Patrick Walker the cofounder of the now defunct doom metal band Warning publicly criticized a vinyl reissue of their "Watching From a Distance" album and now the label behind the reissue has issued their response: We at Kreation Records would like to clear up some of the details about the controversy surrounding our license of the excellent "Watching From a Distance" album by Warning for vinyl reissue.
Here are the facts. Cyclone Empire recently reissued the CD and we have worked together before so I asked them about licensing it for vinyl here in the U.S. They told me to contact Miskatonic Foundation, which originally released the "Watching From a Distance" LP. Miskatonic agreed to license it to us.
In a situation such as this, it is the responsibility of the music licenser to communicate with the artist to work out the financial and creative details. In some cases the artist can become involved with the licensee, but that is at the discretion of the owner of the music.
We were given the art to use by Miskatonic with instructions to change it around slightly, which we did. The layout and packaging came out fine and doesn't differ significantly from the CD layout.
It was not until after the records were pressed that I learned that Miskatonic Foundation did not involve the band whatsoever in this licensing, financially or creatively. I am shocked that Miskatonic went forward with this project without contacting the band.
Making this deal without Warning's permission was at best disrespectful, and at worst deliberately conniving. I paid a very large sum of money to license this awesome album expecting that some of it would make it to the band.
I have offered vocalist/guitarist Patrick Walker additional money from my end to help make up for this and he declined. We had a conversation over the phone and everything was made clear to him about how this all came about.
Our intention was to put out a wonderful piece of music that has been nearly impossible to get on vinyl for years. Kreation Records and the band were both misled by this other party. On top of that, we at Kreation are deeply saddened that Patrick is not happy about the design.
We apologize for all the issues, inconveniences and heartburn this has caused. Our utmost goal is to put out great products for YOU, the fans of brilliant, heavy music.
Thanks to all for the continued support over the years. We are just a couple of guys working our a**es off to spread first-rate music all over the world."
You can read Patrick Walker's statement which prompted the response above here.