Sumerian Records is an American

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

based in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and London. The label was founded in 2006 by Ash Avildsen.VEIL OF MAYA Signs With SUMERIAN RECORDS
", Blabbermouth.net, January 11, 2008, retrieved 27 March 2010FELLSILENT Inks U.S. Deal With SUMERIAN RECORDS
", Blabbermouth.net, October 1, 2008, retrieved 27 March 2010 They have signed artists such as Black Veil Brides, Poppy,

Bad Omens Bad Omens is an American rock band from Richmond, Virginia formed in 2015 by vocalist, frontman and producer Noah Sebastian, guitarist Nicholas Ruffilo, and bassist Vincent Riquier. The band was later joined by guitarist Joakim "Jolly" Karlsso ...

Palaye Royale Palaye Royale is a Canadian-American rock band from Las Vegas, formed in 2008 by brothers Remington Leith, Sebastian Danzig, and Emerson Barrett. The brothers' true surname is Kropp; each one's stage moniker makes use of their respective middle ...

, and

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also referred to as simply Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chambe ...

. It is considered a true lifestyle modern music brand known for both breaking new artists and revitalizing iconic legacy acts. In early 2022, Sumerian acquired Behemoth Entertainment, a comic book and video game publisher, in order to increase their merchandise options and further expand the brand.

History

Founded in 2006 in his Venice Beach apartment, Sumerian Records founder Ash Avildsen first released the records Akeldama by The Faceless and For What It's Worth by Stick to Your Guns in order to let people know the label would be dedicated to underground music but also to diversify the genre's of the label, as the former falls under deathcore while the latter is typically described as Melodic Hardcore. After waiting a year to release another record, in order to ensure third band on their label was "totally doing their own thing independent from everything else going on in the scene", Sumerian released The New Reign by

Born of Osiris Born of Osiris is an American progressive metalcore band formed in 2003 in Palatine, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Ronnie Canizaro, lead guitarist Lee McKinney, rhythm guitarist/bassist Nick Rossi ...

. Ash later commented on this release in a 2012 interview with Lambgoat by stating "There is something to be said for not putting out too many records each year to where we're able to give focused energy to each band and album rather than always having several releases come out each month". Sumerian has continued to follow this philosophy throughout its near two decade tenure, never surpassing more than thirty artists on the label at one time and typically following a one record a month release schedule. Since its inauguration, Sumerian has had several seminal artists in the rock, emo, and alternative genres perform on late night television, such as Asking Alexandria, I See Stars, and Crosses(†††) on Jimmy Kimmel,

Bones UK Bones UK (stylized as BONES UK) is a rock band from Camden Town, London consisting of lead vocalist / rhythm guitarist Rosie Bones, lead guitarist Carmen Vandenberg, and drummer Heavy. Rosie Bones and Carmen Vandenberg met each other at the Blue ...

Seth Meyers Seth Adam Meyers (born December 28, 1973) is an American comedian, writer, producer, actor, and television host. He hosts '' Late Night with Seth Meyers'', a late-night talk show on NBC. Prior to that, he was a cast member and head writer for N ...

, and most recently

The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

Current roster

* After the Burial * Animals as Leaders *

Between the Buried and Me Between the Buried and Me, often abbreviated as BTBAM, is an American progressive metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Formed in 2000, the band consists of Tommy Giles Rogers Jr. (lead vocals, keyboards), Paul Waggoner (lead guitar, backi ...

* Black Veil Brides *

BONES UK Bones UK (stylized as BONES UK) is a rock band from Camden Town, London consisting of lead vocalist / rhythm guitarist Rosie Bones, lead guitarist Carmen Vandenberg, and drummer Heavy. Rosie Bones and Carmen Vandenberg met each other at the Blue ...

* CHON * Dead Posey * Evan Brewer * The Faceless * From First to Last * I See Stars * Jonathan Davis * Juliet Simms AKA Lilith Czar * Meg Myers * The Native Howl * Night Riots * Nita Strauss * Oceano * OmenXIII *

* Slaughter to Prevail * Sleeping with Sirens *

Starbenders Starbenders are an American rock band from the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. The group was formed in 2013 when lead singer and guitarist Kimi Shelter contacted her former bandmate Aaron Lecesne about doing a new project. After adding guitarist Kri ...

* Through Fire * Thomas Giles * Veil of Maya * Weathers (band)

Artists formerly with label

* Asking Alexandria (on

Better Noise Music Better Noise Music is the rebranded and re-organized record label founded in 2006 by Allen Kovac, CEO of 10th Street Entertainment. The label was previously known as Eleven Seven Label Group with Eleven Seven, Five Seven and Better Noise Records ...

) * Betraying the Martyrs (on Out of Line Music) * Bizzy Bone (Active) * Blackguard (Victory Records) * Body Count (on

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Oli ...

) *

Borgore Yosef Asaf Borger ( he, יוסף אסף בורגר; born 20 October 1987), known professionally as Borgore, is an Israeli EDM producer, DJ, singer-songwriter and rapper. He is the founder of the label Buygore Records. Biography Yosef Asaf ...

Capture the Crown Capture (originally known as Capture the Crown) is an Australian metalcore band formed in early 2010 after the break-up of another metalcore outfit, Atlanta Takes State. The band rose to prominence under their original name Capture the Crown wh ...

(name changed to "Capture", inactive) *

Circa Survive Circa Survive is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that formed in 2004. The band, led and founded by Anthony Green, consisted of former members from This Day Forward and Taken. Circa Survive quickly made a name for thems ...

(on hiatus) * Circle of Contempt (Active, Unsigned) * Conducting From The Grave (Disbanded) * Crosses (Unsigned) * Danny Worsnop (on

) * Darkest Hour (on

Southern Lord Southern Lord is an American heavy metal record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson. It specialized in experimental metal: particularly doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal. The label later expanded its line-up to include a ...

) * Dayshell (Active, Independent) * Dead Letter Circus (on The End Records) * The Dillinger Escape Plan (Disbanded) *

ERRA Erra can refer to: * Erra (god), a Babylonian god * Erra, Estonia, a settlement in Sonda Parish, Ida-Viru County, Estonia * Erra, the purported home planet of the pleiadean aliens described by ufologist Billy Meier Eduard Albert Meier, commonl ...

(on UNFD) * Fellsilent (Disbanded) * I, the Breather (On Pavement Entertainment) *

The Kindred Kindred is one's family and relations by kinship. It may also refer to: In media * ''The Kindred'' (film), a 1987 American horror film * ''Kindred'' (film), a 2020 British horror film * "Kindred" (''Heroes''), the third episode of the second ...

(Disbanded) * Lower Than Atlantis (Disbanded) * Make Me Famous (Disbanded) * Periphery (on 3DOT Recordings) * Poppy (on Republic Records and Lava Records) * Sea of Treachery (Active, Unsigned) * September Mourning * Soreption (on Unique Leader Records) * Stick to Your Guns (on Pure Noise Records) * Stray from the Path (on UNFD) * Structures (Active, Unsigned) * Upon a Burning Body (Active, Seek And Strike Records)

Releases

Charts and sales certifications

Sumerian has garnered two RIAA certified gold records for Asking Alexandria's singles “

The Final Episode "The Final Episode (Let's Change the Channel)" is a song by British metalcore band Asking Alexandria. It is the band's lead single from their debut album, ''Stand Up and Scream''. It was released on 15 December 2009. One of the band's most success ...

” and “Not The American Average” neither which ever received any mainstream radio play. In 2014, Sumerian reunited Grammy-winning actor/rapper Ice-T's Body Count and released its highest-selling album in 20+ years, ''

Manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ...

''. In 2020, they released the first true solo album for Jonathan Davis, lead singer of

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-winning and timeless influential juggernaut band KoRn. The lead single for Jonathan's album “

What It Is What It Is may refer to: Music Album * ''What It Is'' (Boogaloo Joe Jones album), 1971 * ''What It Is'', a Cordelia's Dad album * ''What It Is'' (Mal Waldron album), 1981 * ''What It Is'' (PSD album), 1999 * ''What It Is'' (Jacky Terrasson ...

” went Top 5 at Rock Radio which was a first for Jonathan outside of KoRn. Sumerian delivered the highest charting alternative radio song for The Smashing Pumpkins in 12+ years for their lead single “ Cyr” off their latest album.

Achievements and awards

In 2010, The Grammy Museum at LA Live had a Golden Gods: History of Heavy Metal Exhibit where the original, band sticker-covered Sony Vaio laptop that founder Ash Avildsen started the label on was displayed as a historical item. In 2017, Sumerian received its first

nomination for

Best Metal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, wher ...

for Periphery. That year saw Sumerian also have their first

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is f ...

theatrical film release in American Satan, which debuted in select AMC theatres across the country and went top 20 in its opening weekend on

box office mojo Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. History Brandon Gray ...

. The movie was picked up by Miramax for distribution and

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global ...

for first window domestic

SVOD SVOD may refer to: * Subscription video on demand (SVoD) * Streaming video on demand (sVoD) * Stacked Volumetric Optical Disc (SVOD) * RSBN-2S ''Svod'' (avionics), a short range navigation system found on the ''Ilyushin Il-18 The Ilyushin I ...

in the US and SKY in the UK. In 2018, Sumerian won the best independent label award at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods in the UK and accepted the award on stage at the O2 in London. In 2019, they received another “

”

nomination for

Between The Buried And Me Between the Buried and Me, often abbreviated as BTBAM, is an American progressive metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Formed in 2000, the band consists of Tommy Giles Rogers Jr. (lead vocals, keyboards), Paul Waggoner (lead guitar, backi ...

. In 2019,

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original arti ...

listed two Sumerian artists in the top 4

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

s of the decade, Tosin Abasi of Animals as Leaders and female solo artist Nita Strauss, who in addition to her solo career and being

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...

’s guitarist, also plays the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europe ...

for the home games for the LA Rams at

Sofi Stadium SoFi Stadium () is a 70,240-seat sports and entertainment indoor stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California, United States. SoFi occupies the former site of the Hollywood Park Racetrack, from Los Angeles International Airport ...

and for WWE, most recently at WrestleMania 37. In 2020, the label received its first

Best Rock Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide it is designed for ...

nomination for

. In 2021, Sumerian received the first-ever

nomination in the history of the Recording Academy for a female solo artist in the

category for Poppy, who also performed at the premiere ceremony.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control American independent record labels Alternative rock record labels Death metal record labels Heavy metal record labels Hardcore record labels Post-hardcore record labels Progressive rock record labels