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Slams, Memes, and Guttural Screams
Vulvodynia's Bob the Butcher Promotional Campaign
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Praenuntius Reigns: The Album's Release and Chart Performance
Greetings readers, metalheads, and anyone here by mistake. This is the final post on this blog, as it wraps up Vulvodynia's months-long campaign by revealing its outcome and effect on their new album's release. After this post, everything will cease, as the story will have concluded and all the info I could possibly share about this band will have been told. Thank you for following this blog during its own journey, and I sincerely hope you at least found it to be...unique, let's say. With this being said, onto what truly matters: RELEASE DAY!
September 17 had finally arrived, and Praenuntius Infiniti was at last unleashed upon the world. Vulvodynia had nothing but gratitude for all those who made the album possible, from the fans to the personnel who helped produce the record and, of course, Bob the Butcher for being the greatest mascot a band can have (and for finally returning to the album cover for release day).
Vulvodynia first celebrated this momentous occasion with a live listening party streamed on Unique Leader Records' Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch. The event featured the band themselves along with several contributors to the album.
The very next day, Vulvodynia shared the astounding initial chart positions for Praenuntius Infiniti on iTunes. The album topped the death metal charts in several countries and placed extremely high on comprehensive genre charts for such brutally heavy music, cementing it as their biggest release yet.
Praenuntius Infiniti maintained its reign on the death metal charts, both for iTunes and Apple Music streaming, for three days!
Make that four days, as Bob's Facebook page shared the following day. The post was accompanied by a...truly bizarre image that Bob justified as a "painting that depicts what the last few days have felt like", since Praenuntius Infiniti's success "is so unreal that it feels like [he's] dreaming." I apologize for any nightmares the next image will give you.
If you're wondering how Bob took up painting in between bouts of butchering and interdimensional portal gun travel, he revealed his artistic alter ego the same day: Bob the Butcher Ross.
Uh, moving on, Praenuntius Infiniti was also garnering huge numbers on Spotify, racking up over half a million streams after four days!
The band also made sure to give back to the fans who made the album so immensely popular, first by revealing the winner of the Nintendo Switch giveaway they held earlier.
Next, they announced another round of merch from Pincore (remember the Bob the Butcher ones they made before?), exclusively themed to the new album.
Then, the band shared a detailed step-by-step design progression for Praenuntius Infiniti's album art, showing how it went from an MS Paint sketch by frontman Duncan Bentley to the final version by Daemorph Art.
Last but not least, Vulvodynia announced the music video for the track "A Cosmic Betrayal", which, according to an earlier inquiry, is the fan favorite from the album.
All the months of promotion, marketing, memes, album cover edits, and assorted social media wackiness had paid off in ways the band could never have expected. A small extreme metal band from South Africa became internet sensations thanks to a silly narrative involving a disfigured, portly butcher with a portal gun and sense of adventure, garnering a multitude of new fans and seeing their biggest album release yet.
Giveaways and contests helped incentivize preorders and word-of-mouth, interactions with other bands created vast cross-promotional opportunities, and Vulvodynia was able to succeed in the midst of a global pandemic, a time when musicians from all genres were struggling.
With this, we come to the end of this blog and the end of the band's Bob the Butcher marketing scheme. Don't worry, his page still posts regular updates, memes, and is currently depicting him "joining" Vulvodynia on their 2022 North American tour, so the man isn't going anywhere.
Thank you to everyone who read through, kept up with, or just casually checked out this blog. This was hands-down the most fun I've had in a marketing class, and I still can't believe I managed to use my love for heavy metal for a college assignment. The end of this journey might be bittersweet, but I'm still left as happy as Bob when Praenuntius Infiniti was finally released:
Thank you.
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Fun Fact Friday!
The lyrics to the track "A Cosmic Betrayal", from Praenuntius Infiniti, reference Vulvodynia's new record label, Unique Leader Records! Can you spot it?
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Meme Monday!
Bob's promotional work for Vulvodynia paid him so well, he took over the cover of Dying Fetus' Reign Supreme and started doing just that!
Long live King Bob!
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Song Sunday!
Acting as the flip-side to "Praenuntius Descends" from Finis Omnium Ignorantiam, which chronicled his arrival on Earth, the Praenuntius Infiniti track "Praenuntius Ascends" details his rapid acquiescence of ultimate power after consuming the planet.
Featuring two of slam metal's most revered names, Jon Huber (formally of Pathology and I Declare War) and Matti Way (also formally of Pathology and Abominable Putridity), the song is nothing less than a pure sonic wrecking ball.
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Praenuntius Dawns: Vulvodynia's Final Preparations for Release Day
The start of August meant two things for Vulvodynia:
The release of Praenuntius Infiniti was next month!
Bob still hasn't returned to the album cover!
The band began the month by announcing the album's last single, "Banquet of Enigmatic Horrors, Part II: Agony", featuring Oliver Aleron from Archspire (a past Song Sunday post if you recall).
As with "Part I", the music video featured 25 appearances from Bob, and his Facebook page announced that the first person to spot all 25 would win something "insane". One of these appearances can be seen below:
Bob also helped spread the word about two other bands' albums, Slaughter to Prevail's recently-released Kostolom and Whitechapel's upcoming Kin.
In spoofing the title of Kostolom's lead single "Baba Yaga", the caption for this post read "I AM BOBA YAGA!"
Similarly, the post about Kin parodied the lead single's title "Lost Boy" and made it "Lost Bob". Both instances displayed the friendship between Vulvodynia and the other bands and acted as excellent cross-promotion, as each album was getting shout-outs from another band.
Other than these interdimensional adventures, Bob mostly relaxed, allowing Vulvodynia to focus on promoting their incoming album now that the final single was released. The band shared a video from Oceano vocalist Adam Warren of him reacting to (and therefore promoting) the song, returning the favor by urging fans to subscribe to his YouTube channel.
They also announced that they joined Continental Touring for all North American tours and revealed their first merch store in Asia, allowing the band to prepare promotional album tours in both regions.
On August 31, Vulvodynia frontman Duncan Bentley joined the Vox & Hops Metal Podcast for their weekly Thirsty Thursday Zoom call to discuss Praenuntius Infiniti, spreading the word to anyone in attendance.
The hotly-anticipated album was due to drop in 17 days, the culmination of a 4-month promotional campaign that saw an obscure metal band from South Africa and their murderous mascot become internet sensations.
For my next (and final) main blog post, I shall answer the immortal question: how did Vulvodynia's Bob the Butcher marketing scheme affect Praenuntius Infiniti's commercial success?
Stay tuned to find out!
#vulvodynia#slammetal#extreme metal#heavy metal#bob the butcher#memes#album cover#album art#marketing
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Fun Fact Friday!
As promised last week, I shall reveal the importance of Ereshkigal's sword, known as The Deity Crusher.
Made of all the gold from all the universes, the weapon is the subject of the Praenuntius Infiniti track "Forging the Deity Crusher". Given its name, the Deity Crusher is the only thing that can harm Praenuntius, so its construction is paramount to the survival of space and time.
Jam the song below!
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Meme Monday!
All that butchering gets you quite filthy, doesn't it? To clean himself off, Bob went for a money-chasing swim on Nirvana's Nevermind.
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Best Fiends Forever: Bob's New Ally Thickens the Marketing Campaign's Plot.
July was an eventful time for Vulvodynia. Not only did they announce a 2022 Europe/UK tour supporting Ingested, but they had to contend with Bob the Butcher's ever-escalating antics!
Vulvodynia released the single "Banquet of Enigmatic Horrors, Pt. 1: Terror" on July 8. The track was accompanied by a music video featuring hidden appearances from Bob, and the band held a contest to see who could find them all first, with a secret prize at stake.
This wasn't the only promotional contest Vulvodynia held in July, though. Due to the incredible excitement and buzz surrounding Praenuntius Infiniti, they announced a giveaway of a limited edition Vulvodynia-themed Nintendo Switch! Fans entered by preordering a Praenuntius Infiniti CD or vinyl from either IndieMerchstore or Impericon, and the winner would be announced during the live album release party event on YouTube on September 17.
Each preorder, both newly and previously done, counted as 1 entry, imploring fans to order multiple copies for a higher chance of winning.
Meanwhile, Bob the Butcher continued to galavant across the multiverse. Yet, everything about his narrative would soon change upon one sudden revelation: the butcher had made a friend.
Responsible for this new subplot is Belgian death metal act Aborted, whose new album ManiaCult would release on September 10, one week before Praenuntius Infiniti. The cover depicts a monstrous humanoid figure with several tentacle heads at a sacrificial altar.
They are Wayland Chester Thurston, leader of the ManiaCult, with a goal to summon ancient gods and destroy the world. Much like Bob, they have their own Facebook page, where one can read about the cult's full history and diabolical mission.
Bob caught wind of Wayland's cult and decided he wanted to join. To acquire a sacrifical offering for its leader, he visited Carnifex's Hell Chose Me and stole the Hell Priest's bundle of goat heads.
He then visited the ManiaCult cover with his plunder and inquired about joining Wayland.
However, one can't join that easily, so Wayland asked Bob to prove his devotion by helping collect more sacrifices from other albums. Aborted and Wayland's Facebook page urged fans to create and share memes of Bob and Wayland gathering sacrifices on different album covers, using the hashtag #BOBORTED.
Their mission took them to Angelmaker's Dissentient, Lorna Shore's ...And I Return to Nothingness, and Cattle Decapitation's The Harvest Floor, to name a few.
But what did Vulvodynia think of this new development? Instead of scolding Aborted for seemingly co-opting their marketing campaign, they got in on the fun and teamed up to detail their respective mascots' collective escapades (and subsequent promotion of both upcoming albums). By commenting on each others' posts and sharing each others' memes, both bands extended their promotional reach and put even more attention toward their new releases.
It was a match made in, well, maybe not heaven, but definitely, a match made somewhere.
By the end of July, Vulvodynia had a month and a half before Praenuntius Infiniti dropped, and with Bob exploring the musical multiverse with Wayland, the band could easily focus on preparing for the big day.
Stay tuned for their promotional adventures in August!
#vulvodynia#memes#slammetal#extreme metal#bob the butcher#heavy metal#album cover#aborted#waylandthurston#maniacult#death metal
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Song Sunday!
"Triple O.G. Slamdown", from Pyschosadistic Design. This one's a doozy, lovingly describing and praising the slam metal community in all its brutal glory. The track even features guest vocals from Luke Griffin of Acrania and Jason Evans of Ingested for a three-singer aural assault!
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Fun Fact Friday!
The lore of Praenuntius Infiniti extends far beyond the titular being. The album's conceptual narrative also details the goddess Ereshkigal, Queen of the Great Earth and "mother" of Praenuntius, who must battle her own spawn to save the universe.
Their epic clash is described on the album's closing track "Deicidal Finality" (linked below) and Ereshkigal is depicted on one of Vulvodynia's latest shirts.
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Wondering why the massive sword? Next week's Fun Fact Friday will explain its importance and power!
#vulvodynia#ereshkigal#goddess#praenuntiusinfiniti#fun facts#slammetal#extreme metal#heavy metal#Youtube
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Meme Monday!
This has got to be my favorite of any Bob the Butcher memes, made as an entry for the meme competition. Not only is the band name (As Blood Runs Black) perfectly changed to reflect Bob's current situation, but it maintains its original style and font.
Slight brag: "As Bob Runs" was actually my idea, and the meme's creator, Facebook user Kyle Chase, liked it so much that he changed his original designs to use it. His first iterations were "As Blood Runs Bob" and "As Bob Runs Black".
Shockingly, this meme didn't win, but another of Kyle's did.
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Song Sunday!
"The Bilderbeg Extermination", off Finis Omnium Ignorantiam, has my favorite title of all Vulvodynia's songs. It brings to mind some eerily disturbing event straight out of a sci-fi or horror movie, one that sounds supremely evil but vague enough for you to interpret it however you want. Plus, this track features the inhumanly high vocals of Guillaume Villeneuve from Beyond Deviation.
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Fun Fact Friday!
"Umthakathi", the 11th track on Psychosadistic Design, is inspired by the Zulu phrase for a magical individual who uses mystical potions and substances to carry out evil deeds. Check out the lyrics here and jam the song, which features Chris Butterworth of comedic slam metal act Crepitation, below!
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The Slam Heard 'Round the World: Bob Goes Global.
Vulvodynia's pleas for Bob to come home, even after urging fans to pre-save Praenuntius Infiniti to inspire him to return to the album's cover, turned out to all be in vain. He, on the other hand, had found love: the portly butcher announced on June 2nd that he and Resident Evil's Lady Dimitrescu were officially dating!
Together, they engaged in such activities as Twitch streaming, joint smoking, and...sensual plumber antics.
Meanwhile, Vulvodynia's were celebrating the 5-year anniversary of Psychosadistic Design! Unfortunately, Bob did not join the party, meaning that the band's Facebook post about the anniversary of the album, which featured Bob's first appearance, was hilariously devoid of him.
Yet, Vulvodynia was not to be dismayed, as they celebrated National Mascot Day on June 17 with an appreciative meme for Bob.
The next day, the band shared that frontman Duncan Bentley recently appeared on the "What We Did On The Weekend" podcast to discuss their upcoming album, life in their home country, and how Bob was skyrocketing their popularity. They accompanied the post with the following meme:
They're not wrong, though, and Vulvodynia decided to capitalize on it through two immense methods: a meme competition and an Instagram filter.
The competition came first, announced on June 18. The band challenged fans to create their own Bob the Butcher memes for a chance to win a shirt and Praenuntius Infiniti CD. Fans had three entries, posting in the comments section of the announcement post and on their profile using the hashtags #Vulvodynia, #BobTheButcher, and #PraenuntiusInfiniti.
Providing a usable PNG of Bob in the comments, Vulvodynia sat back and let the memes roll in. And yes, despite my lack of graphic design skills, I still entered:
The competition was so successful that the deadline was extended from June 22 to the 29th. While I was not one of the winners, I still had a blast contributing to Vulvodynia's mountainous meme empire.
Yet the craziest bit of marketing was yet to come: Vulvodynia suddenly revealed their new Bob the Butcher Instagram filter on June 26.
Searchable when using Stories, the filter gives users Bob's grotesque head, complete with metal collar and pulsing neck boils that grow bigger when you open your mouth. The filter also changes your voice to Bob's, allowing you to hear what he sounds like!
It's sure to freak all your friends out, so why not try it? I know I did.
All this attention on Bob, but where was he on Vulvodynia's merchandise ("merch" in metal-speak)? Fans did not have to wait long as the band partnered with Pincore to create custom Bob the Butcher pins that quickly sold out.
Amidst Bob's full-on rise to stardom and penetration of social media, Vulvodynia also released the second single from Praenuntius Infiniti, titled "Eternal Wasteland of Galaxies", promoted by Bob via his Facebook page and the help of that awesome filter.
Bob had finally gone global, and there seemed to be no end to his internet takeover. For someone whose reputation surrounds chopping his victims apart, he was bringing people, metalheads and otherwise, together like never before.
Yet there was still more to come from Vulvodynia and Bob, who had plenty more adventures in the making. Stay tuned for the next wacky month of slam metal promotion!
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Meme Monday!
Bob's escapades have taken him to the realm of Carnifex's Hell Chose Me, where he proceeded to steal the Hell Priest's collection of severed goat heads.
Not cool, Bob, not cool. Even Carnifex wants you to return them.
#bob the butcher#memes#lol memes#album art#carnifex#hell chose me#vulvodynia#slammetal#extreme metal#heavy metal
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Song Sunday!
Enjoy my favorite track off Praenuntius Infiniti, "Banquet of Enigmatic Horrors Pt. 2: Agony (feat. Oliver Rae Aleron)".
Aleron is the vocalist for Canadian technical death metal band Archspire, and is famous for his impossibly-fast singing style.
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Hey look, there's Bob!
#vulvodynia#archspire#banquet of enigmatic horror#praenuntius#praenuntiusinfiniti#slammetal#extreme metal#bob the butcher#Youtube
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Fun Fact Friday!
The head of Praenuntius is shaped like Vulvodynia's logo! Or, at least their wordless logo. I guess it's more of a symbol, but whatever. His head is still shaped like some form of the band's insignia.
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