Part Two of our Earache Records deep dive — and this one went off-script. We sat down with Al Dawson (Earache US) to fact-check twenty years of label history… and then founder Digby Pearson, who it turns out was one of two people watching the stream, texted his way into the call — bringing an announcement with him: a new signing he describes as "one of the biggest pop producers in the world", making a death metal album for Earache.

Also in this episode:

– The tennis match that put Entombed on MTV

– What Columbia really spent marketing Carcass's Heartwork — and what it sold

– The Bring Me The Horizon Warped Tour merch call: "$50,000… a night"

– The Repugnant demo Tobias Forge sent Earache, and never got a reply to

– Skindred vs Universal: twelve staff against four hundred for a UK number one

– Why Digby passed on Blood Incantation. Twice.

0:00 Preamble & setup

1:20 Part Two begins — picking up Part One's questions

12:54 Entombed, MTV, and a tennis bet

18:42 Why the Columbia deal really ended

54:26 "$60 million to sell out" — the last independents

1:05:47 Digby crashes his own label's interview

1:10:06 The announcement: the secret Swedish signing

1:13:07 The Ghost demo Earache ignored

1:35:27 Blood Incantation: the one that got away

1:38:44 BMTH: $50k a night in merch

2:04:56 Skindred vs Universal: the chart war

2:14:02 "I shunned all the -tions"

Temple of Bleh EP 42 — Earache Records: From Scum to Sofa, Part Two, ft. Al Dawson & Digby Pearson.

Get yer tinfoil hats ready - we're discussing Earache's transition from Grind to Grandad.

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Documentary banter is about 53 minutes in.

Sorry for the audio - the podcast version will be normalised.

Ducking out the Bullets and Octane rehearsal studio to guest host this episode, Gene Louis spills his passion for drumming with Modern Drummer founder and CEO, David Frangioni.

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State of play going forward.