“Making ears bleed since 2004.”
Many musicians would not take pride in such a claim, but it is one of the slogans of Johnson City-based, region-spanning Chaotic Underworld Recordings.
ETSU student and Elizabethton native John McMeen, 24, has been making music on Chaotic Underworld since the label’s inception.
Founded by ETSU graduate Dustin Gingrow, and Patrik Dougherty, Chaotic Underworld specializes in progressive and creative music.
Artists range from electronic based Killbot, to the more rock oriented Pilgrimm. Along with Dougherty and Gingrow, McMeen was a member of the now defunct Aorta Jounral, which was the first band to be a part of Chaotic Underworld in June 2004.
One current project of Chaotic Underworld, is the debut album from Panzer, Masse Kind, which means “earth child” in German.
The instrumental album shows the band’s ability to fluidly shift from melodic to heavy. McMeen has been the bassist for Panzer since the group formed in March of 2006.
“I started playing guitar when I was 16,” said McMeen. “My interest dropped for awhile, then branched out as I got older.”
McMeen has also been the vocalist for the band Decade of Deciet. “All the music I do, has been put out on Chaotic Underworld,” said McMeen. “Anything I do, will be through it,” said McMeen.
The concept of providing a platform for artists that don’t fit into conventional molds was the basis for Chaotic Underworld’s formation.
“We wanted to archive some of the more eccentric stuff in the area,” said Gingrow. “Extreme music is popular, not as much in our region, but when you go outside the area, you hear it more.
“We’re just trying to help this area keep up with the rest of the world.”
Of the 20 artists on the roster, a few of the more extreme would not as easily find an outlet in a more conservative area such as this if not for Chaotic Underworld.
Some of those include, Eat Shit And Die, which is currently on hiatus as the guitarist finishes his prison sentence.
There is also, Ass Maggot, which consists of a 6’2″, 300-pound front man wearing a bloody butchers smock. The band is backed by a doctor and a lawyer performing under masks to conceal their identities, so they can indulge in their love of industrial death metal without harming their professional careers.
The label’s newest release, the debut from Skeleton Pecker, marked Chaotic Underworld’s 30 release.
Skeleton Pecker come across as a gloriously dumbed down and turned (even further) up punk-like version of AC/DC, and they have been drawing in respectable sized and energetic crowds.
“If we were doing this for the money, we wouldn’t be putting out what we are,” said Dougherty. “We’ve got love for what we do. We don’t make anything most of the time, we just break even.
“As long as we keep making enough to keep making more, I’m happy with that. Once you get focused on ‘making it big’ you begin to overlook the music itself. There is no thought in my mind of making it big with this, I just want to make it.”
Dougherty also performs as Mannequin Holocaust, which is more noise/electronic based. “I started playing guitar at 14, but got frustrated because guitarists are a dime a dozen and there will always be someone better than you at that,” said Dougherty.
He began developing his skill with turntables and tape decks while in high school, and eventually became the DJ for Helio from 1998 to 2003. Daugherty says his current work as Mannequin Holocaust is “very experimental, even by electronic standards.”
“I don’t think of the term noise as a bad thing,” said Daugherty. “Maybe some people do, but if hearing someone classified as that gets someone curious enough to look up noise as a genre on wikipedia, then great . We’ll proudly carry that flag.”
Gingrow maintains the Chaotic Underworld Web site, which provides listings of upcoming shows, and features albums from the artists available for purchase. Gingrow also assembles all of the actual product itself.
Many of the featured Chaotic Underworld artists perform at venues throughout the area, but the most frequent is The Hideaway. Panzer, among several others to be determined, will be performing at the upcoming Rotting Plum Festival at the Hideaway on June 6.

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