You started off pretty quickly with releasing considerably strong stuff, what's the main aim of The End records? What made you think about establishing a metal label? Were you active in the underground before you set up this label? Yes, it seems that we were off to a quick start but actually before we announced ourselves we were working quietly trying to organize the label and set it up. We decided to start the label in the summer of 1997 and spend the next five months writing the plans, scheduling campaigns, expanding our database, designing a website, etc. So when out first release came out in 1998 we were already in good shape and were able to functions in all the levels. The decision to start a label came after Sergey Makhotkin, whom I've known from college, came to my house and gave me tapes of two bands he brought back from his trip in Russia. Those were Mental Home and Nokturnal Mortum. He told me they were looking for exposure outside of Russia and he asked me to listen to them and give him my opinion. Of course, I liked them very much and told him I would help him out to promote those two bands. But then the next time he came to my house I had some demos of some young bands like Sculptured and Odes Of Ecstasy. I played him the songs and he liked both. So in a matter of days we had in our hands 4 talented bands and we just decided to just go ahead and start a label. My only metal activity before starting the label was with Ill Literature magazine, which I still contribute on a frequent basis. Was it difficult in the beginnings and do you make any money on your releases now? Have you started directly with CD's? Yes, the beginning was difficult and it is still very tough. We started with no previous experience in how to run a label but at least we both have good business backgrounds and we both like metal music very much! We are yet to make any profit as any money we make we put back in the label in an attempt to give a better promotion to our bands. We have started with CDs as in the USA is the predominate standard. There is no vinyl here and tapes are getting less and less popular every day. What qualities must a band have to be noticed by The End Records? Originality!! We like bands that are original and maybe a bit obscure! Of course they have to be metal and we do not mind if they offer some good solid melody too! One thing we attempt to do is with every release to present something different; meaning if we have Mental Home we do not want to sign another band that sounds like them. Tell me more about the people behind The End Records. You were not born American, were you? Well basically it is me and Sergey Makhotkin. I was born in Cyprus and Sergey is from Russia. In addition we have Denis Gerasimenko (who's from Ukraine) and he is responsible for most of our designs and we use freelancers or other companies to help with other duties of the label, i.e., we now hire a radio promotion company for our radio campaigns in the USA. Do you have a world wide distribution? I have never seen your products sold for instance in my country. Do you try to spread your wings also over the European market and what for example about Asian countries? Our products are distributed in over 30 countries and we are getting distribution in more and more countries. We are still working with many underground companies and maybe that's why you do not see our release in big shops. In your area we have good contacts with Redblack and also Sheer Records and M.A.B. obtained some of our titles. In Europe we have distribution in most countries (i.e. Germany, Italy, Denmark, Austria, Greece, Spain, etc.). We also just signed with M.M.P. who promised to make tape versions for Eastern Europe on some of our titles but it is yet to be finalized. In Asia we have distribution in Japan, Korea, Tawain and Singapore. Our distributors are mentioned on our website.

Do you send your promo stuff to all magazines that contact you? What about web 'zines and e-mail newsletters, do you send your promo stuff to such people? We try to send to magazines that seem to be committed and take their role seriously. We also send to a lot of web-zines as we find the internet to be very effective when it comes to creating awareness. And considering that metal is a universal music then the internet deserves an even higher momentum. Do you read metal magazines and what, if any, are your favourite 'zines? I get tons of magazines for around the world. Unfortunately many are written in languages I cannot understand as I only speak Greek and English. My favorite metal magazine is the Greek Metal Hammer (I read this for about 15 years now) and when it comes to fanzines I would have to say Ill Literature and a new USA zine called Lamentations Of The Flame Princess. Big metal labels sometimes organise gigs or tours for their bands, while the smaller ones can't usually afford it, what about you? Well, to organize a good tour you need a tour manager, a strong package of bands, and then be able to afford touring equipment, a van for the band, etc. We definitely want to put our bands on tours but it very expensive. Still we are starting slowly and our first step is to bring Mental Home to the USA for the Milwaukee Metalfest (the USA premier Metal Festival) where Epoch Of Unlight will also participate. You have recently signed a deal with a Czech band called Love History, who were pretty unlucky with a label they chose before. It is interesting that you pick bands from countries like Russia and the Czech republic, which is not a very common practice among bigger metal labels. Do you believe that the quality dwells everywhere? I honestly feel that bands from Eastern Europe have tons of talent and potential. These bands just do it because metal is part of their life not because there is a trend going on. Many bands from Western Europe have gotten spoiled and thus lost their energy and their willingness to create original music. Thus I am very glad that good bands emerge from Eastern Europe and we will do our best to promote the ones that get signed to The End. Please give me a complete list of bands signed to The End Records. Can we expect any new bands signed to The End Records in the future? Ok, here we go: Mental Home (Russia) - Atmospheric Dark Metal Nokturnal Mortum (Ukraine) - Lunar Black Metal Odes Of Ecstasy (Greece) - Classical/Symphonic Death Metal Sculptured(Usa) - Avant-Garde Progressive Death Metal Scholomance(Usa) - Orchestrated/Progressive Dark Metal Epoch Of Unlight (USA) - Melodic Black/Death Metal Agalloch(Usa) - Depressive Dark Metal Mistigo Varggoth Darkestra (Ukraine) - Apocalyptic Strangulating Metal Love History (Czech) - Emotional Technical Death Metal I think we have a very strong list of bands each unique and eclectic in their own way. For the next six months we will just concentrate on promotion and getting exposure to as many countries as possible. We do not have our eyes on any new bands at the moment but of course we listen to all the promos we receive because we come across something that we like. I guess that's all for this interview, is there anything you would like to add? I would like to express my gratitude for this great opportunity and the extensive questions. Anyone interested in our releases please get in touch or check our website (http://www.theendrecords.com ) which is very extensive and get updated all the time.