Bindrune Recordings
Founded in Michigan, Bindrune Recordings started in 2000 by childhood friends, Marty Rytkonen and Scott Candley. The duo had been editors for Worm Gear Zine together prior to and following Candley's move to the west coast to run Crionic Mind Records. Rytkonen used the zine as a way to step into a behind-the-scenes role in music. Eventually, Marty and Scott formed Bindrune Recordings to bridge their cross-country gap and support lesser-known bands in extreme metal. Bindrune has mainly focused on, as Marty names it, "woodsy black metal," or black metal with large emphasis on atmospheric elements. It started with their first release, Shroud of Despondency's For Eternity Brings No Hope.
"Holding your first actual release in your hands really felt like something special and made the desire to keep doing it all consuming." Rytkonen described his feeling following the label's first release. Bindrune began to find its direction upon the arrival of Celestiial's Desolate North, an atmospheric/funeral doom band featuring Tanner Anderson and Tim Glenn (live member) of Obsequiae and Jason Walton, formerly of Agalloch. Bindrune found its first major release in Wodensthrone's Loss. The debut from the Sunderland, England quartet was the label's biggest moment for some time. From there, Bindrune's vision and roster only continued to grow. Bands like Falls of Rauros, Nechochwen, and Panopticon emerged in the label's ranks. The trio of bands became marquee names and strong sellers.
2016 was a very successful year for Bindrune Recordings as well. Their sub-label, Eihwaz Recordings, has begun to evolve into its own entity. Eihwaz released new albums from Pestifere, Vex, and Marsh Dweller. Meanwhile, Bindrune saw releases in Vukari's Divination, Stilla's Skuggflock (through European label, Nordvis), and Waldgeflüster's Ruinen. Additionally, there was a massive remastering and reworking of two of Panopticon's early albums, On the Subject of Mortality and Social Disservices. They were packaged into the two-disc Revisions of the Past. Rytkonen also mentioned some of the more "sadly overlooked" records from Bindrune over the last couple of years which included a release by Krigsgrav, Wilt, Infera Bruo, and Ahamkara.
The future is bright for Bindrune too. 2017 is still a work in progress for the label but Marty points towards new releases from some of the label's biggest names. Falls of Rauros will release Vigilance Perennial, their fourth full-length album. A split LP from Panopticon and Nechochwen is also due for release. This will pre-date an impending full-length effort from Panopticon. There will also be new albums from Saiva (released in conjunction with Nordvis), Paths (called In Lands Thought Lost) and, Obsidian Tongue with more to be announced throughout the year as Bindrune looks to expand their scope of music.
Bindrune Recordings can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Bandcamp or at their official website/shop.
