Metal Blade Records (often shortened to Metal Blade) is an American

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

founded by

Brian Slagel Brian Slagel (born February 14, 1961) is an American music executive. He is the founder and CEO of the independent record label Metal Blade Records. Slagel is known for having initiated the '' Metal Massacre'' series of compilation albums in 198 ...

in 1982 based in the U.S. state of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The label primarily focuses on heavy metal.

History

Metal Blade Records was founded in 1982 by

alongside its first release, ''

Metal Massacre ''Metal Massacre'' is a series of compilation albums released through Metal Blade Records. It is famous for "shedding light" on heavy metal and extreme metal bands such as The Obsessed, Trouble, Overkill, Metal Church, Metallica, Slayer, Vi ...

.'' Slagel was an employee of Los Angeles record store Oz Records and had launched a metal

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

known as ''The New Heavy Metal Revue''. He was a fan of

New Wave of British Heavy Metal The new wave of British heavy metal (often abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that began in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Editor Alan Lewis (music journalist), Alan Lew ...

(NWOBHM)and was dedicated to the local heavy metal scene in California, but was also drawn to an underground strain of metal strongly influenced by NWOBHM like

Raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

and

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

which placed more emphasis on "heaviness" than melodic hooks and "anthem-like choruses". He saw that rock bands with a European influence began increasing in number around Southern California. Inspired by popular NWOBM compilations such as '' Metal for Muthas'', he reached out to several local bands regarding contributing to a compilation that he envisioned as a showcase of "the best metal Los Angeles had to offer." Slagel purchased records for the compilation and contacted distributors who accepted the deal. Slagel received a call from Lars Ulrich—who had not formed a band yet—who asked if he could record a song for the album, which he accepted. Using borrowed money from his friends and family, Slagel pressed either 2,500 or 5,000 copies of ''Metal Massacre.'' The first pressing sold out almost immediately, credited to Slagel's work at Oz Records, where the store's independent distributors—Gem,

Important Importance is a property of entities that matter or make a difference. For example, World War II was an important event and Albert Einstein was an important person because of how they affected the world. There are disagreements in the academic li ...

, and Green World—purchasing them immediately. Slagel told

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

that one of the distributors told him if he could provide them records, they would handle the manufacturing and distribution, resulting in Metal Blade's founding. He established a distribution deal with Green World, later known as

Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York–based data-technology startup *Enigma machine, a famil ...

, after a short-lived manufacturing and distribution deal with Metalworks. Metal Blade would later be considered as the first label to fully focus on heavy metal. In April 1987, Metal Blade and

Enigma Records Enigma Records (also known as Enigma Entertainment Corporation) was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. History Enigma Records launched as a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/d ...

signed a long-term distribution and development deal, with Enigma promoting and distributing Metal Blade Records artists' records along with distribution through CEMA, a record-label distribution branch of

Capitol-EMI Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

. On January 18, 2017, Metal Blade Records was inducted into the Hall of Heavy Metal History for their large contribution to the Heavy Metal library. Brian was inducted by special guest

Kerry King Kerry Ray King (born June 3, 1964) is an American musician, best known for being the co-lead guitarist and songwriter of thrash metal band Slayer. He co-founded the band with Jeff Hanneman in 1981 and is one of two members to stay with the band ...

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

. On August 29, 2017,

BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was formed in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its st ...

published ''The Sake of Heaviness: The History of Metal Blade Records'', a book on the label's history, co-written by Mark Eglington and the label's founder Brian Slagel. In 2019 Metal Blade Records opened a store in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

that sold rare and out-of-print items from them and their artists.

References

Citations

Works cited

External links

* {{Authority control Record labels based in California Record labels established in 1982 Heavy metal record labels 1982 establishments in the United States Independent record labels