The voice of the heavenly god Ortzi, that is Ortots. Thunder, you're so angry. And this Basque metal record label, the fruit of that thunder, has launched a new project: The Basque Metal Label project. Its objective is to support the productions of young Basque metal groups without publishing houses. In accordance with the philosophy of Ortots, only independent publications outside the SGAE organization will be supported, which can be accessed from the Ortots website (www.mundurat.net/ortots). To those who say that metal is dead in the Basque Country, no, it will be a project that will help confirm that hard rock still has a place in us. “In our country, the heavyweight panorama is not only divided between the four traditional bands; there are eleven young bands with a surplus of quality,” says Inaxio Esnaola, founder of the label; but while these bands are not supported by the media and record companies, they will remain in the background. But here is the San Sebastián record label and its Eusko Metal Label, with the intention of turning the situation upside down.

Since the creation of Ortots in 2006, they have worked extensively, releasing four albums and a collection; however, with this new project they have given way to a different approach. In December a collection will be published, a showcase of the project, which will also be used for promotional work. It will bring together fifteen musical groups. Although Eusko Metal Label will offer references to different groups, the album is the undisputed part of the project. A

fact to reflect the heavy spirit of the publication: 666 copies will be distributed for 3 euros. Each participating group will have the opportunity to sell the collection on their own; “the groups will buy the number of albums they want at a lower price than the sale price, and the profits they will receive will be for themselves,” explains Esnaola. As with the previous collection, the expenses and benefits will be distributed between the bands and the record label. With this cooperative approach, musicians, record companies and the Eusko Metal Label project will all win, both economically and promotional.

Metallic of three

Metal has always been a hobby for Inaxio Esnaola, and with this hobby as an excuse, he has worked hard for years in favor of the Basque musical panorama. He remembers the initial steps: “At the time when the fanzines took the Internet, there were some metal webzines in Spain, but none of them were in the Basque heavyweight.” He made numerous attempts in this regard, but he made a mistake in all of them. “Later, I started working on the radio program Ferrero; I had a section called Burdenas del Pueblo (Local Irons) and I offered the latest news about Basque metal.” As the nature of the webcine that Esnaola had in mind was also such, she used the same name for her network project: Iron of the People (www.herrikoburdina.net). This site not only offers various news, but also provides the reader with reviews of the albums, reports and information about the groups.

The album came from Webzine. “One day, at the Iron People’s Forum, one person proposed a collection with several groups.” Say and do. “I saw the possible means and decided to move forward. At that time there were a lot of independent record labels being created, it was the boom of AntiSGAE and AntiCopyRight; in the Basque Country there were examples to take as a reference, like MusikHerria”. Due to the spread of this philosophy, and the comfort offered by being independent, we opted for this way of working, creating a non-profit record label.

With the creation of Ortots, Esnaola carried out the metallic trio of radio programs, websites and the label. Although he has acknowledged that it is a job he does with enthusiasm, it is also said that it is hard for him, since he has only had to carry out all these projects many times. For this reason, Ortots publishes few works per year, since the distribution and promotion of each one requires a lot of work. “Several other independent record companies make this mistake, publishing multiple records, but without proper promotion.” Ortots’ support for the teams is again based on this promotional work, because “we won’t be able to pay them all the work.” The record company is an assisted self-production. Collaboration and support are the two words that define Ortots most appropriately.

To be a part of the storm, however, several conditions must be met if Ortots’ philosophy is to thrive. It is essential to have bands that deal with hard rock or metal; “what they do must be interesting, they must make a contribution to music; whether it is an experimental metal or a classic metal, it must be well done”, says Esnaola. They will also have to be musicians and Basques in favor of free culture, “although they have made proposals to expand the areas”. But Ortots was born to promote Basque music, and his creator has assured that it will continue to be so.

The collapse of the Basque metal has not yet come out, and it does not seem to have a finish; let the one who likes it get wet under the rain. Anyone who doesn’t want to hear will have no choice but to take the umbrella out of the house.