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Hells Headbangers Records

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Hells Headbangers Records
Founded2000
GenreHeavy metal music, extreme metal
LocationCleaveland, Ohio

Hells Headbangers is an American independent record label and online record shop focused on extreme metal music,[1][2] based out of Cleveland, Ohio.[3] The label has signed acts such as Blood Feast, Profanatica, Rotting, Mortal Decay, Midnight,[4][5] Blasphemic Cruelty and Perdition Temple.[6] They have also released albums by Destroyer 666, Embalmer, and Incantation.[7]

History

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Hells Headbangers Records was formed by brothers Chase, Eric and Justin Horval in the year 2000.[8] Hells co-owner Chase Horval recalled the label's founding was "mostly as a means to curb [their] boredom, discover new bands and build up our [their] vinyl collections." He said the label started life as an "online mail-order distro", and that they initially had "zero intention" of growing it into a record label. The label's first release was Spawn of Satan/Bloodsick split LP and CD in 2002. They chose "Hells Headbangers" as the name for the label because it "united all of the subgenres of metal" that their distro had in stock, which included death metal, black metal, thrash metal, grindcore, heavy metal, and doom metal.[1] Chase Horval stated that their parents were oblivious to their retail activities until the company's inventory began overtaking the family's garage and hallways. According to Chase, their parents "had no concept of what" online shopping was.[9]

The boys all worked at Pizza Hut together during this time. They did not own their own computer during their early years, and did business using their manager's computer, who Chase said "hooked them up". Chase also used the computer at the public library when they could not access their manager's computer. This also allowed him to learn markup languages such as HTML and high-level programming languages such as JavaScript, which came to his aid in the industry when e-commerce was "in its infancy".[10]

Other projects

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Co-founder Justin Horval (known within the scene as "J-Dawg" or simply "The Dawg") established the DEAD BY DAWG YouTube channel during the 2020s, on which he has interviewed several high-profile musicians in the extreme metal scene, such as Glen Benton of Deicide[11][12] and Matti Karki of Dismember.[13] Additionally, he routinely mocks and ridicules people who he perceives to be "wimps [and] posers" within the extreme metal scene on the channel, according to an Apple Podcasts interviewer. Horval is also an avid bodybuilder and has spoken extensively about the topic in his videos.[14]

Controversy

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Chase Horval has stated that the label has encountered issues with manufacturers who refused to print some of their albums due to controversial and/or blasphemous album covers and song titles, openly admitting that the label is enticed by media that it perceives to be "controversial".[1] In 2017, MetalSucks published an open letter challenging the label to stop distributing albums by National Socialist black metal bands, which the site's writers described as "Nazi propaganda".[15]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 Hutchcraft, Jak (January 21, 2014). "Are Hells Headbangers the Only Metal Label Staying True to the Genre?". Vice. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  2. ↑ Rhombus, Emperor (March 4, 2022). "Hells Headbangers Co-Owner Eric Horval Accused of Rape and Abuse, Brother and Co-Owner Justin Horval Says, "There's Zero Truth To It Whatsoever"". MetalSucks. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  3. ↑ Methodology, Bardo (November 6, 2024). "Hells Headbangers I". Bardo Methodology. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  4. ↑ "BLOOD FEAST Signs With HELLS HEADBANGERS". Blabbermouth.net. October 5, 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Artists | HELLS HEADBANGERS Records & Distribution". hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
  6. ↑ Blabbermouth (December 10, 2012). "BLASPHEMIC CRUELTY And PERDITION TEMPLE Sign To HELLS HEADBANGERS". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
  7. ↑ Kusano, Rodney (September 5, 2019). "TOP 5 UNDERGROUND METAL RECORD LABELS". OUTBURN ONLINE. Retrieved August 16, 2026.
  8. ↑ Methodology, Bardo (November 6, 2024). "Hells Headbangers I". Bardo Methodology. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
  9. ↑ Methodology, Bardo (November 6, 2024). "Hells Headbangers I". Bardo Methodology. Retrieved March 1, 2026.
  10. ↑ Methodology, Bardo (November 6, 2024). "Hells Headbangers I". Bardo Methodology. Retrieved August 16, 2026.
  11. ↑ "DEICIDE's GLEN BENTON Recalls Hilarious First Encounter With EURONYMOUS: "He Had A Party City Vampire Cape"". Metal Injection. October 6, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
  12. ↑ "'It Was Comical': Deicide's Glen Benton Recalls Meeting Euronymous, Reveals What the Black Metal Legend Was Like". www.ultimate-guitar.com. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
  13. ↑ Blabbermouth (June 9, 2024). "MATTI KARKI On DISMEMBER's New Music: 'We Want To Keep Our Style, But Still It Has To Be Different In A Way'". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
  14. ↑ "J-DAWG Obliterates Wimps & Posers, SVARTALV Swings The Hammer Of Judgment On The Weekly News Rant". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved August 15, 2026.
  15. ↑ "An Open Letter to Hells Headbangers Records to Stop Releasing and Distributing Metal by White Supremacists". MetalSucks. August 24, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
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