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Metal Blade Records
American independent record label From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Metal Blade Records (often shortened to Metal Blade) is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982 based in the U.S. state of California. The label primarily focuses on heavy metal.[1]
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2010) |
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 | This section is missing information about Metal Blade's growth in the 1980s (i.e. Slayer's Show No Mercy, Metal Massacre series, etc.). (February 2025) |
Metal Blade Records was founded in 1982 by Brian Slagel alongside its first release, Metal Massacre. Slagel was an employee of Los Angeles record store Oz Records and had launched a metal fanzine known as The New Heavy Metal Revue. He was a fan of New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM)[2][3]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 and Venom which placed more emphasis on "heaviness" than melodic hooks and "anthem-like choruses".[1] He saw that rock bands with a European influence began increasing in number around Southern California.[2][3] Inspired by popular NWOBM compilations such as Metal for Muthas, he reached out to several local bands regarding contributing to a compilation[3] that he envisioned as a showcase of "the best metal Los Angeles had to offer."[2] Slagel purchased records for the compilation and contacted distributors who accepted the deal.[2] 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.[2] Using borrowed money from his friends and family, Slagel pressed either 2,500 or 5,000 copies of Metal Massacre.[4][2] The first pressing sold out almost immediately,[2] credited to Slagel's work at Oz Records, where the store's independent distributors—Gem, Important, and Green World—purchasing them immediately.[4] Slagel told Billboard 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.[2] He established a distribution deal with Green World, later known as Enigma, after a short-lived manufacturing and distribution deal with Metalworks.[4] Metal Blade would later be considered as the first label to fully focus on heavy metal.[1]
When death metal first came out, I thought it was a refreshing new genre of music. It made complete sense to me. It was the heaviest thing I'd ever heard, but it was also really, really good. [...] When Slayer and Metallica came out, that was the heaviest thing ever, and eventually that became mainstream, right? I just knew that was gonna happen to death metal [...] it was only a matter of time before it was gonna get popular."
Brian Slagel, speaking of the label's role during the infancy of death metal[5]
In April 1987, Metal Blade and Enigma Records 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.[6]
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 of Slayer.[7] On August 29, 2017, BMG Rights Management 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.[8]
In 2019 Metal Blade Records opened a store in Las Vegas, Nevada that sold rare and out-of-print items from them and their artists.[9]
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