Malignant hints at final year

[xdementia]

Just a news update:

Greetings all,
Not going to get nostalgic here (I'm too jaded and cynical for that at this point), but I will tell you that the near 25 year run of Malignant is close to coming to an end. Apathy and indifference seem to have taken their toll, as has an increase in postage, and based on its current trajectory, the label and mailorder can no longer sustain itself. In a last ditch effort to reverse course, I've marked down a sizable amount of tape and vinyl inventory, as well as the majority of Malignant releases, so my suggestion to you, is to support and browse while you can, as the future is not guaranteed beyond the new year. Thanks to those that continued to support. All for now. Perhaps further communication from me in the coming weeks, good, bad, or indifferent.
**IMPORTANTLY** I no longer accept credit cards. The credit card tab on the website is not currently active and your sale will NOT go through. Paypal sales only, please.

https://www.malignantrecords.com/malignantpage

[Zeno Marx]

A sad day if that indeed happens; though I'm not much of a customer anymore.  I'm part of the problem.  Remains a top tier label and an even better distro.

[Andrew McIntosh]

We seem to be living in a post-nostalgia world.

Good.

And unless Malignant takes down the Bandcamp page, the music is still available to anyone who wants it.

https://malignantrecs.bandcamp.com

[C601]

Ah shit I hope not! Will put in a sizeable order on pay day

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Half of people deleted their replies of the thread..
It was theotherjohn who hinted for necessity of topic what deals with... was it changes with running label? Possibilities of current times? Can't remember now.

Apathy and indifference seem to have taken their toll, as has an increase in postage, and based on its current trajectory, the label and mailorder can no longer sustain itself.

My assumptions are, that type of music that Malignant releases is not the absolute hottest in USA. Nor CD format. Europe, hard to estimate. Nevertheless, shipping items to europe, even for trade, may not be economically good move. Whatever trade items you receive, are fairly expensive after all the costs. Reasonable if they move quick. Too expensive to sit in shelves for years.

Apathy and indifference probably related to not seeing any feedback for efforts? 25 years of work, while it may be strength in experience and contacts, it may be also baggage. Seeing times when you could actually move 1000 dark ambient CD's, retail discs all over the globe, and possibly even make decent income.... Now, advantage of new label might be that they have not even seen such moment and do not believe it could even exist. They might be fully happy of moving 100x of something.

Current times are basically situation where labels need to adapt to situation. If you can be sure 500 CD's won't more, one can do less. If there doesn't seem to be 20 customers for some import CD, then taking 3 can work out if postage doesn't become huge obstacle. Running label is thing where you can't really make any demands. You just do your thing based on possibilities. Downscaling things to meet the level of enthusiasm of both - yourself and the crowd, it is possible these days.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

What would be good, is actual listener/fan reviews/testimonies of what particular new Malignant releases have stood out and would be recommended.

For me, personal favorite of all the recent years stuff is: Brilliant STROMSTAD – New Devoted Human LP and CD. Don't remember if I wrote about in in this forum, but in Finnish language posting on Sarvilevyt, there was longer piece about it. Needless to say I appreciate Human Larvae - Behind Blinding Light CD. Digipak version of the LP that came out on Freak Animal. CONCRETE MASCARA – Perennial Disappointment CD is not as good as new tape, but certainly release to grab. BEYOND ENCLOSURE – Dungeon of Total Void CD is good CD too. Been somewhat surprised how little copies it has sold. 5USD from Malignant! Don't be fool to miss it. Andre Coelho of the now defunct Sektor 304 working on this duo, material being far less musical, s/m themed electronics.

[bitewerksMTB]

Jason posted on  Facebook yesterday:

"Rumors of my demise (as initiated by me) are perhaps premature at this point. That was a great 10 days of sales and it definitely helped things get back to a healthier realm, albeit, there's still some work to be done. That being said, it allowed me to move forward, and the coming weeks will see new releases from Phragments, MORAL ORDER, and The Black Scorpio Underground. I'll also have a longer overdue mailorder update coming within the next few days (maybe a bit longer, depending on what does or doesn't show up at the PO Box).
Relatedly, I've been so busy packing orders that correspondence has been neglected, and I will make a point of getting back to everyone as soon as I'm able. Cheers, and thanks again."

[Zeno Marx]

I can see why the original communique could rub people the wrong way.  I'm assuming this is why, at least in part, some posts have been erased by the posters.  If I'm wrong, sorry.  Admittedly hypocritical, I've reacted in similar fashion in the past to other such public letters, but because **I**value Malignant, that was not my reflex.  The problem is with many humans:  if it affects us, it's a big deal, and if not, fuck 'em.

of recent releases, Sphäre Sechs and Phelios are very good ambient, but I find that fella interesting overall.  Martyria gives a nod to ethno-ambient and the likes of Voice of Eye type atmosphere.  The Himukalt LP is really good industrial heavy electronics.  The Of Earth And Sun album from a couple years ago is top quality and inhabits that area of folky clattering ambient not all that far removed from something you'd hear on Aural Hypnox.

[MyrtleLake]

The overwhelming standout for me is Climax Denial, "Dehumanizing Environments" (2015). It is an outlier in Alex Kmet's discography for its scarcity of vocals. Hence, it gains something of a dread / death / dark ambient feel. A perfect match to the label. The recent False Mirror, "SIGINT" (2018) is a striking dark ambient achievement for its superior blend of natural field recordings and electronics. It is hard for me to verbalize the nuances which exemplify maturity and command of this genre of music, yet SIGINT showcases them expertly.

One disadvantage to this musical niche is its subtlety, lengthy compositions, requirement of focused listening and repeated plays to unpack. The latest harsh-noise tape averaging twenty minutes is instantly emotive, energizing. Compare that to an hour or more album seamlessly built into a single composition. The strengths are slow to reveal themselves and deeply contemplative. From a sales point of view, those are very different places with very different customer aspects.

Malignant is unique for its inability to be pigeonholed, which may have developed into a sales disadvantage; I don't know. I consider it a strength. The distribution carries labels and releases not seen elsewhere (or only very selectively) in USA mail-orders:  Cryo Chamber, L-White, Eibon, etc. The Malignant label itself spans a wide landscape of sounds. I primarily think of it as "dark ambient;" however, it does not surprise to see others refer to other genres (reply #5 above, for example).

[Zeno Marx]

One disadvantage to this musical niche is its subtlety, lengthy compositions, requirement of focused listening and repeated plays to unpack. The latest harsh-noise tape averaging twenty minutes is instantly emotive, energizing. Compare that to an hour or more album seamlessly built into a single composition. The strengths are slow to reveal themselves and deeply contemplative. From a sales point of view, those are very different places with very different customer aspects.

Nor CD format.

Right ON, both of yous.

[bogskaggmannen]

Malignant is unique for its inability to be pigeonholed, which may have developed into a sales disadvantage

Is there actually any labels out there nowadays that sell "well"? Hospital? Tesco, maybe, to some extent. May be that they (meaning most labels around) already developed that sale strategy that Mikko was mentioning, like knowing the target audience vs. edition sizes.

I myself always had a tendency to follow labels output in both "good or bad weather"... (earlier it was things like CMI, now maybe, hmmm... La Scie Doree?) but I have the feeling there's not that many doing this...? Maybe easier then to follow labels like F&V that has a more straightforward and simplistic approach visually and musically. You can buy things in good confidence its something you enjoy. (Maybe its just my preconceptions regarding F&V though)

[l.b.]

The Himukalt LP

FUCK yeah total crusher

[ConcreteMascara]

What would be good, is actual listener/fan reviews/testimonies of what particular new Malignant releases have stood out and would be recommended.

For me, personal favorite of all the recent years stuff is: Brilliant STROMSTAD – New Devoted Human LP and CD.

the STROMSTAD LP is a great place to start. One of my favorite releases from last year and the quality of the physical product shows what having the money of a bigger label can do. Yen Pox's release from 2016 was killer too. I never heard anything prior from the group, so I have no frame of reference, but for my taste it satisfies for passive and active listening. The Vomit Arsonist's "Only Red" was a good one! the Skin Area / Jarl LP was something unique too and it came with a big beautiful booklet. and the Dissecting Table / Sektor 304 LP was also a grower. but then I realize those last two are both from 2014! 4+ years already...

I guess that's part of the problem for me. Malignant does 1-2 releases a year that are must buys for me and then there's so much "dark ambient" stuff I can't even muster up the energy to check out. I've heard the Leila Abdul-Rauf CDs are supposed to be really good but I haven't even heard them. looking at the entire Malignant catalog it seems like the release schedule really picked up in 2008 and then never slowed down, so maybe things got stretched thin? Regardless, as both a customer and an artist on the label, I've had nothing but good experiences with Jason, so I hope everything works out with the situation.

all time label favorites are:
Sektor 304 - Soul Cleansing CD & Subliminal Actions CD
STROM.ec - Divine Legions Beyond Psyche CD
Sewer Goddess - Painlust CD
STROMSTAD - New Devoted Human LP

[MyrtleLake]

A difference worth pointing out is raised above: the quality and step above in physical product. It is not uncommon for releases to have thick, detailed booklets and / or large, fold-out digipaks. A rarity today and undoubtedly costly. It does make the physical release especially worthwhile in my opinion as opposed to a black / white format choice between download or CD—-or the CD nothing more than an archive copy for a digital file.