Wise Blood Records is an artist-first heavy metal and punk label. Based in Indianapolis.
29/01/2025
Happy anniversary to Milquetoast and their "Caterwaul" debut! 3 years ago we released this rabid slab of scruffy, grungy sludge-punk on CD and Cassette. The tapes are sold out, but we still have a few CDs and CD/Patch bundles available. Under 20 CDs, and under 10 patches remain. This band was one of the major reasons I began Wise Blood, and I love this album with my whole heart. Plus, they have new music on the way this year! For fans of Poison Idea, Mudhoney, Black Flag, Melvins, and Dead Kennedys.
The unhinged album art is by Ellie Shvaiko (IG: ) who also did the Wise Blood logo. The vibrant layout is by David Jaggar (IG: ). Engineered and mixed by Tucker Thomasson at The Megadungeon. Mastered by Chris Fielding (formerly of CONAN) at Skyhammer Studio.
More news about upcoming albums will escape from our crypt soon. Until then, revisit this gem & browse the 50+ albums we have released the past 4 years. Treat yourself to something HEAVY today!
24/01/2025
Announcing a HEAVY new collaboration between Pout Records and Wise Blood Records: The debut album from Indiana sludge metal brawlers KIRITSIS.
Degenerate sludge for fans of High on Fire, Crowbar, Dopethrone, Down, Weedeater, & tough as f**k hardcore.
Album out this spring. Brace for one of nastiest debuts of the year.
17/01/2025
The 2024 Wise Blood Sampler CDs have arrived! 20 tracks of underground filth from the entire spectrum of heavy music. Death Metal, Thrash, Doom, Hardcore, Black Metal, Crust, Heavy Metal, and more. I will personally ship out all the pre-orders tomorrow.
In a recent interview I mentioned running the label with the budget mindset of a broke teenager. I always loved getting label samplers and compilations so I could discover a bunch of new bands at once. We price these CD-Rs as low as we can to help promote the label and the rad bands involved, and we will include a copy with any order over $30. Grab a copy with this killer artwork from rotting_reign (IG) and enjoy lots of fresh hell for an ultra low price.
13/01/2025
I wasn't joking when I said 2024 was a great year for extreme music. Here are 10 more of my favorite records of the year. All worth obsessive repeat listens if you love heavy riffs and have a bold spirit.
10 more favorites from 2024:
Dread Ogre
Vulture - High Speed Metal
Heavy Temple
Oranssi Pazuzu
Wharflurch
Devil's Hour
NAGASAKI SUNRISE
Peace Decay
Pøltergeist
Obscene
10/01/2025
This week was the 4 year anniversary of Wise Blood Records. During that time I have released over 50 albums, most of them on multiple formats. I am currently working behind the scenes on a release schedule for 2025, which is going to be a seriously HEAVY year for Indiana metal and hardcore.
2024 was the year we finally triumphed over the vinyl delays that haunted us for 18 months. But I'll be real, the delays put the label in a pretty demoralizing financial hole. While handling all aspects of the label I faced a daily battle with depression and burnout. Things felt pretty dark and grim, and not in the good black metal ways. Behind the label name and silly owl mask I'm just one well-intentioned insomniac sharing music I love with others. I truly appreciated every compassionate and encouraging comment during that stressful and turbulent period.
If you're missing something from our discography, please consider treating yourself to something heavy this month. Every dollar helps keep Wise Blood soaring into 2025. Thanks to all my collaborators and Blood Siblings for the past 4 years of support! Here's to year 5. Hold onto your butts.
08/01/2025
Happy 4 year anniversary to Mother of Graves and their "In Somber Dreams" debut! This was WBR001, the release that started it all for Wise Blood. Tapes and CDs have been sold out a while, but we still have copies of this crushing EP on 12" heavy vinyl with the band logo etched into the B side. Impeccably mastered by Dan Swanö at Unisound.
Listening to this album transports me back to the earliest days of the label when everything was new, exciting, and sort of terrifying. I was incredibly fortunate for the introduction to this band from Corey of Apostle of Solitude when they were demoing new material. I could not have asked for better first-time collaborators.
If this is missing from your collection please consider downloading it for FREE or grabbing a vinyl copy!
06/01/2025
2024 was a great year for extreme music! I listened to a ton of stuff. Here are my favorite records of the year. All worth obsessive repeat listens if you love heavy riffs and have a bold spirit. I will post the rest of my top 40 tomorrow.
One rule: I'm not including bands I have previously worked with, or else Wraith, Acid Mass, and Dungeon Crawl would all be listed.
My 10 favorites of 2024:
Blood Incantation
Attic
Lord Goblin
Bedsore
Antioch
Molten
Morgul Blade
Nokturnal
Kolga
Dopethrone
03/01/2025
As we race towards Wise Blood's 4 year anniversary, we celebrate by offering all of our releases as FREE downloads on Bandcamp. That's damn near 50 albums worth of heavy music for zero pennies. All we ask is that you share your favorite bands and songs with a friend and spread the word.
Download 'em all for free until the end of January. While you're at it, take a look at our 2024 sampler or grab a helluva deal with one of our Vinyl or CD Bundles. Let us know the new albums you discover!
27/12/2024
I am celebrating Wise Blood's upcoming 4th anniversary by offering our biggest and heaviest label sampler yet. 20 tracks from Wise Blood's releases and other underground bands I love. Like always, it's totally FREE to download and share. We also have some limited edition CDs and amazing year-end bundle deals for metalheads who want to add some mysterious heaviness to their collection.
Wise Blood's year-end compilations are an ode to the Earplugged sampler series in the '90s, and features the entire spectrum of heavy music. Death Metal. Thrash. Black Metal. Doom. Hardcore. Darkwave. Punk. Heavy Metal. It's all welcome at Wise Blood. This year's sampler includes songs from:
While the compilation is free to download, please share your favorite discoveries from the sampler with friends and tag the label and bands you dig most. Thanks for all the support, and I'll see ya in the new year!
- Sean // Wise Blood
23/12/2024
Friday we release our FREE annual label sampler. 20 tracks from Wise Blood's releases + songs I loved from other friends and collaborators. Cover art and track list revealed December 27th.
I will resume shipping next week, when I return from seeing family in New York.
Happy holidays from Wise Blood Records! - Sean
19/12/2024
Thanks to Necrotic Nick at Thralls of Metal for naming Suffer "Grand Canvas of the Aesthete" to his top albums list! Suffer are at #8, surrounded by heavy hitters like High on Fire and Blood Incantation. He calls Suffer "a hybrid of Morbid Angel, Carcass, and Suffocation" which nails their modernized old school sound. We have Vinyl and very few CDs remaining, so get your copy fast before the new year.
Check out the whole list and subscribe to the channel to unearth more great albums!
13/12/2024
Happy birthday to David Jaggar of Flesher and Sacred Leather!
When he's not bashing out basslines, he's the layout and design genius for Wise Blood & Stranger Attractions Presents + a staple of the Indianapolis metal community. Thanks for all you do for this label, dude!
Pictured here with Corey of Graveripper and Chrissy G (ex-Wretch & Gates of Slumber).
08/12/2024
Thanks for all the Bandcamp Friday support, Blood Siblings! Here are some albums I added to my collection:
What did you grab for your own collections on Bandcamp Friday?
04/12/2024
Friday we are adding a bunch of great stuff to our Bandcamp page:
Castle Rat - 3 LP / 1 CD / 1 CS
Restless Dreams - 5 PS2 copies
Mother of Graves - 4 Test Press
Krigsgrav - 4 Test Press
Faster Than the Devil 3 - 1 Test Press
Black Knife - 4 Test Press
Colony Drop - 3 LP
Crossfire - 1 signed CS
Faerie Ring - 1 LP
Ardent Nova - 3 CD
Plus some new bundles and rad new tie-dye shirts. We will be adding the copies early Friday morning, so follow us on Bandcamp to get notified first!
29/11/2024
A reason for thanks: a new "Ears of Decay" column from Andrew Lampela over at Off Shelf!
Andrew's mixture of heavy music discourse, personal essay, and social commentary always hits me hard. His writing is sharp, weary, darkly funny, admirably vulnerable, and deeply human. His music recommendations are always worth seeking out, and in this one he mentions:
Suffer
Wizard Death
Restless Dreams
Mother of Graves
Faster Than the Devil 3
This column specifically echoed so many of my own struggles with isolation, depression, and creative stagnation over the past year. Battling the ennui is easier when there's writing this raw and honest. My recommendation: Listen to Andrew's vicious hardcore punk band SWAGE and read the whole column.
27/11/2024
The new issue of Decibel Magazine just flapped into my mailbox. Open to page 55 and Wise Blood has a half-page ad featuring our 2024 releases. The ad is across the page from Mother of Graves in the 11th spot of this year's illustrious top 40 list, so picture my ad applauding them. We still have a limited number of "The Periapt of Absence" tapes available, but they won't last long.
Grab your issue and support the magazine, it's the one with Cirith Ungol on the cover!
23/11/2024
Today the first 10 customers who buy a heavy record will receive the new Graveripper Flexi for FREE. Thanks Indy CD & Vinyl for having a fantastic selection!
Happy Saturday metal maniacs! Our pals have given us a stack of these new .ripper.metal flexi’s to give out to anyone who buys a metal record today! Come in and grab any metal record you’ve had on your wishlist and get this flexi for free!
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Videos
Restless Dreams - Early Stream Tomorrow
Tomorrow we reveal an early Restless Dreams stream exclusively on the Wise Blood YT channel. This black metal nightmare inspired by Silent Hill 2 (from Graveripper frontman Corey Parks) is out officially on October 8th.
The PS2 CD version has been shipped to all USA customers. We still have a few "Mary's Letter" CD versions available. They are gonna sell out fast, so get your copy ASAP and meet us in the fog.
Restless Dreams
Restless Dreams. October.
More secrets revealed soon.
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Wise Blood Records, Est. MMXX
Wise Blood Records is an artist-first heavy metal and punk label based in Indianapolis, IN. As a new record label, the goal is to announce Wise Blood Records as a trusted destination for quality heavy music. Wise Blood Records will always embody these fundamental principles:
Ambassadorship. Wise Blood Records and our affiliated artists will represent heavy music with consideration, integrity, empathy, and kindness. The riffs are mean, but we aren’t.
Community. Wise Blood Records is committed to 50% or more of the artist roster being composed of regional artists. We believe in supporting local artists and businesses.
Perspective. Artist-first, always and forever. The label is just an amplifier to reach a wider audience, it’s not the instrument. Wise Blood Records 100% believes in music before ego.
DONATIONS: We have received messages from people within and outside the heavy music community about donations. Every dollar counts, and we appreciate your support. If you’d like to donate to to the label you can Venmo the label at @WiseBloodRecords or contribute $1 or more on Bandcamp HERE.
DEMO SUBMISSION POLICY: Please read carefully. We are a small label, and most releases will be carefully curated by the label owner. However, we do accept unsolicited demos. Before submitting a demo, the artist should like our page, share our page, AND purchase at least one release from one of the other artists we represent. We want to collaborate with bands who support other hard-working bands. After doing so, send a link to stream your music along with a history of your band. Absolutely no attachments. Send in an e-mail to wisebloodrecords (at) gmail (dot) com
Music we dig:
Death metal that’s crusty, subterranean, or packed with solos. Not big into tech-death or slams. Not interested in shock value or violent misogyny.
Doom with riffs big enough to cast shadows. Could be 420-friendly trad doom, could be sludge or post-metal with a mean-streak. Not big into drone or records longer than 45 minutes.
Black metal that’s cosmic, gothic, or strange. Not interested in war metal or anything traditional. Also: get your NSBM bu****it the F**K outta here.
Punk that descends from The Stooges, The Birthday Party, and Discharge. Post-punk and goth in the vein of Fields of the Nephilim and Wailin Storms. Wild-blooded, urgent, catchy and irreverent. Not into pop-punk or anything that could be confused with The Ramones.
Open to exceptional dark folk and darkwave projects.
