by Niklas Göransson

Approaching their fifteenth anniversary, the Horval brothers organised a label-themed festival: Hells Headbash. Concluding this retrospective series, Chase muses over the future of Hells Headbangers and its enduring role in underground metal.

 

CHASE HORVAL: The first Hells Headbash came about after years of Jim and Don from NUNSLAUGHTER bugging us to do a festival. At the time, I found the notion quite silly – and the same went for Hells merch, which Jim had also been pushing for. I was like, ‘I’m not printing label shirts, man, that’s pretentious as fuck. Just like doing a fest.’

In 2014, the Horval brothers – Eric, Chase, and Justin – had solidified Hells Headbangers’ position as one of America’s premier mail-orders for underground metal. The webshop boasted nearly four thousand vinyl titles and more than seven thousand CDs along with a vast selection of merch, fanzines, books, DVDs, and even turntable slipmats.

The Hells Headbangers Records catalogue comprised more than 120 CD titles, roughly the same number of LPs, and a slew of picture discs. Besides a long-standing collaboration with their good friends NUNSLAUGHTER, the label had signed up-and-coming bands like ACID WITCH and MIDNIGHT.

CHASE: One day, Jamie (Athenar) from MIDNIGHT came by the warehouse and said, ‘Man, I wanna do a combined gig and cookout thing.’ I don’t know why he was so adamant, but he’d envisioned a small gathering with something like thirty people hanging out and shooting the shit. I think he had a new MIDNIGHT release coming out.

Back in 2011, MIDNIGHT’s debut album, “Satanic Royalty”, became Hells Headbangers’ best-selling record to date. The follow-up, “No Mercy for Mayhem”, was slated for an August 2014 release.

CHASE: Then – in typical fashion, when my brother Eric gets involved – it morphed into this goddamn art project. Suddenly, he’s throwing out all these suggestions, and I’m like, ‘I guess I’ll go along and come up with some ideas of my own. It soon expanded to include an outdoor stage and additional bands. Hoping to keep the attendance low, I set up a Facebook event just a month before.

 

The event page invited interested parties to a ‘free gathering at the Hells Headbangers compound’, featuring shows with NUNSLAUGHTER, SHITFUCKER, ACID WITCH, and MIDNIGHT.

The mention of BYOB – ‘Bring Your Own Booze’ – caught my eye. Scores of drunk metalheads at one’s place of business sounds like a nightmare in the making.

CHASE: It did turn into a whole nightmare, to be honest, but not on account of any visitors. We had to get the landlord’s permission; no problem, our guy said yes, so I went ahead with the announcement. Meanwhile – and we had no idea about this – he and his wife, who owned the property, were divorcing. She found out and started being a total cunt about it.

While the number of confirmed attendees rose, the property owner wanted to shut the entire thing down. When the brothers refused, she began making various stipulations.

CHASE: ‘You gotta hire security, get insurance, and take all these retarded precautions.’ Our initial plan was for the bands to play in the yard, but she said, ‘I don’t want that shit out front. You’ll have to do it inside, way at the back.’ She turned it into this big fucking ordeal really fast. But since everything was announced, we had no choice but to roll with it. The bands ended up performing inside another warehouse bay that’s part of the same compound.

CHASE: We rented a stage, got a sound system up and running, and so on. And the response was above and beyond what anyone had imagined; close to four hundred people showed up at our fucking warehouse, but everything turned out killer. Afterwards, I thought, ‘Oh, so people actually do give a shit about a Hells-themed event.’ That’s when we started discussing the next one.

 

Hells Headbash 2 – the next instalment of the label fest – took place in the Cleveland Agora Theatre, in September 2015.

I’ve watched the DVD, and the production value looks off the charts – such as custom projections for each song of every band. And the line-up itself was a sight for sore eyes: PROFANATICA, SATANIC WARMASTER, DEIPHAGO, PERDITION TEMPLE, DECEASED, HELLVETRON, ARCHGOAT, BLACK WITCHERY, INQUISITION, NYOGTHAEBLISZ, SHITFUCKER, DEMONIC CHRIST, ÆVANGELIST, NOCTURNAL BLOOD, and GRAVEWÜRM.

CHASE: Hells Headbash 2 was an idiotic idea in terms of scalability, ‘cause we went from a few hundred people to 1,200. We’d booked this huge fucking theatre for… what, three days? It might’ve been wise with a few more baby steps because the whole thing became a massive undertaking. But you know, that’s what we do – take on imposing challenges.

For more than two decades, PROFANATICA had only performed sporadic shows. However, Paul Ledney said he received such staunch support at Hells Headbash that he decided to give his old project a second life.

CHASE: It did very well, actually. Due to the ambitious production, we barely hit break-even, but all money and efforts went into it as a strictly promotional vehicle. 2015 marked our fifteen-year anniversary, so one could say it was an excuse to gather a bunch of people and throw a party. Everyone loved that fest, which sucks for me because I didn’t get to enjoy any of it.

No festivities for you?

CHASE: No, it’s all behind-the-scenes bullshit – running around frantically, like… I don’t know, ‘ARCHGOAT are low on beer, fucking go get more!’ So, it’s kind of a blur to me as to what actually went on. That live footage I sent you is how I remember it, too. Whatever you saw is what I saw.

Surveying my timeline, I noticed that Hells Headbangers’ official collaboration with Werewolf Records – a Finnish label owned by Werwolf of SATANIC WARMASTER, who performed at Hells Headbash 2 – was formed after this festival.

CHASE: Lauri (Werwolf) had been bugging me about it for a few years. We already distributed his stuff here, but he wanted to kick things up a notch. In my opinion, Werewolf Records is the best black metal label out there, so I was all in. ‘Fuck yeah, this shit rules.’ Lauri has tonnes of cool shit in the pipeline, too. Very solid guy to work with – no ego, no nonsense, and no greed.

 

The month after Hells Headbash 2, Chase’s long-time friend and collaborator Jim Sadist passed away following a series of strokes. He seems to have left a significant void behind, judging by the reactions.

CHASE: Yeah, crazy thing to see go down. Quite unexpected, too – ‘cause Jim was a relatively fit guy and not prone to health problems. He would’ve been… what, twelve years older than me, and it’s weird seeing myself starting to exceed some of these age markings. I did get to visit Jim at the hospital, but I lived in Quebec when he died and couldn’t attend the funeral on short notice.

How long did you stay in Quebec?

CHASE: About eight months. I did attend some sort of memorial after the fact. But Jim’s time had definitely come; I honestly believe that was his preferred outcome. At least based on the conversations we had. Everything worked out the way he wanted.

Did you take it hard?

CHASE: Sure. I don’t have many friends, but that dude was definitely one of my closest. He’d often come by our family house back when we ran the label there, so my parents knew him too. Jim stood out as a one-of-a-kind individual and a super-passionate metalhead. Metal was all he cared about, to the point where it probably became a flaw. Jim always worked on music; if he wasn’t sleeping, he’d be thinking about his next record.

Jim Sadist was involved with quite a few projects outside of NUNSLAUGHTER, such as THE SPAWN OF SATAN, GRAVEWÜRM, DERKÉTA, and SCHNAUZER.

CHASE: It pissed him off, by the way, that most people only knew him from NUNSLAUGHTER. It wasn’t ‘his’ band, but rather one he ended up invited into at a later stage. I mean, Jim did embrace NUNSLAUGHTER and helped establish the sound and style for them – but he always found it annoying that his own projects didn’t get the same recognition.

Any band in particular come to mind?

CHASE: Look up SCHNAUZER; there should be some ridiculous footage online of how those shows went down. Total madness. They’d be throwing all kinds of shit at each other and the audience, just destroying the venue <laughs>. Pretty fucking wild. But that’s really the type of person he was – a total maniac and a weirdo.

 

Are you still close with the other NUNSLAUGHTER members?

CHASE: Don of the Dead is pretty much my best friend to this day, although we never actually hang out. Don and I live within walking distance but see each other no more than three times a year. Unless you’re calling someone to hang out – which I don’t do – everyone just does their own thing. We only catch up when there’s something to really talk about, like an upcoming release.

Do you ever give much thought to occupational burnout, which is especially prevalent among the self-employed?

CHASE: You know, between being a father and a business owner, I’m pretty much burnt out by default. I’m always in some state of exhaustion; I don’t really get a lot of sleep either these days. I’m constantly doing shit and staying occupied – which seems to be the healthier approach for me.

I ask because Forgotten Path Magazine #8 features a Hells Headbangers interview with Chase. He answered the questions in August 2016 while sitting at an airport, waiting to board a flight for his first break from work in eight years.

CHASE: Yeah, that was pretty accurate. Of course, I’d taken the odd day off on a weekend to do typical normal-person stuff. I responded to that interview before flying to Chile to visit some in-laws. I didn’t really have much say in the matter; had it been up to me, I probably would’ve stayed home.

What did you get up to the time before, in 2008?

CHASE: I visited Australia for a month. I stayed with VOMITOR in Brisbane, GOSPEL OF THE HORNS in Melbourne, GRENADE in the Blue Mountains, and SHACKLES in Sydney; those dudes showed me around. Then VOMITOR and PORTAL played some fest, and it was actually badass to see shows going down in Australia. They got quite the turnout… hm, I wanna say it took place in some theatre.

 

CHASE: That’s where I stole the projector idea for Hells Headbash from. PORTAL had something similar going on stage, and I thought it looked fucking intense. When we did our festival, I said, ‘Oh, it worked really well for PORTAL, so let’s give this a shot.’ I’ve noticed other fests doing that now, by the way.

Have you seen much of the world besides the Americas and Australia?

CHASE: Not too many places—just France, Finland, Norway, and the UK so far. I’d say overall, though, I prefer travelling in Latin America.

No beach holidays?

CHASE: Nah, I hate going on vacation. Just sitting around idly gives me anxiety. I mean, what exactly am I supposed to be doing? Taking in some kind of scenery? That’s cool for a minute or two, but then I need to get shit done. Unless I’m attending a fest because I have a purpose to be there, like meet up with someone or whatever, I’ll just stay at home and work.

What about unwinding in front of the television after a long workday?

CHASE: Definitely not; I hate watching TV. I guess it’s an easy way to spend time together if you’re in a relationship, but I don’t fuck with Netflix or whatever shit people are into these days. It doesn’t inspire me in any way but rather puts me in a lazier state. That’s why I don’t do weekends: take two days off and you have this whole lag-time when you get back on Monday.

I’m guessing there’s not much room for spontaneous outings.

CHASE: Fuck no; I hate spontaneity. Whenever I need to set aside time to do trivial shit, I’ll schedule it beforehand. Or if I’m visiting my parents, I plan that in advance; it won’t be some ‘spur of the moment’ decision. And basically, even though they’re a must, I hate schedules, too. I hate everything, man.

 

The Chile visit was probably good timing for rest and recuperation, seeing as how the third Headbash incurred considerable losses. It was held the following month, in September 2016, at the same theatre as the previous year – but on a smaller stage.

CHASE: This time, we were like, ‘All right, let’s scale it down. This is eating up all our time; we’re meant to be releasing and distributing records, not organising concerts. I handled a lot of the admin shit, like booking flights for the bands, which is pretty taxing in terms of what I’m supposed to be doing.

The occupancy was only five hundred, yet the fest didn’t sell out. I’m a bit mystified as to how this line-up didn’t draw more interest.

CHASE: It was quite a big loss, yeah. However, this is money most labels waste on useless magazine adverts throughout the year. As for the lower attendance… we had a lot of repeat bands. So, that became another thing; we pigeonholed ourselves pretty fucking fast with a Hells-themed fest. Then you get bands from other labels going, ‘Oh, can we play?’ So, you must start picking and choosing.

The 2016 edition featured several acts unaffiliated with Hells Headbangers, such as SADISTIC INTENT, ANGELCORPSE, and GRAND BELIAL’S KEY.

CHASE: Man, GRAND BELIAL’S KEY were a huge fucking draw; I’ve never seen such a long merch queue in my life. You would’ve thought Elvis had been spotted in town or something. I think Alex (Gelal) said it was one of the biggest shows they ever played.

Beyond wholesale orders, ANGELCORPSE and Hells Headbangers never worked together directly. However, the label has collaborated extensively with the later projects of the band’s guitarist, Gene Palubicki.

CHASE: Seeing as how ANGELCORPSE was literally the first wholesale purchase I made to get the distro started, it’s pretty surreal to be working with Gene this far into our journey. It’s just another weird thing, evolving into a full-on label and actively putting his projects out. I’m always keen on whatever he offers us – be it PERDITION TEMPLE, BLASPHEMIC CRUELTY, or MALEFIC THRONE.

Gene Palubicki’s current main band, PERDITION TEMPLE, plays death metal infused with black metal. BLASPHEMIC CRUELTY, his old death/thrash project, ceased operations after their 2015 mini-album “Crucible of the Infernum”.

Death metal powerhouse MALEFIC THRONE features Gene Palubicki alongside MORBID ANGEL frontman Steve Tucker and ORIGIN drummer John Longstreth, who previously played with ANGELCORPSE. Their self-titled debut EP was released by Hells Headbangers in January 2022.

CHASE: Over the years, I’ve noticed a lot of things just falling into our lap. You sign one band, and other people come out of the woodwork. Like with Kramer and INQUISITION. Anyway, Gene and I aren’t even especially close; it’s always been about trades or business dealing only. He’s a real no-bullshit type of guy, as you probably noticed – a true death metal stalwart.