Bands and artists inevitably hog the limelight when it comes to music coverage, but it's worth remembering they never exist in total isolation; on the contrary, they're inevitably part of a larger ecosystem that is supportive and sustaining (even if not always/necessarily optimally functional). I regularly post about gig venues and music writers/journalists, but less often about labels and record shops.
Crypt Of The Wizard - which happens to be both a label and a record shop, and now a festival - recently got its dues in the form of a Quietus article. Harry Sword spoke to co-founder and now solo proprietor Charlie Woolley about the shop's beginnings in 2015 and the changes that the business has undergone over the years.
Woolley was also granted the opportunity to recommend some of the albums he's most enjoyed releasing. Personally speaking, it was the prompt I needed to finally check out Ghold, and Bang To Rights by Heavy Sentence - in Sword's words, "worshipping at the eternal temple of Motorhead and imbued with street punk attitude alongside surprisingly deft melodic flourishes" - also struck a chord.
It's remarkable to me that Crypt Of The Wizard is "the only specialist underground metal emporium in London". If Bristol can support one - Black City Records, which I stumbled across on a recent visit - then you'd think the capital might boast a few more.
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