Peaceville are running scared… running scared. Once upon a time all the biggest labels came from the UK, and a slew of original and groundbreaking bands to support them in the early 90s. In an alternative sense Peaceville ruled… that simple. But something went wrong, very wrong. A nightmarish merger with MFN and many bands either leaving or disappearing leaves Peaceville 2001 with 5… yep 5 bands! Add to that the dwindling importance of the UK as a force in sales and bands and indeed the downsizing of its underground scene. No one really cares that much anymore. So what do they do? An AUTOPSY comp, a DARKTHRONE comp, a MY DYING BRIDE comp and re-issue some old CD’s to throw at the market. In fact reviewing the circumstances surrounding this CD are perhaps more relevant then the actual CD. Of course it looks great as thankfully all Peaceville stuff does and did, it has some demo tracks… nice and other rare stuff and serves as a reminder what a great great band DARKTHRONE actually were in case it had slipped your mind. And with that thought one cannot but help thinking back through all the classic releases Peaceville have given us. But the climate has changed, it’s not as easy to sell records anymore and there are a million labels snapping at the heels of a million bad bands, all waiting for the trend to turn and payday to arrive. And where does that leave Peaceville? With an MDB of ever smaller profile, two commercial no hopers in THINE and BEYOND DAWN, some crap electronica I can’t recall and their one bright hope… KATATONIA! My advice is to move into the transfer market very quickly as they will never build up new bands as they once did… hard times ahead. My other advice is to buy “Preparing For War”…