Relapse Records facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Relapse Records
Founded	1990 (1990)
Founder	Matthew F. Jacobson
Distributor(s)	The Orchard (U.S.), INgrooves/Fontana (Canada), eOne Music (worldwide)
Genre	Extreme metal, heavy metal, hardcore punk, metalcore, indie rock, electronic, experimental, ambient, industrial, noise
Country of origin	U.S.
Location	Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania

Relapse Records is an American independent record label. It is based in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. Matthew F. Jacobson started the company in 1990. This label is known for releasing music from many grindcore, death metal, metalcore, and sludge metal bands.

The Story of Relapse Records

How It All Started

Matthew F. Jacobson began Relapse Records in August 1990. He started it in his parents' basement in Aurora, Colorado. The first two songs released were by a band called Face of Decline. After that came Apparition 7" [RR003]. Soon, three death metal bands joined: Deceased, Suffocation, and Incantation. These bands became very popular on the label.

Joining Forces and Growing Up

Later, Matthew met William Yurkiewicz Jr. William became his partner in the record label. William had his own label. It was going to release music from bands like General Surgery and Exit-13. Matthew and William decided to work together. Their goal was to release high-quality, professional extreme music.

In 1991, the label moved its main office. It went to Millersville, Pennsylvania. In 1992, Relapse Records grew even more. They started a new part of the company called Release Entertainment. This new label focused on experimental, ambient, industrial, and noise music.

Reaching Out to Fans

As the company grew, it also started a mail-order service. This service became the biggest place in the United States to get extreme metal music. Fans could buy many different recordings and merchandise. They could also find music magazines from all over the world.

Over the years, Relapse Records kept growing. They signed more important artists. These artists played many different types of music. In 1996, Relapse launched the Resound Music Resource Guide. This guide helped fans learn about the label's bands. It had interviews and reviews. It also worked as a mail-order catalog.

Expanding and Celebrating Music

In 1998, Relapse opened an office in Berlin, Germany. They also made a deal for music distribution in Germany. In 2003, Relapse held its own music festival. It was called the Relapse Contamination Festival. It took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Many Relapse artists performed there.

In 2000, the label moved again. This time it went to Upper Darby. This town is near Philadelphia. They also planned to open a physical record store. In June 2001, the store opened near South Street in Philadelphia.

In 2010, Relapse made a deal with Eric Greif. This deal allowed Relapse to manage the music of Chuck Schuldiner. This included the bands Death and Control Denied. However, the album Symbolic was not part of this deal. Its rights stayed with Roadrunner Records.

On August 5, 2011, Relapse announced a special partnership. They worked with Moshpit Tragedy Records. For 24 weeks, they offered one free MP3 album from the Relapse catalog each week. Fans could choose how much they wanted to pay for it.

Artists on Relapse Records

Current Artists

Former Artists

See Also

• List of record labels
• In Spanish: Relapse Records para niños