Out of nowhere, but not entirely surprising, the Twitch streamer and self-proclaimed metal fan Maximilian Paul Karl-Heinz “HandOfBlood” Knabe has announced the creation of his own record label. The goal is to give smaller metal bands a chance to break through. There’s already a plan in place – and a first festival.
This is what HandOfBlood announces:
- In a new video on YouTube, HandOfBlood explains that he is now running his own “indie metal label” called Corrupted Blood Records. Labels are essentially publishers for music.
- The label utilizes its fashion brand Corrupted Blood, which was already intended to appeal to metal fans.
- HandOfBlood explains that this all came about because he and his company managed to build good connections in the music world over the years.
We have embedded the video here for you:
How is this all going to work? There won’t suddenly be wild ads for metal bands in his streams, as HandOfBlood explains. There will be occasional smaller announcements in the stream, but the label will run with its own channels and a dedicated team.
Instead, there should be meaningful points of contact
, such as when traveling with a tour bus to festivals or when the band happens to be rehearsing nearby. HandOfBlood explains:
We believe we understand very well what you celebrate, but also what would resonate in today’s scene. […] We can perform self-determined and maybe even reinvent the wheel a bit, doing things that no one has done like this before and discovering new potentials […]
We want to be […] authentic and “true”, but still welcome everyone. I myself as a metalhead notice, of course: the scene is very male-dominated. It’s a sausage party for the most part. […] What if we promoted a bit more diversity? That doesn’t have to be the main focus, but I think it would be nice if more people felt welcome.
HandOfBlood
The first steps have already been taken. On Saturday, November 22, 2025, the first band under the “Corrupted Blood Records” label will perform at the Core Fest in Stuttgart. The first festival will take place in the fall of 2026, for which tickets are already available on Eventim for 71.70 euros.
HandOfBlood has deep connections in the music industry, now marketing “own” bands
Anyone who follows HandOfBlood knows that the streamer is a big metal fan and that his name is even derived from the song of the same name by the band Bullet for My Valentine. Over the years, HandOfBlood has been able to build more and more connections, including:
- Appearances in music videos by In Extremo and Electric Callboy – similar to his former co-streamer Kalle Koschinsky
- Backstage meetings with bands at concerts and festivals
- Performances by bands at his own events
Since the beginnings 10 years ago, all of this has simply grown and there has developed an interest from the scene in him. HandOfBlood excitedly says: “I am a fan. And now I am invited by bands I admire, I can even go backstage to say hello, shake hands with Blind Guardian, I don’t want to bother them too long.”
In the video, the streamer also explains that his whole company has continued to evolve and grow – which is why they are now hiring new people, specifically for the metal label. The cosmos of also now includes their own video games, large events like the Darts World Championship, or things like Knabe Cola and his own malt beer.
HandOfBlood explains that they want to make themselves a bit more independent with such things, to have the opportunity to make their own decisions and promote their own products. There were also previous efforts to break free from pure gaming: Eintracht Spandau: HandOfBlood’s LoL team is now doing real sports, landing a football star as a consultant
