Cold Spring (label)

Lore & Background

Cold Spring is owned and run by Justin Mitchell, who previously worked for Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth, a radical occult group from the 1980s. Mitchell began listening to early electronic music in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including bands like Soft Cell and The Human League, before moving into experimental music and artists like Genesis P-Orridge. His involvement in the music industry started with re-issuing cassette releases from his project Satori, which originated around 1984 and were released by another label.

The label began releasing recordings in 1988 by mail order. After a handful of cassette releases by artists such as The Grey Wolves and Genesis P-Orridge, Cold Spring issued its first vinyl compilation in 1990, '...And the Wolf Shall Lick The Jewels From Your Belly', featuring The Grey Wolves, Crash Worship, and The Hafler Trio. A planned split album between Alan Moore and Psychic TV was withdrawn due to major label pressure. In 1992, Cold Spring released Asesinos by Crash Worship, its first CD release. In 1999, the label released the Genesis P-Orridge and Merzbow project A Perfect Pain, which became an enormous success and one of the label's most requested titles.

In 2008, an untitled collaboration between Boyd Rice and Z'EV produced a two-track vinyl release. The following year, EV released Sum Things, archive material reflecting his take on dark ambient, recorded between December 2005 and March 2006. Also in 2009, Cold Spring re-released Anni Hogans Kickabye, repackaged with ten extra tracks and featuring Marc Almond and Nick Cave. In 2010, former Siouxsie and the Banshees member Steven Severin released his debut album for Cold Spring, Blood of a Poet, a soundtrack for a 1930 silent movie by Jean Cocteau.

Reader's Guide

Cold Spring occupies a distinct niche in the independent music landscape as a label dedicated to extreme and experimental forms, from dark ambient and power electronics to obscure electronics from Eastern Europe and Asia. Its significance lies in its consistent support for avant-garde and often challenging artists, including notable figures like Genesis P-Orridge, Merzbow, Boyd Rice, and Z'EV. The label's early adoption of internet sales in 1997 helped it reach a global audience for niche genres. Cold Spring's legacy includes releasing landmark works such as the Genesis P-Orridge/Merzbow collaboration A Perfect Pain, which became a highly requested title, and soundtracks like Steven Severin's Blood of a Poet. By specializing in 'all forms of extreme media,' Cold Spring has provided a platform for artists operating outside mainstream music, preserving and disseminating underground sounds that might otherwise remain obscure.

Did You Know?

• Cold Spring began releasing recordings in 1988 by mail order.
• The label's first vinyl compilation was '...And the Wolf Shall Lick The Jewels From Your Belly' (1990).
• A planned split album between Alan Moore and Psychic TV was withdrawn due to major label pressure.
• In 2010, former Siouxsie and the Banshees member Steven Severin released his debut Cold Spring album, a soundtrack for a 1930 silent movie.

Origins: From Occult Underground to Independent Label

Cold Spring traces its roots to Justin Mitchell, a figure whose path into the music world was anything but conventional. Mitchell had been working alongside Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth, the radical occult collective that emerged from the 1980s British underground. His own musical education began in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a period when he absorbed the early synth-pop sounds of Soft Cell and The Human League. That initial curiosity about electronic music naturally deepened over time, pulling him toward more experimental and avant-garde territories, including the work of Genesis P-Orridge. Mitchell's first hands-on experience in the music industry came through re-issuing cassette recordings from his own project, Satori—material originally produced around 1984 and initially put out by a different label. Those early cataloguing and distribution efforts laid the practical groundwork for what would become Cold Spring, which began shipping recordings to listeners by mail order in 1988, establishing a small but dedicated operation from Northamptonshire, England.

A Catalogue of Extremes: Genres and Formats

Cold Spring positions itself at the intersection of numerous genres that most mainstream labels would never touch. The label's stated remit spans dark ambient, neo-classical and neo-folk, orchestral works, power electronics and noise, Japanese noise, minimalism, death industrial, and dark soundtracks. It also embraces experimental electronics and obscure recordings hailing from Russia, China, Japan, Poland, and beyond. This breadth reflects a deliberate commitment to all forms of extreme media rather than a single sonic niche. The label's format history mirrors the broader music industry's evolution: it started with cassette releases by artists like The Grey Wolves and Genesis P-Orridge, moved to vinyl with its 1990 compilation, issued its first CD in 1992 with Crash Worship's Asesinos, and transitioned to internet-based sales and distribution in 1997. By the 2000s, Cold Spring was also issuing limited vinyl pressings, such as the two-track 2008 collaboration between Boyd Rice and Z'EV, keeping the label relevant across multiple physical and digital formats.

Defining Moments and High-Profile Releases

Several releases stand out as pivotal in Cold Spring's history. The label's first vinyl compilation, "...And the Wolf Shall Lick The Jewels From Your Belly" (1990), gathered work from The Grey Wolves, Crash Worship, and The Hafler Trio into a single LP. A planned follow-up—a split album pairing Alan Moore with Psychic TV—was pulled from release due to pressure from a major label, a setback that delayed the label's next output until 1992. That year brought Asesinos by Crash Worship, Cold Spring's first CD release. Perhaps the label's most celebrated achievement came in 1999 with A Perfect Pain, a collaboration between Genesis P-Orridge and Merzbow that became one of Cold Spring's most requested titles over the years. In 2010, the label released Blood of a Poet, Steven Severin's debut on Cold Spring. The album is a recording of the soundtrack he composed for Jean Cocteau's 1930 silent film, marking a striking crossover between the label's extreme-music identity and the world of cinematic scoring.

Legacy: Preserving the Obscure and the Extreme

Cold Spring has operated as a custodian of music that exists largely outside commercial circuits. Its catalogue preserves obscure electronics from Eastern European and Asian scenes that might otherwise have vanished into obscurity, and it has given a lasting home to artists connected to the psychic and occult underground that flourished in Britain from the 1980s onward. The 2009 reissue of Anni Hogan's Kickabye EP—expanded with ten additional tracks and featuring contributions from Marc Almond and Nick Cave—demonstrated the label's willingness to revisit and recontextualise earlier work for new audiences. Similarly, the 2009 release of EV's Sum Things, an album of archive material recorded between December 2005 and March 2006, reflected his personal take on the dark ambient genre. From its 1988 mail-order beginnings through its ongoing internet distribution, Cold Spring has maintained a steady, if quiet, presence, ensuring that extreme and experimental music from a wide global palette continues to find a dedicated audience.

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