NEWS: Kaotoxin Records update

The French label Kaotoxin Records has issued the following update. Kaotoxin has been the home of bands like: Ad Patres, Mercyless, Nephren-Ka, Otargos, The Lumberjack Feedback, The Negation, Mithridatic, amongst others.

OFFICIAL: So, on October 7th, 2016, I got diagnosed with leukemia ("blood cancer") right during the Mercyless "Pathethic Divinity" release. It was obviously very bad news as I immediately got trapped at the hospital for an unknown duration, but it should have been cured after a few chemo-therapies, reason why I decided to go on with the label anyway, asking Juliette to take care of it while I was away and announced it’d be on-hold for the foreseable future, even though we managed to release the brand new EP by FLAYED, "XI Million" meanwhile.

Sadly, after the first chemo-therapy, I got informed that genetic tests were showing that chemo-therapy wouldn’t suffice to cure my severe case of (cancerous) mutation and that I’ll have to get a stem cells graft on late January. That was very bad news. In France, 75% of people that are getting cured through chemo-therapy survive while only 50% of the ones treated by a graft do and it takes up to two years to know if a graft succeeded...

But, back to the point... between mid-November and late January, I had to get two more chemo-therapies « in order to "wait for the graft", though. That’s when I’ve decided I couldn’t afford, physically and psychologically-wise, if I wanted to stay true with the « family-spirit » the label always tried to achieve with its artists and work as much I always did for and with them and the best of choices would be to let Kaotoxin on-hold for the foreseable future and set the label’s artists free of their ties with Kaotoxin for any future release.

I had to have plans for "after" the graft though. Two years of wait to know if it'll succeed is a very huge amount of days one wouldn't need "something" to do... But, what to do when you’ve spent most of your life into the underground scene and all you think you know a bit about is running a label ? Opening a new label!

Kaotoxin has always been a very open-minded label, style-wise, and offered a broad spectrum of artists ; a lot of them, too. It was basically 18 hours of work a day, six days a week for me and countless after-work hours for Juliette all year long and I knew that, after the graft, I wouldn’t be able to "offer" this commitment to the artists and customers so I had to find other ways.

That’s when XENOKORP came to mind, late December 2016, between chemo-therapy #2 and #3. It slowly but surely took shape in my mind : a smaller label, with a more « focused » style spectrum, a « fun » concept, less artists but still the same fetish for quality releases and a human and friendly collaboration with everyone involved. Then came chemo-therapy #3 and the graft late January, followed by nearly six weeks of hospital sterile isolation… and here we are : XENOKORP is announcing its first release (check the label’s page at Facebook.com/XenoKorp and give it a like!).

So… What’s XENOKORP, then ? A small indie records label focusing on new release and reissues by artists playing Death Metal and all its subgenres (from Thrash / Death to Death / Grind, from Doom / Death to Slamming Brutal Death, etc.). What’s happening to Kaotoxin’s back-catalogue may you ask. Well, we’re currently working on it. But, even if we’re not planning any future release under the Kaotoxin or KaosKvlt brand*, we’ll keep the Kaotoxin Shop alive while stock lasts and will most likely reprint some Kaotoxin titles under the XENOKORP brand if they fit the new label’s style-spectrum and if we feel the need too.

What’s happening to the Kaotoxin artists, then ? One of them already signed to XENOKORP (see the page !) and we’re talking with a few others about possible releases in the near or mid-term future. Yet, most of them are now free for any future release, like Volker who signed with our friends at Overpowered Records and will release their debut full-length there, or like Nephren-Ka and Savage Annihilation, both with a brand new album freshly recorded, shopping for a new label.

Talking about the later two, fact is we could have released these albums through XENOKORP, but since my personal future is pretty unsure, health-wise, we decided it was for the better of all parties we don’t work together on these release unless they can wait I’m diagnosed as "cured", which should take up to two years if everything goes as planned, reason why XENOKORP will, for the foreseable future (aka as long as I’m not "cured"), focus on collector new releases and reissues like 7" EPs, etc. instead of extremely demanding, work-wise, full-lengths, etc. but, time will tell and let’s see what the future will be both for me and the new entity!

Now that you got the whole of the story, let me sincerely and from the deepest of my heart, thank everyone that’s ever been involved with Kaotoxin and KaosKvlt in a way or an other, might you be fans, artists, supporters, medias… whoever you are, including some people we got in trouble with along the way (shit happens, right ?) but proved me people can have arguments and yet care one for the other when s## seriously hits the fan (they know who they are). Of course, millions of thanks go to everyone that ever supported me or the label, first and foremost, Juliette Morand, who’s opening Malpermesita Records… but more on it when the time will come, with a separate post : no doubt it’ll be worth your attention!

Thanks for all the years of Kaos & Konfusion, dear friends, fans and supporters. See you on the other side and… ALL HAIL THE XENO-LORDS!

Nico

* PS: it might happen that we release one last Kaotoxin title sometimes this summer... to somehow "close a chapter", but more on this later if it's ever happening.