Did you know it’s been 10 years since Anathema Editions put out its first release?
To make the moment, we reached out to founder Terence Hannum to share some label history. In keeping with our “History 101” concept, SPB asked for anecdotes about 4 of the label’s releases and then Hannum picked out 4 more.
As he tells it:
Ten years is a landmark, even with my ambivalence about the music landscape and disdain for whatever shell of an industry it is. I put out what I like and am just as much game for a zine or a book as a cassette or lathe. I am fortunate a few weirdos think my weirdness is worth releasing something under 25-50 lathes or 100 cassettes out into the world. I’ll never hire a PR person, I do not maintain streaming for any artist, I just care about the physical thing, the art and artifact.
Terence Hannum
Further Desecrations
Lathe Cut, 7", Shape, S/Sided, Single, Ltd - AE001 2016
This was the first release on Anathemata Editions, I had been co-running Land of Decay with Andre from Locrian and we decided to stop doing that label after some great releases for our band Locrian but also Ash Borer, Serville Sect and so many more. I had a few things I was working on and kind of thought doing something more with art at the forefront would make more sense. This track eventually made it onto my album Impiety on umor rex records.
BRUTALISM
Symmetry Death
Lathe Cut, 7", Shape, S/Sided, Single, Ltd, Clear w/o label - AE013 2018
I had not played guitar for a while and when I picked it back up I just started layering dozens of buzzy wasp-in-a-bottle black metal riffs, which turned into this project. Like with many things, I had the concept of an album but wanted to see how it held up. It also was part of my fascination with Brutalist architecture. This was that demo before the album The Charged Void (Annihilvs / Cloister Recordings).
Axebreaker
Resignation
7", Special Cut, Lathe, Cassette - AE040 2025
A lot of these releases are the first initial releases or demos for a major release. This is the final release for Axebreaker. I started Axebreaker right before the pandemic as an overt anti-fascist power-electronics act. This is the last release of that project. I have to say my relationship with music is at a very different place now than when I started, I would say earlier I didn’t mind having a lot of projects but, today, I want less on my plate. Also, my visual art practice has definitely taken precedent over making/performing music. Axebreaker went out in style, laser etched 7“ lathe and cassette with a poster.
Birth (Defects)
Dissimulate
7", Special Cut, Lathe, Cassette - AE009 2017
I have been friends with some of these guys for ages. Sean ran Fan Death Records that released Locrian’s The Clearing LP and Rob would go on to play guitar in The Holy Circle with my wife and I. Anyway, this is a release that is really awesome. I would say it defines the mission statement of the label a bit: crazy art, box set, lathe and cassette with a booklet full of Vito Acconci video stills. Patch and pin. A lot of elements, but we did approach this again with their recent final live cassette release, Will Shatter Rides Again.
Terence's picks:
Alcian Blue
Collection
2xCassette - AE018 2020
I’d long been friends with the people behind this early US shoegaze act. My old band UNLUCKY ATLAS with my wife, Erica, played shows with them and I had been a fan of their CDRs from the early 2000s. Kind of contemporaries of Skywave, A Place to Bury Strangers, Ceremony, etc. , Alcian Blue had a lush and full wall-of-sound approach to shoegaze -- and they recorded a lot. I felt that I was often explaining them to people getting into shoegaze and asked Jake if he would like to do this. He agreed and we put together a collection of EPs with an essay from Oliver (APTBS / Death by Audio Effects). It holds up and I love that it is available in this deluxe double cassette brick.
MOTHER OF SIGHS
s/t
Cassette, Deluxe Edition - AE024 2021
Another great packaging decision: clear library case with a zine inside containing an essay by Erica that fits the horror soundtrack-inspired music. Also, amazing art by Christian Degn. Erica and I started the project to funnel our darker ideas into MOTHER OF SIGHS, inspired by Argento and lots of synthy soundtracks. I am always really proud of this one.
LOCRIAN
End Terrain Addendum Vol. 3: Silence in the Sediment
Cassette - AE042 2025
I am always really proud of these LOCRIAN releases that accompany our album End Terrain (Profound Lore). Volume 3 is entirely made from field recordings each of us made. I edited them to correspond to the track listing lengths and feel it is a good reflection of the album itself, but full of abstract sounds from layers of nature preserves, industrial wastelands and electro-magnetic fields. Kind of why I started Anathemata Editions in the first place.
OXRUN
s/t
Cassette - AE041 2025
I’ve worked with a lot of these guys in other projects from SILK LEASH to BIRTH (DEFECTS) but this is a whole other beast. Massive hardcore vibes, but more of the GSL variety, with great rhythms and vocals reminding me of 400 Blows and The Jesus Lizard. I got to laser etch the actual cassette by hand, one-by-one, and it was my first time doing that, so that was fun and something I am enjoying doing with future releases.
