A Record Company For Us ATS'ers: Sumerian Records

here's the page: sumerianrecords.com... this is quickly becoming my favorite label...

check out some of the band names: Veil of Maya
The HAARP Machine
Born of Osirus (my fave on this particular list)
Lower Than Atlantis
I See Stars
Asking Alexandria
Betraying the Martyrs

(i will be checking out "The HAARP Machine" in October along with other bands "Rings of Saturn" and "Fleshgod Apocalypse")

Born of Osiris rocks!!!!!! Are the rest of the bands prog metal bands?

P.S. You heard of Animals As Leaders?

Periphery is another band that belongs to Sumerian records. They are the epitome of the SH!T! I seriously believe these bands are the future of rock/metal.

Lower Than Atlantis are awesome and are getting pretty big in the UK (so are Asking Alexandria to be fair). Also love how the Sumerian Records tagline is 'The Sphinx Is Real'

Yes! Periphery and Animals As Leaders are great too!! yeah, a lot of it is prog. rock, hardcore, etc. for those of you that don't know, Animals As Leaders is pretty much an instrumental band. they did a show in my town just recently...i would've gone to that, but had previous plans. a lot of the newer metal/hardcore bands are finding a way to not ruin their songs with their vocals...i'm not a fan of switching it up from a real hardcore voice into a whiney "i'm sad about girls" rant...i like manly vocals with sick breakdowns...i.e. The Acacia Strain

reply to post by MadMaxZombie


Personal story: please don't support this label. Support the BANDS on the label (by going to their shows and buying the CD/merch direct from the band), but not the label. My band has some history with this company; almost five years ago they asked us to join them, back when the biggest band on Sumerian was 'The Faceless' (good band, & original), they sent us a horrible contract that we tried to change but Sumerian made it explicit that the contract was "non-negotiable". We turned them down, because we were only teenagers at the time and we didn't want to sell away our music.

Fast forward to 2010, they once again asked us if we wanted to join them to put out our full-length called "Terror Plots" ... at first we were stoked, because over the past few years Sumerian's bands have gained momentum and were getting popular. But, to our dissatisfaction, we basically got the same contract that we were offered five years ago, and once again, it was non-negotiable. Against the recommendation of a couple of very competent entertainment lawyers, we agreed to sign with them because Sumerian's bands were gaining more recognition.

Meanwhile we had a few meetings with the owners Ash Avildsen and Jeff Cohen, in which we made small talk and they got to see us perform our songs live, the same songs on Terror Plots. So we spend months away in a studio recording, and then send the final mix to Sumerian only to not hear back from them for months and months... Finally we heard from a friend that is affiliated with Ash's booking company that they no longer wanted to put out the album. Only once we confronted Sumerian with this fact did they respond. "Needs to be heavier, more breakdowns", they told us that our music wasn't following current trends and we needed to make something "the kiddies can dance to". This is after they had already seen us play live and heard us play the exact same songs that we later sent them.

Years ago Ash sung in a good band in the VA/MD area called 'Reflux' in which the lyrics were ATS oriented. Anti-establishment and anti-NWO/TPTB. Sadly now Ash has joined the establishment that he once used his own creativity to slander. His daddy is an accomplished major movie producer and Ash used his resources to start this label and eventually mini-monopolized indie-metal labels in the U.S... Now Sumerian is one of only a small few (3-5) active indie-metal labels. If there is a decent metal band becoming popular in the US, they're probably on Sumerian.

I have played shows with literally 80-90% of Sumerian's lineup, and have heard nothing but horror stories about how the label deals with their bands. Oh, and as for the names of the bands being "esoteric" (i.e. HAARP Machine, Born of Osiris, etc.): I know for a fact that Ash has pushed his newly signed bands to change their names..to a name that Ash creates, of course. This is where Born of Osiris comes from. He has also written lyrics for Born of Osiris, among ABACABB and Too Pure To Die. This is why Sumerian's band names seem cohesive.
I personally believe he rejected our album out of spite, because we turned them down years ago and have never had a friendly relationship with them since. No matter, metal is not the genre to pursue if you're looking for big success. My band knows this and we're not in it for the big-time, we play because we're musicians and it's what we love, and we're not stopping. Since all this, we have been legally released of all Sumerian connections and have put out Terror Plots ourselves.

By the way, Periphery is their newest and best band, and just about the only band on Sumerian worth listening to. We're good friends with them and have played many a show together. Before they joined the label there was a distinct "Sumerian sound" characterized by the generic and incompetent riffing of Born of Osiris and Veil Of Maya. But now Periphery is starting to take over the world with their "djent" sound, which is comparable to a rehashed version of 8 stringed MESHUGGAH poly-meters and the such. Don't get me wrong, Periphery is awesome and much more original than most metal bands out there right now, but unfortunately there's a lot of lazy bands ripping off the djent...

Anyway, yeah. Nothing new, just another money-hungry and impersonal record label that is only looking after making themselves more and more money, NOT original/creative/progressive music. They're just playing off the 2012 trend with their name & label theme.

anyway, my band is This Time It's War. Stream Terror Plots for free here! find us on facebook and become our e-friend!

cool! thanks for the story. i'll check your band out too!