| SharpTone Records | |
| Country: | United States |
| Location: | Los Angeles, California |
SharpTone Records is an American independent record label started on September 11, 2013. The label was founded by Nuclear Blast CEO Markus Staiger and former vice president of Sumerian Records Shawn Keith.
The record label was started by Markus Staiger, the current CEO of Nuclear Blast Records and Shawn Keith, the former vice president of Sumerian Records.[1] The label has been described as an offshoot label of Nuclear Blast which primarily focuses on rock and alternative music, similar to Arising Empire. Arising Empire focuses on metalcore and punk bands.[2] In an interview, Keith spoke about the label: "Developing this label has been very exciting for me. The opportunity to partner and cultivate new and established artists working toward broadening their global potential is thrilling. SharpTone will continue to diversify and evolve as a brand for music fans to truly identify with. We are not just another record label. We are a new-music company, allowing artists to be as creative and passionate as they choose to be."
The record label was first hinted at on June 23, 2016,[3] when several bands shared a mysterious teaser image reading "A New Era of Music Begins..." on their social media. These bands included Attila, Don Broco, Loathe, Miss May I and We Came as Romans.[4] The first release of the label would be a re-issue of the debut EP Prepare Consume Proceed by UK metal band Loathe less than a month later, but the labels first studio album release would be Attila's sixth album titled Chaos, released November 4 the same year.[5] [6] Other later releases for the year included the American release of Don Broco's Automatic, and a release of Craig Owens new side project, badXchannels, who was also signed later in 2016, with the EP being named WHYDFML. Emmure also signed in 2016.
The label's roster would increase from nine bands in 2016 to seventeen acts by the end of 2017. They released 12 studio albums from bands including Emmure's Look at Yourself, Loathe's The Cold Sun, While She Sleeps' You Are We, and Miss May I's Shadows Inside to name a few. In 2018, along with signing four new bands including Bleeding Through, the label's first band to move away from the label, Attila, said they wanted absolute creative freedom. That was their reason for going solo without the help of any record label. In 2018 the label issued Don Broco's Technology, Sink the Ship's Persevere, and Bleeding Through's Love Will Kill All among others.[7] [8]
The record label primarily focuses on different subgenres within rock music, more specifically the post-hardcore and progressive metalcore side of rock. Early signings included Attila,[9] Emmure,[10] Currents,[11] and Loathe.[12]
| Annisokay | 2017[30] | Germany: Halle (Saale), Saxony-Anhalt | Post-hardcore | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Any Given Day | 2019[31] | Germany: Gelsenkirchen | Metalcore | |
| Attila | 2016–2018[32] | US Atlanta, Georgia | Metalcore | |
| badXchannels | 2016 | US: Davison, Michigan | R&B, Pop-punk, Post-hardcore | |
| Being as an Ocean | 2017[33] | US: San Diego, California | Post-hardcore | |
| Broadside | 2020–2025[34] | US: Richmond, Virginia | Pop-punk Emo | |
| Crystal Lake | 2018–2025[35] | Japan: Tokyo | Metalcore | |
| Don Broco | 2016–2025 | UK: Bedford, England | Rock | |
| Imminence | 2017[36] | Sweden: Trelleborg | Post-hardcore | |
| Make Out Monday | 2018[37] | US: Los Angeles, California | Rock | |
| Miss May I | 2016–2024 | US: Troy, Ohio | Metalcore | |
| Novelists | 2017–2020[38] | France: Paris | Metalcore | |
| Of Mice & Men | 2021–2025[39] | US: Costa Mesa, California | Metalcore | |
| Of Virtue | 2019[40] | US: Lansing, Michigan | Metalcore | |
| Rise of the Northstar | 2018[41] | France: Paris | Hardcore punk | |
| Stray from the Path | 2025[42] | US: Long Island | Hardcore punk | |
| Stuck Out | 2020–2022 | Australia: Melbourne | Pop punk | |
| While She Sleeps | 2017[43] –2018 | UK | Metalcore |
| Album | Type | Artist | Release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prepare Consume Proceed (Re-issue) | EP | July 8, 2016 | ||
| Chaos | Studio Album | November 4, 2016 | ||
| Automatic (North American Release) | November 11, 2016 | |||
| WHYDFML[44] | EP | November 18, 2016 | ||
| Look at Yourself | Studio Album | March 3, 2017 | ||
| This Is Goodbye[45] | Imminence | March 31, 2017 | ||
| The Cold Sun | April 14, 2017 | |||
| You Are We | April 21, 2017 | |||
| Shadows Inside | June 2, 2017 | |||
| The Place I Feel Safest[46] | June 16, 2017 | |||
| Noir | September 8, 2017 | |||
| Cold Like War | October 20, 2017 | |||
| The Mortal Coil | November 3, 2017 | |||
| Technology | February 2, 2018 | |||
| This Is as One | Split EP | February 16, 2018 | ||
| Love Will Kill All | Studio album | May 25, 2018 | ||
| Arms | August 17, 2018 | |||
| Waiting for Morning to Come (Deluxe Edition) | September 7, 2018 | |||
| The Legacy of Shi | October 19, 2018 | |||
| Visions of Hollywood | October 26, 2018 | |||
| Split Series #1 | Split EP | Kingsmen/ExitWounds | November 2, 2018 | |
| I Let the Devil In | EP | December 14, 2018 | ||
| Everyone Around Me | Studio Album | Commonwealth | January 18, 2019 | |
| Helix | February 15, 2019 | |||
| Holding Absence | March 8, 2019 | |||
| Overpower | March 15, 2019 | |||
| Fault | EP | April 19, 2019 | ||
| C'est La Vie | Studio album | January 24, 2020 | ||
| I Let It In and It Took Everything | Studio album | February 7, 2020 | ||
| The Death of Me | Studio album | February 21, 2020 | ||
| The Way It Ends | Studio album | June 5, 2020 | ||
| Hindsight | Studio album | June 26, 2020 | ||
| A Quiet Place to Die | Studio Album | September 25, 2020 | ||
| The Things They Believe | Studio Album | February 7, 2021 | ||
| The Greatest Mistake of My Life | Studio Album | April 16, 2021 | ||
| Lost Souls | Studio Album | August 13, 2021 | ||
| Fragments of a Bitter Memory | Studio Album | October 1, 2021 | ||
| Amazing Things | Studio Album | October 22, 2021 | ||
| Echo | Studio Album | December 3, 2021 | ||
| The Lost & the Longing | Split EP | August 15, 2022 | ||
| Curse of Existence | Studio Album | September 2, 2022 | ||
| Darkbloom | Studio Album | October 14, 2022 | ||
| Datura | Studio Album | October 14, 2022 | ||
| Tear Me to Pieces | Studio Album | March 10, 2023 | ||
| Death Below | Studio Album | March 24, 2023 | ||
| The Death We Seek | Studio Album | May 5, 2023 | ||
| Reflections | Studio Album | August 11, 2023 | ||
| The Noble Art of Self Destruction | Studio Album | August 23, 2023 | ||
| Fatalism | Studio album | September 1, 2023 | ||
| Symptoms of Survival | Studio Album | November 3, 2023 | ||
| PULSE[47] | EP | LEVELS | February 2, 2024 | |
| Half Living Things | Studio Album | April 5, 2024 | ||
| What's Left Unsaid | Studio album | Foreign Hands | June 21, 2024 | |
| Sundiver | Studio Album | September 6, 2024 | ||
| Highly Irresponsible | Studio Album | October 25, 2024 | ||
| Make Them Suffer | Studio Album | November 8, 2024 | ||
| Oddworld | Studio Album | November 22, 2024 | ||
| Nine | Studio Album | February 14, 2025 | ||
| Clockworked | Studio Album | May 30, 2025 | ||
| All Is Beautiful... Because We're Doomed | Studio Album | August 22, 2025 | ||
| Flesh Stays Together | Studio Album | September 26, 2025 | ||
| The Only Heaven You'll Know | Studio Album | November 7, 2025 | ||
| A.R.S.O.N. | Studio Album | February 13, 2026 |
