Hydra Head Records is an independent record label which specializes in heavy metal music, founded in New Mexico by Aaron Turner (the frontman of Isis) in 1993. It has two imprints; Hydra Head Noise Industries, which specialises in experimental and noise music, and another entitled Tortuga Records.
Hydra Head was founded in 1993 as a distribution company while Turner was still in high school. In 1995, he moved to Boston to attend art school. In late 1995, he was handed a demo by local band Vent. That seven inch would be the first record released on Hydra Head. The label grew to accommodate local bands such as Roswell, Corrin, Piebald and Converge, and after Turner graduated from college in 1999, it became a full-time endeavour. Hydra Head recently relocated to Los Angeles, California from their former home in Boston, Massachusetts.
Some of the bands signed to the label include Cave In, Xasthur, Kayo Dot, Boris, and Jesu. Its discography includes Botch, Khanate, and Harkonen, who were all signed to Hydra Head prior to their respective disbandings.
On September 11th 2012, Turner announced the "imminent demise of Hydra Head Records", stating that they will take their first steps into shutdown "this December, at which point we are cutting off new releases from the label." They will continue to stay operational, maintaining their back catalogue to pay off their "rather sizeable debts."
Read more about Hydra Head Records: Current Roster, Past Artists
Famous quotes containing the words hydra head, hydra, head and/or records:
“A part, a large part, of travelling is an engagement of the ego v. the world.... The world is hydra headed, as old as the rocks and as changing as the sea, enmeshed inextricably in its ways. The ego wants to arrive at places safely and on time.”
—Sybille Bedford (b. 1911)
“The hydra of corruption is only scotched, not dead. An investigation kills and it and its supporters dead. Let this be had.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“Never, my dear Sir, do you take it into your head that I do not love you; you may settle yourself in full confidence both of my love and my esteem; I love you as a kind man, I value you as a worthy man, and hope in time to reverence you as a man of exemplary piety.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
“It’s always the generals with the bloodiest records who are the first to shout what a hell it is. And it’s always the war widows who lead the Memorial Day parades.”
—Paddy Chayefsky (1923–1981)