Relapse Records is a heavy metal music heavyweight that has been around for over 30 years. From humble beginnings in 1990, the label started in the basement of Matthew F. Jacobson’s parents’ house, actively releasing grindcore 7 inches. When co-founder William Yurkiewicz Jr joined forces with Jacobson, the aim of Relapse was to release high-quality, professionally packaged records. Moving the headquarters to Pennsylvania, the label soon transformed itself to encompass a myriad of subgenres and artists worldwide, always bearing the same commitment of championing extreme music. Grindcore and death metal bands such as Incantation, Repulsion, and Amorphis flourished throughout the early-to-late 90s, which have since garnered them a reputation as legendary bands within the genre.
Relapse is known not to give in to trends and has been able to branch out into unorthodox and miscellaneous corners of metal music while simultaneously sticking true to their roots and continuing to unleash brutal strains onto listeners. In recent years, the label has continued to evolve, with artists such as Nothing, Cloakroom, Full of Hell, and Primitive Man having found sizable triumphs on the label.
To celebrate the label’s consistent and outstanding output over the last three decades, we reflect on Relapse’s rich history, introducing several new Essential Edition exclusive vinyl pressings and limited markdowns.
Some of the essential editions that have been introduced include the thrilling concept album loosely based on the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. Leviathan was the second and final album from Mastodon for Relapse Records and is an “unabated testimonial” to the American heavy metal band’s earthshaking ability to rock. Available on Rough Trade Essential Edition milky clear and kelly green splatter vinyl, exclusive to Rough Trade. Another album that has been introduced as an Essential Edition by the label is Yellow and Green by Baroness, which arrived a decade into the Savannah-based progressive sludge metal band’s career.
According to Philippe “Pip” Soret, the Head of Global Sales & Distribution at Relapse, every single person at Relapse is a music fan first, which flows through to the work that they do. Beyond that, Relapse is lucky to have the best production team in the business, who approach each record as a challenge, which invariably results in something special
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