| Southern Lord | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | April 1998 |
| Founder | Greg Anderson |
| Distributors | Universal Music/Virgin (United States),Southern (Europe) |
| Genre | Extreme metal,experimental,heavy metal,hardcore punk |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Los Angeles,California |
| Official website | www |
Southern Lord is an Americanheavy metal record label that was founded in 1998 byGreg Anderson. It initially specialized inexperimental metal: particularlydoom metal,stoner rock, anddrone metal. The label later expanded its line-up to include artists fromblack metal,hardcore punk andcrust punk bands.
Before co-founding their own record labelGreg Anderson andStephen O'Malley were friends and bandmates inThorr's Hammer andBurning Witch. The pair formed a new band namedSunn O))) in 1998 and moved toLos Angeles. They started Southern Lord as a way to have control over the releases of their own recordings.[1]
Southern Lord's first release was the CD version (previously released as a cassette) of Thorr’s Hammer‘sDommedagsnatt-- a doom/death metal album with Norwegian lyrics. The second release was: Burning Witch‘sCrippled Lucifer-- a compilation CD of the band's first two EPs.[2]
Southern Lord released material by Anderson and O'Malley's latest band,Sunn O))) in 2002. Sunn O))) was later reviewed several times byBen Ratliff ofThe New York Times.[3][4][5]
The label's roster continued to grow with notable doom releases such as Warhorse'sAs Heaven Turns to Ash, Place of SkullsNailed and With Vision, as well as albums from Anderson's band Goatsnake. It also expanded its musical palate releasing music by: Darkest Hour, Orcustus, and Dave Grohl‘s side projectProbot.[6]
The band Earth joined the Southern Lord family in 2005—continuing Southern Lord's involvement in drone and doom music.[6]
Releases from Earth, Sunn O))) (including the heavily laudedMonoliths & Dimensions), and a series ofBoris 7″s to go along with the albumSmile took place at the end of the decade.[7]
