Sometimes returning to where you started is not the same as starting over.
After several years together, Massacre Records and BLOODRED have gone their separate ways. Before discussing what that means for the future, I want to begin with gratitude.
Thomas and the team at Massacre Records gave BLOODRED opportunities that were anything but guaranteed for a project of this size. Signing a record deal later in life, releasing my music through an established label, and reaching people far beyond my own limited network meant a great deal to me.
There is no dramatic breakup story to tell. Both sides would probably have preferred the releases to be more successful commercially. But a label is a business, and BLOODRED is a small project in an already narrow musical niche. We do not play live shows, which removes one of the most important ways for a band to remain visible between releases and build a sustainable audience.
That reality matters. It does not make the music less meaningful, and it does not erase the strong reviews, the people who listen around the world, or the videos that have reached six-figure view counts. But commercial numbers remain commercial numbers. A label has to consider whether the investment makes sense. In the case of BLOODRED, the balance was no longer convincing enough.
I can understand that. I am grateful for the past few years, and I am also at peace with being independent again.
Back to the Roots, but Not Back to Zero
In one sense, this does feel like a return to the roots. Before the label deal, I made most decisions myself, organized releases with external partners, and carried the financial risk. That will probably become part of my reality again.
But I am not returning to the same point from which I started.
BLOODRED has now released four albums and one EP. I have learned a great deal about writing, recording, production, presentation, and promotion. I have built a stable creative setup with Joris Nijenhuis on drums and Alexander Krull as producer. I have also reached people who care about this music, even if the audience remains small by conventional standards.
When someone spends their time listening to BLOODRED, connects with a song, or takes the effort to write about an album, that is never a meaningless number. Attention is limited, and genuine attention is one of the most valuable things anyone can give to an independent artist.
At the same time, gratitude does not remove the need for realism. Producing an album can require a five-figure investment. BLOODRED is very unlikely to reach a financial break-even point. I have always understood this project as an artistic necessity rather than a business model, but even an artistic necessity has to exist within the limits of an actual life.
The question is therefore not whether BLOODRED will continue. The question is how to create and release the music in a way that remains artistically convincing and financially possible.
Twelve New Songs Already Exist
While BLOODRED TV may have made it look as if most of my recent energy went into streaming and video production, music continued to take shape in parallel.
Over the past eighteen months, I have written twelve new songs.
They are not loose sketches or vague ideas for some distant future. The guitar and bass recordings are about 75 percent complete, and Joris has already started working on the drum parts. One of the songs, “Hollow,” even appeared in demo form during a stream.
Musically, black and death metal remain at the core of BLOODRED. That foundation is not going anywhere. At the same time, I have tried to push certain elements further, explore a few new shades, and test the limits of what still feels unmistakably like BLOODRED.
I cannot announce a release date yet. Experience has taught me that everything in this process tends to take longer than expected, sometimes considerably longer. I also do not know exactly what the final release model will look like.
Physical editions may become more difficult. A digital-first approach may be necessary. I may handle more parts of the recording and production process myself, while relying on trusted partners where their contribution matters most. The traditional album cycle may no longer be the only sensible way forward.
These decisions are still open because they need to serve the music rather than a habit inherited from previous releases.
What is not open is the future of the songs themselves. They will be released.
And since no opportunity should be left entirely unused, here is the very subtle part of this update: if a label happens to be looking for an independent blackened death metal project with twelve new songs, an experienced team, a clear artistic identity, and a considerable amount of persistence, you know where to find me.
I will simply leave that sentence here without making it look too much like a pitch.
A new partner would be welcome. It is not a requirement for BLOODRED to continue.
Where BLOODRED TV Belongs
The past months have also forced me to think more carefully about the relationship between BLOODRED and BLOODRED TV.
The answer is clearer to me now than it was when I started streaming. Music remains the foundation of everything. BLOODRED TV is not a separate side project, and it should not become a permanent advertising program built around the music. It is the editorial and reflective part of the same artistic identity.
That distinction gives the format more freedom, but it also creates a clear boundary.
Not every subject has to connect directly to a song or album. Topics from metal, culture, society, history, technology, and creativity can all have a place. The connection must come from the underlying perspective: humanism, responsibility, freedom, doubt, resistance, and a clear rejection of fascism and other forms of dehumanization.
The ambition is not to produce more noise around whatever happens to be trending. BLOODRED TV should not become a news, gossip, reaction, ragebait, or conventional review channel. It should examine connections, take different perspectives seriously, and distinguish between verifiable facts and my own interpretation.
In simple terms, the guiding principles are depth over superficiality, curiosity over predetermined certainty, argument over polarization, authenticity over artificial performance, and long-term relevance over short-term attention.
That does not mean every idea requires an hour-long essay. A single thought may work as a short impulse. A clearly defined question may need a focused fifteen-minute video. A complex subject may require a full deep dive. Conversations with guests and live performances will add other forms of exchange.
The idea should determine the format, not the other way around.
YouTube will become the central editorial home for these contributions. Twitch will remain part of BLOODRED as a place for live recording, performances, direct exchange, and more spontaneous formats. The streams and videos will remain connected, but YouTube should no longer function merely as an archive of Twitch broadcasts. Every finished video needs to work on its own, even if nobody was present during the original live recording.
This also means reducing the pressure to produce an extensive deep dive every week. A larger main production roughly every two weeks is a more realistic goal. Shorter streams, performances, and focused videos can appear in between when the subject and available time allow it.
Most importantly, when new music requires more attention, BLOODRED TV will step back. That is not a failure of the concept. It is the logical consequence of keeping the music at the center.
Continuing, Either Way
So, is BLOODRED going back to the roots?
Yes, in the sense that independence once again becomes the immediate reality. I will have to reconsider budgets, formats, partnerships, production processes, and release strategies. Some things may become smaller. Others may become more direct.
But this is not a return to the beginning.
The experience remains. The team remains. The artistic identity remains. Twelve new songs already exist, and the work on them is moving forward.
Whether the next chapter begins with a new label or continues independently, BLOODRED will continue.
The roots may be familiar. What grows from them does not have to be.