PATRICIA THOMAS BAND MANAGEMENT

Norway’s sister labels Dark Essence Records and Karisma Records have expanded their North American operations with new distribution deals which sees  the label’s catalogues distributed physically by Sony RED, whist The Orchard will handle all the digital distribution.

In addition, to meet the ever-growing demand from fans,  the two Bergen-based labels have joined forces with AISA (http://www.aisamusic.com/ )  to open their own new North American webshops.  “We have always been aware that the cost of postage from Europe in general, and Scandinavian countries in particular, is very high, and, with both labels having grown so rapidly over the past few  years, and demand from North American fans increasing daily, we thought it was time to offer those  fans a fairer  deal”, commented the label’s Bjornar Erevik Nilsen (VULTURE INDUSTRIES).   “We are very excited to work with AISA on our new North America set up. For us this is a unique opportunity to get into this market on terms that are tailor made for our catalogue, size and profile. The new setup offers us a much higher level of control and market insight than before, and we expect sales and exposure to increase significantly. So far our experience with AISA have been very positive and we are happy to further pursue the cooperation.”

With  output differing  greatly one from the other, Dark Essence and Karimsa Records are not just used to working with established,  internationally recognised bands.  They have both also garnered a reputation for being able to sniff out some of the best new local and international bands and help them to grow and develop.  As Nilsen  went on to explain “We do not see ourselves as just businessmen whose job happens  to be running labels, as if often the case these days.  Everyone working directly with us is heavily involved in music, either as musicians, managers or huge fans,  so for us it’s a matter of pride to discover and nurture the talent that is out there.  The expansion into North America will help us to support our artists with merchandise that is printed in the USA itself, thereby helping to reduce costs whilst touring, which, as everyone knows,  is massively expensive undertaking for bands.  We have also appointed a local label manager, and we have a good network of people over there, who will be able to help our artists further”.

Dark Essence Records is well known in the fields Black Metal and the more Extreme Metal  genres and their roster contains some very high profile bands, some of whom have been around for well over two decades, as well as some of the most exciting relatively new musicians to have appeared on the scene. The label’s roster includes TAAKE, HELHEIM, HADES ALMIGHTY, AETERNUS, COR SCORPII, SARKOM, SLEGEST, THE 3rd ATTEMPT, ALFAHANNE,  SULPHUR, GALAR, KRAKOW, MOMENTUM, ORKAN, LUCIFER’S CHILD,  MISTUR, HAIL SPIRIT NOIR, RATTENFÄNGER, THE BATALLION.  The new Dark Essence Records North American webshop will be celebrating its opening  by making some rare test pressings available for purchase.  The webshop can be found at http://darkessence.aisamerch.com/

Karisma Records, on the other hand,  concentrates on the more Rock-oriented and Progressive side of the musical spectrum and the label’s roster contains much-respected veterans such as  AIRBAG, VIRUS, MAGIC PIE, D’ACCORD, BJORN RIIS, BRIMSTONE and NORDAGUST,  and fast rising bands such as TIEBREAKER, OSSICLES, SEVEN IMPALE, RENDEZVOUS POINT,  FATAL FUSION.  To celebrate the launch of the Karisma Records North American webshop, the label will also be making some rare test pressings available for purchase.  The Karisma Records North American webshop can be found at http://karismarecords.aisamerch.com/

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Dark Essence contact: post@karismarecords.no
Dark Essence Records: www.darkessencerecords.no
Dark Essence Records Bandcamp:  http://karismarecords.bandcamp.com/
Dark Essence Records YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/DarkEssenceRecords
Dark Essence SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/dark-essence-records
Dark Essence on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/darkessencerecords
Dark Essence Records Webshop: http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/
Dark Essence Records North American Webshop:  http://darkessence.aisamerch.com/
Dark Essence Records KlickTrack: shop.klicktrack.com/karismadarkessencerecords
Karisma Records: http://www.karismarecords.no/
Karisma Records BandCamp: http://karismarecords.bandcamp.com/music
Karisma Records YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG29pw1gllinfj-U2QDM2JQ
Karisma Records Webshop: http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/
Karisma Records North American Webshop: http://karismarecords.aisamerch.com/
Karisma Records KlickTrack Store:  http://shop.klicktrack.com/karismadarkessencerecords
Karisma Records on  SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/karisma-records
Karisma Records on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karismarecords