Sean McLennan

You can’t bring up the history of metal music without mentioning the impact of Metal Blade Records. Since its formation in 1982, Metal Blade have not only taken chances on bands that have proven to become huge successes over time, but continue to nurture the careers of so many talented contemporary metal artists. Having shed light on bands like Slayer, Metallica, and Armored Saint at the beginning of their careers, Metal Blade have played an essential role in the growth and development of metal music’s evolution over the past four decades.

At the helm of it all is founder and CEO Brian Slagel, a pillar to the metal community constructed purely from both his undying passion for the music and a desire to help create success for artists. At the root of Metal Blade’s 40-year success was the reputation that surrounded Slagel’s now-well-known Metal Massacre compilations.

“The whole reason why the first compilation came out—I wasn’t in a band, I couldn’t play—I thought, what could I do as a fan? I kinda started all these things to just try to help promote the music that I love so much,” recalls Slagel. “It’s really just the love of the music; that’s the whole reason why I started this thing.”

To celebrate its milestones over the years, the team at Metal Blade has put on live shows, offered box sets, etc. However, as part of the label’s 35th anniversary (2017), Slagel worked on compiling stories for his first book For The Sake Of Heaviness: The History Of Metal Blade Records, mentioning, “I actually really enjoyed the process of doing it, which I wasn’t so sure I would.”

He continues, “It wasn’t a long book; I didn’t want to bore anybody. It’s not a big rock ‘n’ roll debauchery story. It’s the story of our record label, which isn’t the most exciting thing, but much to my surprise, a lot of people really enjoyed it. I was really overwhelmed by the reaction that it got.”

For time purposes and helping out with being more efficient, Slagel shares that he worked with the “phenomenal” collaborator/writer, Mark Eglinton. “Basically I would just tell him stories, and he’d write them, and he wrote it the way I would have written it. It was my words, just him transcribing it. He’s a good guy, so it was a fun experience.”

For Slagel, as he tends to focus on the future and what’s ahead, mentions, “You don’t really sit back and look at the past, so it was actually fun to do that and go back and relive some of the early days. Some of the highlights and even lowlights (laughs), of Metal Blade.”

Fastforward five years, to the label’s 40th anniversary in 2022. After listening to feedback from fans of the first book, Slagel and his team agreed there should be a follow-up book to commemorate 40 years of Metal Blade. Thus, Swing Of The Blade: More Stories From Metal Blade Records will arrive on May 9.

Swing Of The Blade is an enticing page-turner for the die-hard metalheads out there looking for a more comprehensive look at Metal Blade’s illustrious history. Slagel recounts over 40 years of blade-swinging madness, highlighting working relationships with many of the lesser-known, more obscure, bands that contributed to the empire that is Metal Blade Records. In addition, he shares stories about developing friendships with some of the most revered musicians in heavy metal, as well as plenty of his own heavy metal fandom.

“(Readers) wanted to hear more stories about the bands, especially the more obscure bands. So, that’s what I wanted to do with the second book, is elaborate on stuff,” says Slagel. “There’s a chapter on Amon Amarth, a chapter on Mercyful Fate/King Diamond, Fates Warning-so there’s a chapter about a lot of those bands-and then there’s more about a lot of the obscure stuff that people asked me about.”

Throughout Swing Of The Blade, Slagel delves into details about working with bands like Armored Saint, Sacred Reich, Cirith Ungol, Flotsam And Jetsam, Bitch, Pandemonium, Demon Flight, Helstar, Obsession, Warlord, Heretic, Metal Church, and so many more.

He discusses more about Metal Blade’s side-label project in the ‘80s, Death Records, created to accommodate more punk-leaning/hardcore bands like Cryptic Slaughter, DRI, and Corrosion Of Conformity.

He explains the signing of the Goo Goo Dolls, who, in the book, Slagel explains, “were undeniably a punk band, albeit with some other sensibilities that strayed into metal and hardcore. On top of that they were a great live band that wrote great songs.” Obviously, the band, as we know them today, pivoted in a different direction post-Metal Blade, but continues to be one of those shocking discoveries to many Metal Blade fans.

Slagel’s passion for the music, open-mindedness, and loyalty to the artists he works with, as well as those who’ve helped him along the way, are the reasons he’s created such long lasting friendships with bands from around the world. Throughout the book, as well as through conversation with him, these characteristics of his personality shine right through.

“I’ve always felt that being in this crazy, chaotic business, you should treat people the way you would want to be treated, really,” says Slagel. “I wanted us to treat everybody fair, I wanted to pay the bands fairly. We’ve been able to foster a culture that has that.”

He continues, “I think we’re so lucky in this world, you find so many people that are just great people and love the music, and it’s a really big, familial type of environment.”

Slagel understands that metal is a “uniting force and not a divisive one,” growing Metal Blade upon a foundation that allows for it to be less corporate than a traditional company of its size. He realized, early on, that the corporate world is a world that he didn’t have anything in common with.

“A lot of labels, especially major labels, would sign a band and then try to change them. It’s like, well, you sign them because you like them for a reason, why do you want to change them into something they really aren’t? And that, especially in the ‘80s, just hurt and limited the progress of so many really great bands that probably should have been a lot bigger. I never understood that mentality.”

“At the end of the day, what we were trying to do was just help out the bands. I think the one thing that I’ve been able to do over all this time is just learn from mistakes,” and through that, Metal Blade have maintained a positive reputation for bands seeking to work with them.

Having been raised during the pioneering-era of heavy metal back in the ‘70s, Slagel keeps band’s like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, and Iron Maiden very close to his heart, but has never limited his taste. With bands like Igorrr, Entheos, Rivers Of Nihil, Allegaeon, Candiria, Downfall Of Gaia, If These Trees Could Talk, Wake, 200 Stab Wounds, and so many others, the evolution of Slagel’s musical interests—through the shared vision of his dedicated team—continues to shine through the Metal Blade family tree.

“Just from a fan’s perspective, which is what I think I am more than anything else, you want to hear what the next new thing is and I’m very open to any sort of music. I’ve always liked a lot of different styles of metal, and I’ve never been that person that says ‘I only like this type of music.’ I’m excited by all of it… Even when I was a kid, I was always looking for what’s the next thing? What’s the new exciting form of music? Who’s going to be next? You know?”

He continues, “I always like that patience of just developing bands, and that’s kind of how everything happened in the ‘70s, and even into the ‘80s. There was patience and development and long-term thinking, for all of these bands, and a lot of them ended up having long careers for the most part, and I loved that. That was the music that I grew up on; that was the music that I loved, and I liked that environment, and even today, I tend to look at (developing bands) as more of a marathon than a sprint.”

Purchase Swing Of The Blade: More Stories From Metal Blade Records here.