From the ashes of sickness and silence, where every day could have been the last, a vision stronger than death was born. Vision of God Records is not just a label – it is the cry of a heart that heard the Lord’s voice in the darkest hour. Where metal so often worships darkness, here it becomes a tool of light, a sword in the hands of warriors of faith. This is the story of how music becomes prayer, how riffs become testimony, and how the stage turns into a battlefield for souls.
What exactly happened in 2013 that made you leave your previous work and establish Vision of God Records as a ministry for the Lord?
I was sick and dying from gastroparesis – I had gotten sick every day for about 6 years and the doctors said I wouldn’t make it to my 40th birthday. During this time I had a dream of doing this ministry… being sick and dying I asked the Lord if that was something for me to do still. I had the same dream the very next day. Feeling that was a vision for me, I began to speak to people and compile bands for our first release “True Warriors for Christ Vol. 1.” So doing this ministry was a vision from the Lord, in which I was glad to do. I had begun to do the ministry and then the Lord stepped in and saved my life (this would be my 2nd brush with death).
How different was it running a mainstream label compared to building a Christian one with a clear missionary character from the very beginning?
Back in the 90’s I ran a secular label — this is quite different in so many ways. The scene for each is very much different. You have to be sure that the bands are properly following Christ and spreading a proper gospel message. Whereas in the secular scene you wouldn’t worry about that. In doing this for the Lord we want everything to remain pure and holy and spread a proper biblical message. So it is a bit more difficult. Physical sales are a lot different as well… as a Christian label it is more of a 500-copy-or-less genre for most bands, whereas in the secular scene you can sell thousands and thousands of CDs. It’s a much smaller genre with a lot less support. So I rely on God’s provision for things to continue.
You state that Vision of God Records is not only about business relations but also about spiritual bonds and true fellowship. How does this look in practice on a daily basis?
FELLOWSHIP with the bands and people that are within the ministry. Doing our best to live life together and have a strong bond through Christ.
You work with bands with a long tradition in Christian metal (Antidemon, Holy Blood, Demoniciduth). How do you select artists for your roster?
A lot of times the bands hear of our label and contact us. Demoniciduth was only a trial with 1 CD for the contract so they are independent now. We look at how they live and who they are to be sure they are true to being Christian and not a phony. We also have a sub label called Christian Metal Underground Records for smaller and new upcoming bands.
Your catalog also includes the Polish project Elgibbor. How did this cooperation come about, and how do you view the Polish extreme Christian metal scene?
I had contact with Fire for years when we first started. Eventually we had met in person at Audiofeed and we hit it off – so we gave him an extensive contract. I don’t really know too much about the Polish scene except it is full of a lot of satanic metal bands.
“True Warriors of Christ” was one of VOGR’s first projects. Do you plan any future compilations that unite bands from different countries?
We just released True Warriors for Christ Vol. 2. There are no plans to do any further compilations — but you never know where the Lord will lead us. If the opportunity arises we will most certainly do that :)
In practice, how do you finance and sustain the label by trusting God – is it mostly donations, album/merch sales?
Mainly by sales — we get very very few donations to the label. It does happen from time to time — but it is mainly sales. We could really use more donations and more sales to continue the ministry work.
You declare that you support building churches and missionaries worldwide. Could you share some examples of such projects?
We had donated a few large sums of money to a few different church building operations in Ecuador and other 3rd world countries. We fund our musicianaries all over the world to do what they need to do. We send gift cards to those in need and do our best to help those when we are contacted. We helped fund Bibles getting into China a few times. We were planning on opening our own church here — but that isn’t really needed, what is needed is a food shelter and a place for the homeless to come shower, eat and rest at. So we have dreams and visions of doing something like this :)
How does the wider metal scene (including the secular one) react to your releases? Do you face resistance or rather curiosity and interest?
I actually don’t get any flack or disrespect from the secular metal scene, we get compliments at times for offering an alternative to satanic lyrics and themes in music. We get more opposition from the Christians themselves, as many do not understand metal and they are prejudiced towards us as it isn’t what they like… but they should see the ministry in it and view how we are going into satanic realms to spread the gospel. If they are a Christian metalhead they generally enjoy many of our releases :)
What are your upcoming releases, and how do you envision the development of Vision of God Records in the coming years?
We have upcoming releases from: Vials of Wrath, Dawnbreaker, Wailing (Dawnbreaker’s side band), Final Vortex, Eternal Throne, Ceremonial Sacred, Holy Blood, In-Conquered, Tortured Conscience, Extinction of Baal, in this next year to come. We are constantly pushing our releases into the mainstream as much as possible. We need people’s support in sharing posts and supporting by getting physical merch to support the studio funds for bands. We will just keep advertising and pushing things forward as much as possible.
Thank you for the interview!
Thank you so much for the interview and support! Blessings to you ALL! We can set up 1–2 interviews a month for you. First two, how about Vials of Wrath and In-Conquered? Please send me the questions for them and I will get them to them to answer :) So very much appreciate your support!
In a world where the thunder of drums collides with the scream of darkness, Vision of God Records carries the echo of another song – a song of life, redemption, and hope. It is more than contracts and releases; it is a fellowship of warriors who believe that metal can be a sermon and a concert an act of mission. Every album, every riff, every scream is a step towards the light. This vision does not fade – it burns, for it comes from the One who conquered death.