Crowdfunded music projects are pretty common in the heavy metal community nowadays. A growing number of bands are taking to sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo to try and solicit donations for new albums, tours, and even legal actions. Some campaigns are spectacular successes while others are miserable failures, but few encompass the scope that the Elemental Nightmares split 7" series does.
Elemental Nightmares is basically a heavy metal 7" of the month club. You purchase the "subscription" and then receive two split 7"'s a week for 6 months. Each record features exclusive tracks from an international array of 26 great underground bands like Ashencult and Oak Pantheon. Also, when you place all the record sleeves together they form a mural. If you can't afford the whole shebang, you can also purchase individual splits while (the very limited) supplies last. Additionally, the records come with a free digital download which you can also purchase separately if physical media isn't your thing, and you can buy shirts, too. If you'd like to support Elemental Nightmares beyond purchasing the records, you can also make a monetary donation through Paypal.
Follow this link to the Elemental Nightmares website for even more information about the project. Even if you don't want to buy anything, shoot them a few dollars to help them meet their goal. The project is currently 45% funded and if it doesn't reach 100% of the goal, no records are sent out and everyone's money is refunded. Heavy metal fandom loves to complain that "real metal" never gets any support, so here's your chance to nut up or shut up. Projects like this are massive undertakings and the bands and organizers are most likely getting almost no financial return. This project is strictly for fans, so support the campaign and maybe we'll see Elemental Nightmares II. If you want to hear what you're getting ahead of time, watch the YouTube video below for snippets of each of the participating bands' offerings.
