Editing Resistance Records

{{Short description|Canadian record label}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}

'''Resistance Records''' was a Canadian [[record label]] owned by '''Resistance LLC''' which was closely connected to the organization [[National Alliance (United States)|National Alliance]].<ref name="CNC: Center for New Community">{{Cite web | url = http://www.newcomm.org/reports/Beyond_a_Dead_Mans_Deeds_color_web.pdf | title = Beyond A Dead Man's Deeds: The National Alliance After William Pierce | work = Newcomm.org | publisher = CNC: Center for New Community | location = Chicago | year = 2002 | accessdate = March 8, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110311175227/http://www.newcomm.org/reports/Beyond_a_Dead_Mans_Deeds_color_web.pdf | archive-date = March 11, 2011 | url-status = usurped | df = mdy-all }}</ref><ref name="Resistance: Activism">{{Cite web |title = Resistance: Activism |work = Resistance.com |accessdate = March 18, 2011 |url = http://resistance.com/activism/ |archive-url  = https://archive.today/20240525064417/https://www.webcitation.org/5xGjRhzjt?url=http://resistance.com/activism/ |archive-date = May 25, 2024 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all}}</ref> It produced and sold music by [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] and [[white separatist]] musicians, primarily through its website. Advertising itself as "The Soundtrack for White Revolution", Resistance LLC also published a magazine called ''Resistance'',<ref>{{Cite web  |title = Resistance Magazine |work = Resistance.com |accessdate = March 18, 2011 |url = http://resistance.com/magazine/ |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110718164719/http://resistance.com/magazine/ |archive-date = July 18, 2011 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all}}</ref> with [[Erich Gliebe]] becoming the editor in 1999. The label is listed as a [[hate group]] by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]].<ref>{{Cite web| title = Hate Map: West Virginia| work = Splcenter.org| publisher =  [[Southern Poverty Law Center]]| accessdate = March 18, 2011| year = 2011 | url = http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map#s=WV }}</ref> As of 2011, the label was headquartered in [[Lufkin, Texas]], US.<ref name="CNC: Center for New Community"/><ref name="Resistance: Activism"/>

==History==
The label was founded in [[Windsor, Ontario]] in December 1993 by white supremacist [[George Burdi]].<ref name=adl>[http://www.adl.org/resistance_records/introduction.asp Deafening Hate] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620073603/http://adl.org/resistance_records/introduction.asp |date=June 20, 2010 }}. [[Anti-Defamation League]]. Accessed May 12, 2007.</ref><ref name=natall>{{Cite web|last= Walker|first = Shaun|author-link= Shaun Walker (white supremacist)|title=The Growth of White Power Music|work= Natall.com|publisher= [[National Alliance (United States)|National Alliance]]|accessdate =May 12, 2007|date =March 6, 2006|url = http://www.natall.com/adv/2006/03-04-06.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515123536/http://www.natall.com/adv/2006/03-04-06.html|archive-date=May 15, 2011|url-status     =dead}}</ref> George Burdi went by the name "George Eric Hawthorne" at that time. In January 1994, this music label was also incorporated in Detroit, Michigan.<ref name=adl/><ref name=natall/> With the launch of a new music label came the new magazine ''Resistance''. The magazine boasted a circulation of over 13,000 in 1995.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE2D61030F930A25750C0A963958260&sec=technology&spon=&pagewanted=1 Hate Groups Use Tools of the Electronic Trade]. ''[[New York Times]]'', March 13, 1995. Accessed May 15, 2007.</ref> This magazine is still published and distributed by the [[National Alliance (United States)|National Alliance]].<ref>[http://www.dmnews.com/cms/dm-news/legal-privacy/8176.html Record Company Takes Extremist Message to the Masses] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029033943/http://www.dmnews.com/cms/dm-news/legal-privacy/8176.html |date=October 29, 2007 }}. DMNews, May 8, 2000. Accessed May 12, 2007.</ref> 
Among the acts signed to Resistance was Burdi's own [[RAHOWA (band)|RAHOWA]] (short for "''Racial Holy War''"), which disbanded after Burdi renounced [[neo-Nazism]].

Burdi was involved in a white supremacist street march in May 1993, during which he kicked a female anti-racist <nowiki>protester</nowiki> in the face.<ref name=cjn>"Burdi Sentenced to One Year in Jail." ''[[The Canadian Jewish News]]'', May 18, 1995.</ref> Burdi was charged for assault causing bodily harm in 1995, and given a 12-month sentence.<ref name=cjn/> He was arrested after losing appeals and served time for the assault in 1997.<ref>[http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/people/b/ftp.py?people/b/burdi.george/press/detroit-news.970411 White Supremacist Record Company in Oakland (Michigan) Raided in Tax-Fraud Probe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304195225/http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/people/b/ftp.py?people%2Fb%2Fburdi.george%2Fpress%2Fdetroit-news.970411 |date=March 4, 2016 }}. ''[[The Detroit News]]'', April 11, 1997. Mirror at Shofar FTP Archives. Accessed May 15, 2007.</ref> Burdi's Canadian business partners, Jason Snow and Joe Talic, had taken control and ownership of Resistance in 1996. American manager Mark Wilson was later replaced by Eric Davidson, former editor of the North American edition of the UK network [[Blood & Honour]], who had relocated from California to Michigan in January 1997.

In April 1997, Resistance Records was temporarily put out of business by a tax dispute and a prosecution for distributing materials that promoted hatred in Canada.<ref name=splc>[http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=452 Resisting Arrest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227085051/http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=452 |date=February 27, 2009 }}. [[Southern Poverty Law Center]], Winter 1998. Accessed May 12, 2007.</ref> The inventory was in the United States at that time, at a rented house in [[Milford, Michigan]] where the operations were run. The Federal Marshals, under the direction of the [[Internal Revenue Service]], seized the company records and the entire inventory. Eventually a small fine was paid for failure to properly pay state sales tax, and the business records and inventory was returned.<ref name=splc/> The label never again operated in Canada because of violations of Canadian hate speech laws. After his 1997 sentence, George Burdi renounced racism and formed an ethnically diverse band, [[Novacosm]].

In 1998, Resistance Records was sold by its Canadian owners to [[Willis Carto]] and was incorporated in Washington, D.C., with Carto's agent [[Todd Blodgett]] in charge of operations. Eric Davidson gave notice after the sale and would later relocate to Minnesota to help found [[Panzerfaust Records]].<ref name=adl/> For a brief time, Resistance Records operated from California. Blodgett and [[William Luther Pierce]], head of the [[National Alliance (United States)|National Alliance]] had bought partial ownership. In 1999, Carto and Blodgett later sold their shares of the company to Pierce.<ref name=adl/> Pierce fired Blodgett and moved the entire operation to his {{convert|400|acre|km2|adj=on}} property in [[Hillsboro, West Virginia]]. Also in 1999, Resistance Records bought Swedish white power label Nordland Records, doubling its roster.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20011107145717/http://www.time.com/time/musicgoesglobal/na/mnoise.html All You Need Is Hate]. ''[[Time Magazine]]'', 2001. Accessed May 12, 2007.</ref> 
In 2000, it was made into an LLC in West Virginia.

==Subsidiaries<!--'Cymophane Productions', 'Cymophane Records', and 'Unholy Records' redirect here-->==
Resistance Records owns several smaller labels, most notably [[black metal]] labels '''Cymophane Records'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> (also known as '''Cymophane Productions'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->) and '''Unholy Records'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->.<ref name='decibel1'>{{cite news | first=J. | last=Bennett | title=NSBM Special Report | url =http://www.decibelmagazine.com/features/may2006/nsbm.aspx | work =[[Decibel Magazine]] | accessdate = September 9, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070811131229/http://www.decibelmagazine.com/features/may2006/nsbm.aspx <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = August 11, 2007}}</ref> It is a front for Cymophane Records, which was purchased by the [[National Alliance (United States)|National Alliance]], mainly to gain the rights to distribute [[Burzum]] albums in the United States. The label has also released albums by Nocturnal Fear and [[Nachtmystium]], which are not [[National Socialist black metal]] (NSBM) bands.<ref name="decibel1" /> The label is managed by Ymir G. Winter, who plays guitar in Grom, a New York-based NSBM band.<ref name="decibel1" />

At one time, Resistance Records operated a web-based radio station, Resistance Radio, which streamed [[White nationalism#White power|white power]] music across the Internet 24 hours a day.{{citation needed|date=July 2007}}

==Merchandise==
Resistance Records maintained an online store that sold over 1,000 CDs, as well as clothes, flags and two computer games they developed, ''[[Ethnic Cleansing (video game)|Ethnic Cleansing]]'' and ''[[White Law]]'', which were only available for purchase from their website.

In ''Ethnic Cleansing'', the player can choose to play as either a [[White power skinhead|Nazi skinhead]] or a [[Ku Klux Klan|Klansman]] who runs through a [[ghetto]] killing [[African people|Africans]] and [[mestizos]], before descending into a [[Subway (rail)|subway]] system to murder [[Jews]].<ref name=wired>[https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2002/02/50523 Games Elevate Hate to Next Level]. ''[[Wired.com]]'', February 20, 2002. Accessed May 12, 2007.</ref> Eventually the player reaches a "Jewish Control Center", where [[Ariel Sharon]], the former prime minister of [[Israel]], is directing plans for [[Jewish world domination]].<ref name=wired/> The player must kill Sharon to win the game. The game has several music tracks to choose from, and there is a small video loop of [[William Luther Pierce]]'s speech displayed in the game. The game was largely ignored by the gaming community and the specialized press.

In the sequel, ''White Law'', the player is an ex-police officer, dismissed because of his political views. The player runs through several buildings, killing people such as police officers, a child pornographer and journalists. The player must kill the police chief to win the game.

==See also==
* [[List of record labels]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.resistance.com/ Official site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061213235440/http://www.resistance.com/ |date=December 13, 2006 }} (defunct)
* [http://cymophane.burzum.org/ Cymophane Productions]
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1993 establishments in Ontario]]
[[Category:American independent record labels]]
[[Category:Canadian independent record labels]]
[[Category:Conspiracist media]]
[[Category:Holocaust denial in Canada]]
[[Category:Holocaust denial in the United States]]
[[Category:National Socialist black metal]]
[[Category:Neo-Nazi record labels]]
[[Category:Neo-Nazism in Canada]]
[[Category:Neo-Nazism in the United States]]
[[Category:Record labels established in 1993]]
[[Category:White nationalism in Texas]]
[[Category:White separatism]]
[[Category:Lufkin, Texas]]
[[Category:Record labels based in Texas]]
[[Category:National Alliance (United States)]]