About

I was never the same after hearing ‘Sweet Leaf’ as a 13 year old kid. Then it was Hawkwind, The Dead Kennedys, Rudimentary Peni and John Peel’s radio show late in the evening, followed by the burgeoning thrash metal scene of the mid-eighties . I started writing a goofy cut-and-paste fanzine called ‘Go Die’ in 1987 which I used to sell at hardcore gigs across the Midlands. Then after a long hiatus I started writing reviews and articles for The Sleeping Shaman in the summer of 2008. This got me back into a scene I had never really left.

Head of Crom is the name of my record label, based where I live near Macclesfield in Cheshire. I founded the label in March 2010, after harbouring a long-held desire to emulate the individuality and success of labels such as SST, Earache, Southern Lord and Sub Pop. Named after the mystic stone icon described in Alan Garner’s intriguing novel ‘Thursbitch’, Head of Crom records aims to bring the finest noise to the ears of the down-trodden populace. If I had a mission statement it would be to produce high quality, limited edition vinyl runs by some of the heaviest and most interesting bands around, and with art work by some of the most exciting new artists around too.

CROM1: The first release on the label was a compact disc containing sixty minutes of hatefully visceral and superbly structured post-hardcore. Working with Future Noise of Manchester, this album was the vitriolic juggernaut ‘Twilight Of The Gods’, crafted by infamous Glasgow hate-mongers Black Sun. This remarkable and criminally over-looked album first went on release in September 2010, and then enjoyed wider distribution from February 2011. If you haven’t heard it yet, please grab a copy. It is simply breath-taking. If Black Sun were from NYC then this would have sold like crack. Amazing band.

CROM2: Fast forward to May 2011 and the long awaited split vinyl album by Conan and Slomatics rolls out of the pressing plant. Limited to just 300 copies, this beautifully packaged long player (later released on CD by Burning World) quickly established itself as a very collectible piece of plastic indeed, evidenced by the fact that all copies had  virtually sold out by the end of 2011. Conan are now poised to release their second long player on Burning World early in 2012, and fingers crossed, Slomatics should be releasing their third opus on Crom at some point this year too.

CROM3: After selling out on Throne records, ‘Horseback Battle Hammer’, the awesome 2010 debut by Conan, was re-pressed and released by Crom in July 2011, on limited edition (300) white vinyl, with the original Tony Roberts cover in black and white. I have to say, its fucking gorgeous.

Just as sure as the earth revolves around the sun more releases will follow. Looks like CROM4 is going to be a split between two very fine new bands from the South East. CROM5 could well be the next Slomatics album. Stay tuned.

Adam Stone.