VIC Records

VIC Records is an independent Dutch record label dedicated to heavy metal and its extreme subgenres. It was founded in 1992 by Roel Van Reijmersdal and made an immediate mark with the first release being Katatonia's debut mini-CD 'Jhva Elohim Meth... the Revival'. The label's early catalogue also included Crystal Age's 'Far Beyond Divine Horizons', October Tide's 'Rain without End' and, most notably, HammerFall's debut album 'Glory to the Brave', which was initially licensed and later sold to Nuclear Blast Records. After a period of inactivity, VIC Records was reactivated in early 2005 and has since signed over twenty bands, ranging from established acts such as Bibleblack, Firegod, Memory Garden, The Gathering, Dimension Zero, The Project Hate, Total Terror and Sear Bliss to newer hopefuls like Against The Plagues, Bornholm, Another Life and Sin of Kain. The label's output covers old-school Swedish death metal, thrash metal, black metal and a strong line of reissues from Dutch soil, including Pestilence, Thanatos, Polluted Inheritance and Pentacle. VIC Records operates as a private, independent entity, selling physical formats such as CDs, LPs and tapes through its official webstore, which lists hundreds of titles. Its catalogue is distributed internationally, and the label remains a niche but respected name in the European metal underground.

VIC Records was founded in 1992 by Roel Van Reijmersdal in the Netherlands. The label's first release was the Katatonia debut mini-CD 'Jhva Elohim Meth... the Revival'. Its second release was Crystal Age, a Gothenburg-based technical death metal band led by Oscar Dronjak; VIC Records released their debut album 'Far Beyond Divine Horizons', recorded at Studio Fredman (known for work with HammerFall and In Flames) with cover art by Kristian Wahlin (Tiamat, Dissection). The third release was October Tide, a side project of two Katatonia members, whose debut album 'Rain without End' was recorded with Dan Swano at Unisound. The fourth release was the HammerFall debut 'Glory to the Brave', which was initially licensed and later sold to Nuclear Blast Records. After this initial era, the label became inactive. In early 2005, VIC Records was reactivated. Since then it has signed over twenty bands, ranging from well-known names such as Bibleblack and Firegod (featuring members of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate like Mike Wead and Hall Patino), Memory Garden (ex-Metal Blade, with Nightingale and Abstract Algebra members), The Gathering, Dimension Zero (with members of In Flames, ex-Soilwork and Dark Tranquillity), The Project Hate (and its initial version Deadmarch), Total Terror (featuring three Edge of Sanity members) and Sear Bliss, to promising acts like Against The Plagues (featuring Wojtek from Luciferion and Lost Horizon), Bornholm, Another Life and Sin of Kain. VIC Records' artists perform metal across a wide range of the genre: old-school Swedish death metal (Asphyx), thrash metal giants such as Destruction, more obscure acts like Recipients of Death, black metal (such as Obtained Enslavement featuring Pest from Gorgoroth, and Dutch Liar of Gogoltha). The label also specialises in reissues from Dutch soil, including Pestilence, Thanatos, Polluted Inheritance and Pentacle. Notable reissues include Torchure's 'Beyond the Veil' (2013), Assorted Heap's 'The Experience of Horror' (2015), and Sacrosanct's 'Truth Is - What Is' (2018), 'Recesses for the Depraved' (2018) and 'Tragic Intense' (2019). The label continues to operate, selling its catalogue through its official webstore.

• 2019

  Reissue of Sacrosanct's 'Tragic Intense'.

• 2018

  Reissues of Sacrosanct's 'Truth Is - What Is' and 'Recesses for the Depraved'.

• 2015

  Reissue of Assorted Heap's 'The Experience of Horror'.

• 2013

  Reissue of Torchure's 'Beyond the Veil'.

• 2005

  VIC Records reactivated in early 2005; signs over 20 bands in subsequent years.

• 1997

  Release of HammerFall's debut album 'Glory to the Brave', later sold to Nuclear Blast Records.

• 1994

  Release of October Tide's debut album 'Rain without End'.

• 1993

  Release of Crystal Age's debut album 'Far Beyond Divine Horizons'.

• 1992

  VIC Records founded by Roel Van Reijmersdal in the Netherlands.

• 1992

  First release: Katatonia's debut mini-CD 'Jhva Elohim Meth... the Revival'.

Independent niche metal label focused on heavy, death, thrash and black metal, with a strong specialisation in Dutch reissues.

• Katatonia – Jhva Elohim Meth... the Revival (mini-CD)

• Crystal Age – Far Beyond Divine Horizons (album)

• October Tide – Rain without End (album)

• HammerFall – Glory to the Brave (album, 1997)

• Torchure – Beyond the Veil (reissue, 2013)

• Assorted Heap – The Experience of Horror (reissue, 2015)

• Sacrosanct – Truth Is - What Is (reissue, 2018)

• Sacrosanct – Recesses for the Depraved (reissue, 2018)

• Sacrosanct – Tragic Intense (reissue, 2019)

1. 1VICRECORDS official websitevicrecords.com
2. 2About | VICRECORDSvicrecords.com
3. 3VIC Records – Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Vic Records – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org