Over the last couple years, San Jose’s Carbonized Records has put out some of the coolest death metal in the game. From the label founder’s own stellar work in Mortuous to bands like Vile Rites, Funeral Leech, and Steel Bearing Hand, the label stands at the forefront of essential heaviness in 2024. Which, of course, makes them a vital label for Decibel to investigate! So we reached out to Chad Gailey to see how he runs such a cool label — when he’s not hard at work with his bandmates writing great records like 2022’s Upon Desolation.
There’s something really inspiring about the label’s story, you could almost imagine the 80s-synth montage in the background as you read about it. Chad also makes an excellent point about the leaders of small labels having to wear many hats (all of them to start, really), and the details he provides about the challenges of international distribution are fascinating. But most importantly, the guy puts out really good metal, which you can sample as you read the interview below.
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Thank you for agreeing to talk with us, for those who don’t know much about the label, could you tell us how it got started?
Thank you for having me involved in the series!
Carbonized was started out of the necessity to release Mortuous’s first album, Through Wilderness. We were about to finish the album in 2017 when I suggested to the rest of the guys about seeing if Tankcrimes was interested in releasing the album, since I had already experienced working with them with Necrot the past two years. Scotty wasn’t trying to add another release to his plate since he was already working on other projects, so I told him I was gonna start a label and make it happen. As soon as he heard that he instantly wanted to help point me in the right direction with getting the label started the right way. He hooked me up with the pressing plant (Pirates Press), a graphic designer (Mark Reátegui), the distribution (Ebullition), and PR (Liz Ciavellera-Brenner/Earsplit). Through Wilderness turned into a co-release with Tankcrimes for the first press. It was a great starting point for me because I was able to begin learning what it takes to successfully release an album the right way. I have learned a lot since that first venture but all the experience you gain with each release helps new ones succeed.
What would you say is the primary vision for the label? You definitely lean on death metal quite a bit, but there’s other eclectic sounds on there as well.
I think my primary vision for Carbonized has always been to release good records by good bands who work hard and strive to create quality work. While most of the bands that seek out the label happen to be death metal, there are also a lot of albums I’ve released that fall under the many genres within punk and metal. I definitely want to work with as many artists/bands as possible but I also have to be smart about what I can realistically produce since everything gets more expensive every year.
Slay In Hell by Steel Bearing Hand
Speaking of your creative vision, Mortuous has made a big splash in the death metal world recently. I saw you guys at Austin DeathFest and you killed it! Does running a label and being in a band work hand-in-hand, or do you find it uniquely challenging?
Thank you so much! Being in a band and running a label are two completely different beasts. I feel like band dynamics are always completely different depending on the group. There’s always one or two people doing all of the hardest work to get things moving. If all members of the band help equally they go so much farther than others. It really boils down to the dedication and commitment each person has to the collective vision. If you are running a label, you usually bear all the responsibility to make sure everything gets done in a timely manner. Most labels going are realistically one person doing the work of five. You become a producer, manager, graphic designer, professional organizer, shipping center, product photographer, social media specialist, and customer service representative every day. Sometimes you get lucky and have another helping hand or two but I feel like it takes time to get there. Both have business sides to them; producing and marketing being the main ones, so there are similarities there. But I feel like being in a band can be way less business-related, depending on how you want it set up to be when things first start rolling.
And to that point, it’s not easy running an independent record label in 2024. What have been your primary challenges?
I think the biggest challenge of running a label in 2024 is just selling records for an affordable price across the world. This subject for me is really frustrating and I’d rather not ramble off about it too much. But I’d mainly like for people to understand that underground labels and bands can’t sell and ship music at a loss to their business and to respect the prices listed on their products. Just because you can get items shipped for free or cheaper from other bands or businesses doesn’t mean everyone qualifies or has access to those options. Also, no label or band is forcing anyone to buy their products from them. So when you comment about how expensive an item is or how “outrageous” the international shipping costs are, you are wasting everyone’s time and turning people who are interested away. I’d love for the people who act like this to try and see what it’s like from the other side for once. It would also be great if people who actively purchase records from distros or other labels in their country to tell these entities to stock records from other international labels or bands they want to support. These labels can get stuff at wholesale and then save everyone money in the long run.
Maze Controller by Dungeon Crawl
On a more positive note, what are some releases you have planned that fans should look out for in the coming months?
We just released Dungeon Crawl’s second album, Maze Controller. I am really excited about this album because after the first time hearing it, I was pleasantly surprised. They’re a band based in my hometown (San Jose, California) and they excellently execute symphonic thrash in ways I never expected. By the time this interview releases, I will have released the American pressing of Eternal’s Cryptic Lust and the Noroth/Grave Infestation split. Eternal is a band from Arizona who are crafting really sick authentic death metal. I was really impressed after hearing Cryptic Lust and was stoked they reached out to me about helping get a proper release for the album. They’re definitely ones to watch going forward. Noroth’s split with Grave Infestation is also going to be killer! We released Noroth’s Sacrificial Solace in June and it’s been very well received just in the first few months. Mike approached me about releasing the split for their upcoming tour in Japan and I immediately signed on board. I’ve known most of Grave Infestation for nine years now from playing shows with their current and former bands when Necrot would tour up to Vancouver. I love all of their records so far and am glad I was able to finally get to work with them for this one. Both bands’ songs on here are sick and the records are adorned with artwork from Paolo Girardi and Kyle Bowen. Don’t sleep on it!
Noroth / Grave Infestation by Noroth / Grave Infestation
It’s easy to get jaded and burned out when music becomes your everyday working life. Finally, what keeps you excited about this music?
I think what excites me the most is continuing to find what’s out there musically. There’s so many bands constantly writing and producing albums all the time. While it does feel over-saturated every once in a while, I still feel like I’m discovering really great music thanks to the labels or bands I follow that are putting everything they have into their work. Like them, I think it’s important to keep the fires of the underground metal and punk communities burning so that they may be able to continue going forward. It feels like the practical reality of what we do is always up in the air but hopefully what people are doing now inspires others to participate in the future.
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