Peaceville Records
Peaceville Records is a British independent heavy metal record label founded in 1987 by Paul “Hammy” Halmshaw in Dewsbury, England. It began as a tape label releasing anarcho-punk, but gradually moved toward metal through crust punk and other metal-influenced English hardcore. Halmshaw started running the label full-time in 1988; the original tape label date back to 1981 to release Instigators demo cassettes.
The label is known for connecting doom metal with the 1980s English crust punk scene. Its sister labels, Deaf (thrash metal) and Dreamtime (psychedelic electronic), rounded out the operation. The Peaceville Stable—the bands My Dying Bride, Darkthrone, Katatonia, Autopsy, Anathema, Paradise Lost, and Opeth—has been its most recognizable acts since the 1990s. Peaceville is also known for its anti-major label stance and left-wing politics.
In November 2006, after 25 years, Halmshaw and co-manager Lisa Halmshaw left to pursue new projects. The label was sold to Snapper Music, which had distributed Peaceville since 2001, and Paul Groundwell took over general management.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 06:50 (CET).