Utopian Vision Music

Utopian Vision Music, was started in early 1994 by Author, Musician, Writer, Poet, Lyricist, Producer and Label Guru, Dragan (Ed) Balog, in Toronto, Canada, as a forum and outlet for established and up-and-coming extreme and heavy music artists from around the globe. The Fall of 1994 saw the first release, in the form of a split 7" EP, entitled, In Moments of Weakness, with Toronto artists: Soulstorm and Mundane. The following summer of 1995 saw the release of Sonic Obliteration Volume 1, a 4 CD compilation of mainly Canadian and European heavy genre artists, such as: Inner Thought, Mundane, KRUG and HOER. Two years later, in 1997, while Dragan (Ed) Balog, as North American Label Manager of Black Mark Productions, he along with Black Mark Productions head, Borje Forsberg, agreed and finalized the release of, Sonic Obliteration Volume 2, which came out worldwide, as a joint Utopian Vision Music and Black Mark Production compilation. With a few years, after leaving Black Mark Productions, Dragan (Ed) Balog, continued putting out a few more releases, by INTERZONE -Cydonia, that featured Rob Urbinati of SACRIFICE, Drew Gauley of MUNDANE, Junior of SOULSTORM/MONSTER VOODOO MACHINE etc and Kevin Wimberley of ENTROPY/SACRIFICE. Other releases included ODYSSEY featuring Dan Swano, the INNER THOUGHT - Is There Hope Amid The Ruins EP, and the legendary Canadian death metal cult classic, SLAUGHTER - Surrender Or Die on CD (previously only available as a demo/cassette through the underground in the 80s) to name but a few. While Utopian Vision Music, is not active any longer, Dragan (Ed) Balog is still active as a published Author and Writer. His first book, Cathartic Windows came out in 2008 (Epic Press); while 2017 saw the release of his newest book, A Gold Sheaf On A Grey Throne (FriesenPress). Many of his other writings have been published in: Canadian, American, UK, and European music magazines during the 1990s, and the early 2000s.