{{Short description|Defunct US record label}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2018}} {{Infobox record label <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Music --> | name = Hydra Head Records | image = Hydra Head Records.png | founded = {{start date|1993}} | defunct = 2020 | founder = Aaron Turner | status = Defunct | distributor = Redeye Distribution<ref name="redeye">{{cite web|url=http://www.redeyeusa.com/artist/166/news/6028/ |title=Hydra Head Records is welcomed to the Redeye Distribution family |publisher=Redeye Distribution |date=April 15, 2009 |access-date=February 14, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091031233321/http://www.redeyeusa.com/artist/166/news/6028 |archive-date=October 31, 2009}}</ref> | genre = {{hlist|Extreme metal|hardcore punk|experimental|noise|industrial}} | country = U.S. | location = New Mexico | website = {{URL|www.hydrahead.com}} }}

'''Hydra Head Records''' was an independent record label specializing in extreme metal music, founded in New Mexico by Aaron Turner (the frontman of Isis) in 1993. It had another imprint, Hydra Head Noise Industries, which specialized in experimental and noise music. Turner announced he was winding the label down in 2012. In 2020, the label removed its catalog from Spotify and returned its album rights back to several artists.

==History== Hydra Head was founded in 1993 as a distribution company while Turner was still in high school.<ref name="DIY Beginnings">{{cite web|last=Hill|first=Mike|title=Isis and Hydra Head's Aaron Turner on DIY Beginnings – Exclusive Interview|url=http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/04/26/isis-and-hydra-heads-aaron-turner-on-diy-beginnings-exclusiv/|work=Noise Creep|publisher=AOL|access-date=June 30, 2011|date=April 26, 2011}}</ref> In 1995, he moved to Boston to attend art school. In late 1995, he was handed a demo by Wichita Kansas band Vent. That seven-inch single would be the first record released on Hydra Head.<ref name="DIY Beginnings" /> 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 endeavor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.punknews.org/labels/hydrahead|title=Punknews.org <nowiki>&#124;</nowiki> About Hydra Head Records|publisher= Punknews.org|access-date=September 1, 2009}}</ref> In 2011, Hydra Head relocated to Los Angeles, California, from its former home in Boston, Massachusetts.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}

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 active at the time of their signings.{{When|date=August 2022}}

On September 11, 2012, Turner announced the "imminent demise of Hydra Head Records", stating that Hydra Head would take its first steps into shutdown "this December, at which point we are cutting off new releases from the label." The label would continue to stay operational, maintaining its back catalogue to pay off its "rather sizeable debts."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hydraheadlines.blogspot.co.at/2012/09/the-imminent-demise-of-hydra-head.html|title=The Imminent Demise of Hydra Head Records|access-date=September 11, 2012}}</ref> The label released ''Worship is the Cleansing of the Imagination'', a split album between JK Flesh & Prurient.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

The Hydra Head office in Los Angeles was closed in May 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-05-17 |title=Hydra Head Records to Close Los Angeles Office This Month |url=https://www.metalsucks.net/2013/05/17/hydra-head-records-to-close-los-angeles-office-this-month/ |access-date=2022-08-24 |website=MetalSucks |language=en}}</ref>

In 2017, Hydra Head released Oxbow's ''Thin Black Duke'', a long-germinating album that was slated to come out on Hydra Head and had been unable to find another label since Hydra Head's winding down. Discussing the album, Turner appeared open to releasing more albums "on a case-by-case basis".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/04/13/oxbow-feature/|title=Oxbow's Avant-Rock Experiments With Light and Shadow Oxbow|date=April 13, 2017|publisher=Bandcamp|access-date=June 21, 2017}}</ref> However, in a 2018 interview, Turner expressed disinterest in doing Hydra Head as a full-time label again, saying that "...it would mean me stopping a lot of other things that I’m currently doing, and I don’t want to do that."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://riotfest.org/2018/01/autodiscography-aaron-turner|title=Autodiscography: Aaron Turner on Isis, Hydra Head, and like a million other projects|date=January 29, 2018|publisher=Riot Fest|access-date=November 16, 2021}}</ref>

The label released ''Final Transmission'' by Cave In, released on June 7, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cave In Announce New Album Final Transmission |url=https://www.kerrang.com/cave-in-announce-new-album-final-transmission/ |access-date=2022-05-30 |website=Kerrang! |date=April 8, 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

In 2020, the label's catalogue was removed from Spotify, and the album rights to several of the label's bands were given back to the artists. Several artists such as Cave In, Discordance Axis and Botch signed with other record labels such as Relapse, Willowtip and Sargent House, respectively, to help reissue their back catalogs.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Sacher |first=Andrew |title=Botch sign to Sargent House, add catalog to streaming, vinyl & more coming in 2022 |url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/botch-sign-to-sargent-house-add-catalog-to-streaming-vinyl-more-coming-in-2022/ |access-date=2022-05-30 |website=BrooklynVegan |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-07-27 |title=News: Cave In Signs with Relapse Records, Re-release Majority of Digital Discography |url=https://newnoisemagazine.com/news-cave-in-sign-to-relapse-records-re-release-majority-of-digital-discography/ |access-date=2022-05-30 |website=New Noise Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-06 |title=Willowtip Reissuing Influential DISCORDANCE AXIS Album 'The Inalienable Dreamless' |url=https://mhf-mag.com/news/willowtip-reissuing-influential-discordance-axis-album-the-inalienable-dreamless/ |access-date=2022-05-30 |website=Metalheads Forever Magazine |language=en}}</ref> A press release on Botch's signing with Sargent House stated that Hydra Head folded in 2020.<ref name=":0" />

As of April 2022, the label continued to sell its remaining stock via Bigcartel.com.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hydra Head Industries |url=https://www.facebook.com/hydrahead/ |access-date=2022-05-30 |website=www.facebook.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hydra Head (@HydraHead) / Twitter |url=https://twitter.com/hydrahead |access-date=2022-05-30 |website=Twitter |language=en}}</ref>

== Current roster == {{Div col}} *27 *Agoraphobic Nosebleed *The Austerity Program *Big Business *Black Face *Boris *Cable *Cave In *Cavity *Craw *Dälek *Daughters *Discordance Axis *Drawing Voices *Everlovely Lightningheart *Greymachine *Gridlink *Harkonen *Harvey Milk *Helms Alee *Heresi *Jesu *Kayo Dot *Keelhaul *Khanate *Khlyst *Knut *Logh *Lotus Eaters *Lustmord *Mamiffer *Merzbow *Nihill *The Octave Museum *Oxbow *Pet Genius *Phantomsmasher *Pyramids *Torche *Xasthur *Zozobra {{Div col end}}

===Tortuga=== *The Gersch *Old Man Gloom *Scissorfight *5ive *Tusk

== Past artists == {{Div col}} *The Abandoned Hearts Club<ref>{{Cite web|last=Julien|first=Alexandre|author-link=Alexander Julien|date=October 20, 2009|title=The Abandoned Hearts Club Official Biography|url=http://www.abridgedpause.com/theabandonedheartsclub|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018184852/http://www.abridgedpause.com/theabandonedheartsclub|archive-date=October 18, 2017|access-date=September 6, 2020|website=Abridged Pause Blog|language=en-US}}</ref> *Age of Reason *Barbaro *Botch *Boxer Rebellion *Buzzov*en *Cattlepress *Coalesce *Converge *Corrin *Cult of Luna *The Dillinger Escape Plan *Drowningman *Isis *Jesuit *Kid Kilowatt *Mare *Miltown *Neurosis *Pelican *Piebald *Roswell *Seven Day Curse *Six Going on Seven *SOHNS *Soilent Green *Sunn O))) *The Hollomen *The Never Never *These Arms Are Snakes *Today Is the Day *Unionsuit *Vent {{Div col end}}

== See also == * Hydra Head Records discography * Southern Lord Records

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links == * [http://www.hydrahead.com Official site] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20071224130932/http://bostonphoenix.com/archive/music/99/02/04/hydrahead_records.html Interview with Aaron Turner]

{{Isis (band)}}

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Category:American independent record labels Category:Record labels established in 1993 Category:Alternative rock record labels