Feature / Music / Year End 2016
Pass The Mic: Record Labels on 2016

December 19, 2016

Pass The Mic: Record Labels on 2016
Pass The Mic: Record Labels on 2016

Halo of Flies Records

1. What are your top five albums that were released in 2016? (In order 1-5)

  1. High Spirits - Motivator
  2. Ultha - Converging Sins
  3. Helion Prime - s/t
  4. Klimt1918 - Sentimental/Jugend
  5. Void Omnia - Dying Light

2. What band did you discover in 2016 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? What made them significant?

This is a hard one. Because there's like 4 of 'em. But i'll go with two.

HIGH SPIRITS I knew of but had never heard before really, and the new LP is brilliant, uplifting heavy metal.

HELION PRIME I just found like 2 months ago randomly and they are modern power metal all about sci-fi, which is a perfect combination. 

I suppose both just make me happy and make me want to listen to and play heavy metal more than ever.

And to me thats more important than bands being groundbreaking, challenging, et al. I have my limits, I dont need you to push them for me.

3. How will you remember 2016? (In terms of music)

Tons of great bands and records, though perhaps so many that its impossible (even more than last year) to keep up.

I think this year I was tempted to buy music much more than in recent years. 

4. What can we look forward to from you in 2017?

A pile of records as usual.

  • Dakhma lp
  • Cloud rat / Crevasse split 7"
  • Hexis lp
  • Cloud rat / Disrotted split lp
  • Cloud rat / Moloch split lp
  • Archivist dlp
  • Khmer lp
  • Northless dlp
  • Protestant lp (maybe, we're terrible at being a band)
  • Svalbard lp

5. What records are you looking forward to most in 2017?

Primarily the ones above, but also anything new from CLOSET WITCH.

6. What would you like to see more of when it comes to music coverage websites (such as ours)?

In-depth features, longer interviews. Recently I've read some great interviews on a site I won't name and I really enjoy seeing the time taken to ask real questions of parties (bands/labels/whoever) that actually have something to say. I'm tired of hearing about how recording went, how your sound has changed. I want to care.

Skip to page View as a single page

— words by the SPB team • December 19, 2016

Main record photo by polyvinylchlorid.

Pass The Mic: Record Labels on 2016
Pass The Mic: Record Labels on 2016

Pages in this feature

  1. Opening page
  2. Andy (Tour Van Records)
  3. Brent Eyestone (Bleach Everything/Magic Bullet Records)
  4. Halo of Flies Records
  5. Jim Gies (Hip Kid Records)
  6. R. Loren (Handmade Birds)
  7. Slovenly Recordings / Black Gladiator
  8. Will Butler (To Live A Lie Records)

Series: Year End 2016

Our annual round-up of the best music of the year 2016.

More from this series

Related features

Scene Point Blank's Favorites: Year End (2016)

Music / Year End 2016 • January 16, 2017

As years go, 2016 was a cruel one. We lost tons of musical heroes: Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Sharon Jones and other iconic performers departed. Before they left us, though, we were treated to a few final pieces of music. Likewise, once-dormant bands returned to prove that their best wasn't … Read more

2016: A Year In Review

Music / Year End 2016 • January 16, 2017

Every year we ask record labels and artists what they thought of the last twelve months; we tell you the best albums of last year; and finally we offer you this, our roundup of other great music-related stuff you may have missed. In this year's instalment we share our favorite grower albums, … Read more

Pass The Mic: Artists on 2016

Music / Year End 2016 • December 30, 2016

It's the second half of our annual Pass The Mic feature and this time we're handing the microphone over to the bands and artists who brought us great music in 2016. We ask them to reflect on the year gone by and to share with us the sounds that shaped … Read more

More from this section

Guest List: Panopticon's definitive crust / hardcore / punk classics

Music / The Set List • April 24, 2024

Panopticon may be more widely known as a "metal" band - I use that term loosely because Panopticon is a lot more than the black metal base genre it derives from - yet founder Austin Lunn finds his inspiration from many different genres, punk and hardcore being one aspect of … Read more

Guest List: 10 Songs That Are Core To DeeCracks

Music / The Set List • April 8, 2024

Twenty years is a long time – much longer than many relationships last. So it’s an accomplishment when a band can stick together through life and social changes. DeeCracks, a poppy punk band from Austria, threw a two-day festival last year and released a 28-track retrospective to mark their anniversary … Read more

Only Death Is Real #24

Music / Only Death Is Real • April 8, 2024

Acathexis – Immerse (Amor Fati/Extraconscious Records) Acathexis’ self-titled debut from 2018 is one that still bears repeated listens, personally, many years later. With some of the best known and hardest working musicians within black metal behind the band, it was always clear that this is a band to watch. Featuring Jacob Buczarski, … Read more