a geographical concept, but rather a Spirit of the earth, a storehouse of ancient knowledge, magical space.


Вдохновением для творчества коллектива является традиционная культура славян и народов Севера, скандинавская мифология и русские народные сказки.

Участников "Очелье Сороки" объединяет интерес к культуре древних народов, что и является бесконечным источником вдохновения для музыкальных экспериментов группы. 
Музыканты идут по пути выявления глубинных связей разных культур через музыку, как универсальный язык.
В репертуаре коллектива собраны композиции, основанные на славянских обрядовых календарных песнях, распевы на древних северо-западных диалектах, в музыкальном оформлении которых звучат отголоски скандинавской мифологии и северные мотивы, в сопровождении этнических инструментов (давул, йоухикко, варган, колесная лира, калюка, бузуки, псалтирь, хакасский бубен, бисерница).

С 2012 "Очелье Сороки" выступает в роли творческой мастерской с одноимённым названием. В марте 2013 года состоялась премьера музыкального спектакля " Сказка про живую Воду".

В 2015 году музыканты Очелье Сороки представили релиз дебютного альбома
под названием "Северное Царство".


Постоянный состав: 

Павел Боев - бузуки, йоухикко, колесная лира, саз, гусли, семплер 

Ульяна Шулепина - вокал, перкуссия, 
флейта, варган, хакаский бубен, псалтирь

Елизавета Соловьёва - вокал, перкуссия, варган, бисерница

Александр Брагин - давул, перкуссия


Websites:

http://vk.com/ocheliesoroki
https://www.facebook.com/OchelieSoroki
http://www.youtube.com/user/OchelieSoroki/feed
https://soundcloud.com/ochelie_soroki
https://twitter.com/OchelieSoroki

Fuorta is the artist name of Jesper Olesen from Southern Denmark who was born into a world of music .

Being surrounded by a family of musicians, his father introduced him to various styles of sounds right from a very early age .

At age 13 his brother exposed him to the magical sound of Goa trance and he finally found a soundscape that he felt a very special connection to .This connection instilled a curiosity and a need to further explore this fascinating music .

This exploration eventually led him to discover the mystical frequencies of the psychedelic sub genre known as forest music.

Fuorta continues to further explore the sound with his own production with the aim of engineering a very distinctive style that is tuned for your mind and your feet staying true to the enchanted vibrations of the forest.

For contact: jesperolesenmusic@gmail.com

Management:
American International Artists, Inc.
Cynthia B. Herbst, President
+1 (518) 686-0972
Cynthia@aiArtists.com

Much like songbird Edith Piaf, Madeleine Peyroux spent her teenage years busking the busy streets of Paris. Just like the ‘little sparrow’, Madeleine befriended the city’s street musicians and made its Latin quarter her first performing stage. Years later, Peyroux would cite iconic Piaf as an influence on her music and record a rendition of the classic La Vie En Rose, soulfully capturing the tune’s romanticism and melancholy.
 
Born in Athens, Georgia in 1974, Madeleine “grew up in a house filled with music” and from an early age “instinctively realised music’s soothing power” but it was her teenage years in the French capital that turned the childhood notion into an all-consuming vocation for life.

Young Madeleine moved to Paris with her mother in 1987 following her parents divorce. “To soothe me during the upheaval”, she recalls, “I was given a guitar and took to playing in the streets almost immediately.”

Thirty years after her formative busking days Peyroux is the proud curator of nine beguiling albums and an accomplished performer with sell out worldwide tours under her belt. Her atmospheric version of Serge Gainsborough’s La Javanaise was used in the soundtrack of Oscar Winner The Shape of Water and her countless accolades
include the coveted BBC International Artist Of The Year honour.
 
Madeleine’s thirst for creative exploration is unfading and her willingness to face creative challenges remains as solid now as it was three decades ago.

With endearing passion and great curiosity the unstoppable genre-defying virtuoso continues her search for the good and examines life with the treasured William Congreve belief that Music has charms to soothe the savage beast.
 
Madeleine might attribute her success to “mostly luck” but to the industry and loyal fans alike, it is the immense talent and utter dedication to her craft that shines through.
“Peyroux is a tremendous talent and almost a total intuitive” reflects Larry Klein, “she has the capacity to get the magic. When she sings and plays her guitar, great things happen.”

Ludovico Einaudi is known the world over through films and TV. His music has featured in titles including Black Swan, Doctor Zhivago, This is England and many more. In 2011 his track I Giorni was played on Radio 1, and his haunting melodies are timeless in their beauty.

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