Josh Grabelle (Trustkill Records) on his top 5 Trustkill Releases

I got in touch with Josh Grabelle from Trustkill Records/Bullet Tooth to look back on his catalog of releases and tell us what his 5 favorite releases have been.

Bullet For My Valentine “The Poison”

This one is pretty obvious to me as a choice. This was one of those signings that EVERY label or A&R person wishes they could score. The band was unheard of, from overseas (Wales), never been to the US, no manager or agent, etc. When I showed them to my friends and dudes in my other bands I got back comments like, "Dude, these guys are fags, don't sign them" or "They have gay tribal tats and wear shorts on stage, fuck these guys." Fast forward 2 years and this album has sold well over 1 million copies worldwide, and over 500,000 in the US, and the band deserves all their success as they are great guys and really hard workers.

Poison The Well “The Opposite Of December”

Most people point to this record as a major turning point for Trustkill, which is true. In 1999 Shai Hulud were recording a few songs for me for a split EP (w/ Another Victim) and Matt Fox called me from the studio and said, "Hey dude, you GOTTA check out the new PTW album they are recording here." The band were supposed to release this album on Good Life but when I heard it, we talked, and we released it on Trustkill in early 2000. In the summer of 2000 was the infamous Hellfest and when thousands of kids were singing along to the new PTW songs, I knew we had something special.

Eighteen Visions “Vanity”

I had seen 18V in Orange County in the summer of 1996 when I was on tour with Endeavor and Harvest. James was a little kid with a HUGE Hardline tattoo on his neck, so I wrote him off immediately. Ha Ha. I signed the band in early 1999 and released a 7" and the "Until The Ink Runs Out" album. I flew the band out to play Hellfest 1999 and that was a HUGE turning point for the band, and the scene really. Nobody looked like them at the time, and they turned a lot of heads. We released "Vanity" in 2002 and it was my first album through a major distributor, as well as a HUGE change in sound for the band. This album kicked off the new revival of the "Orange County scene" which saw great albums from Throwdown, Bleeding Through, Atreyu, A7X, and more.

Bleeding Through “This Is Love, This Is Murderous”

Brandan from Eighteen Visions (and Throwdown) told me he had started a "death metal" band and I probably rolled my eyes at him. Ha Ha. It wasn't until I saw them play at Furnace Fest in 2002 that I was sold. They DESTROYED that place and Brandan was an undeniable front man. I signed the band and released this album in 2003 and it was the first Trustkill album to break 100,000 sales, which is pretty huge. It's also pretty well known that when the band delivered the album I didn't really like it. However, it grew on me after a while and quite enjoy it now.

Various Artists “Saw VI Soundtrack”

This was one of those projects that I could only dream about, and something I ALWAYS wanted to do. A major motion picture soundtrack, with full studio support, DVD release, and I was given 100% control over it. With only 3 weeks to put the entire soundtrack together (the film business is even less organized and last minute than the music business I discovered), I think I put together a pretty awesome album with great music and artwork. Working with bands like Hatebreed, Converge, Every Time I Die, Shadows Fall, Chimaira, and more was a lot of fun.