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Metal Blade Records

Profile:

Independent heavy metal label started in Los Angeles, CA on February 1, 1982 by Brian Slagel. A German office was opened in 1995.

Known for launching the careers of a number of popular metal bands including Metallica, Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, and many others.
Label Code: LC 06705 / LC 6705
US Label variants:

1982 to 1983
"Tan labels and axe with blood stains"
eg Slayer – Show No Mercy

Exception 1: "Black labels" available only on Metal Massacre compilation.
eg Metal Massacre

Exception 2: "Custom tan labels"
eg Bitch (2) – Damnation Alley

1984 to 1984
"Silver labels and axe with blood stains" were used only in 1984, pressings with this labels and 1982-1983 dates are actually 1984.
eg Witchkiller – Day Of The Saxons
Re-used in the Metal Blade Records Originals 2016 Slayer reissues.
eg Slayer - Show No Mercy

Exception: "Non 1984" some releases were sold in 1987, probably an old stock distributed in new sleeves.
eg Slayer – Haunting The Chapel

1985 to mid-1986
"White labels with chain, different axe and blood drops"
eg Celtic Frost – Morbid Tales

1985 to 1987
"White labels with chain, different axe and blood drops" + Combat as second label.
eg Hallows Eve – Tales Of Terror

Exception: "White labels without chain, different axe and blood drops" + Combat as second label.
eg Trouble (5) – The Skull

mid-1986 to early-1987
"White labels with chain, with old axe and blood drops and underlined logo"
eg Slayer – Live Undead

1987 to 1988
"Black - red labels" + Enigma (4) as second label.
eg Lizzy Borden – Terror Rising

1988 to early-90s
"Razor labels"
eg Viking – Do Or Die

Parent Label:

Metal Blade Records Inc.

Sublabels:

Classic Series!, Classics Series, Collector's Edition Picture Disc Series, Collectors Edition Colored Blood Splatter Vinyl, Death Records (3), High Impact Recordings, Ironclad Recordings, Metal Blade Classics, Metal Blade Classics Limited Edition Vinyl Series, Metal Blade Records 40 Anniversary 1982 - 2022, ...

Contact Info:

Metal Blade Records Inc.
5632 Van Nuys Blvd #1301
Van Nuys, CA 91401
USA
Mail: [email protected]

Metal Blade Records GmbH
Friedrichstraße 38
73033 Göppingen
Germany
Tel: +49-7161-304887-0
Fax: +49-7161-3543140
Mail: [email protected]

Metal Blade Records Inc.
5737 Kanan Rd #143
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
USA
(Contact info now obsolete)

Metal Blade Records GmbH
Marstallstrasse 14
73033 Göppingen
Germany
(Contact info now obsolete)

Manufacturer Contact

Metal Blade Records 5632 Van Nuys Blvd #1301 Van Nuys, CA 91401 USA https://www.metalblade.com/us/

Manufacturer EU Contact

Metal Blade Records GMBH Friedrichstr. 38 73033 Göppingen GERMANY https://www.metalblade.com/ [email protected]

Links:

metalblade.com , Facebook , X , X , Instagram , Wikipedia , Bandcamp , YouTube

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81,142 copies

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Reviews

  • Hudba-Brno's avatar
    Hudba-Brno
    It is not logical if the ZORRO began in 1990, ZORRO 8 in 1988 must be mistake.
    • T1ermes's avatar
      T1ermes
      Edited 12 years ago
      Metal Blade cannot be overrated. They were the definition of Classic US Metal in the first half of the 80's and their output was damn near flawless during their early years.
      In the beginning MB used their own serials for the records (MBR 1001, MBR 1002, MBR 1003 etc).

      Early on they got picked up by Enigma Records, who distributed their releases and also added their own serials to each album. (first = E-1017, E-1018, E-1035 etc, later = 72072, 72159, 73224 etc).

      These Enigma-serials were not exclusive to Metal Blade, but used on all labels distributed by Enigma, hence there are plenty of "missing" numbers.

      The Enigma#s do not follow the numerical order of the MBR#s, nor the dates of release. Actually they barely make sense at all.

      By the end of 1986 the MBR serials were being phased out and only a handful of relases after this carried an MBR-number.
      To add further confusion, no less than 3 pairs of albums mistakenly ended up with the same MBR-#s.

      With latest MBR King Diamond re-releases of "Abigail II: The Revenge" cat # is same in all versions , unfortunately no progress with confusing MBR serials..

      This review is about incorrect data of MBR releases, sometimes its almost impossible to submit 100% correct info for discogs, as labels own data is incorrect .

      Otherwise MBR is very good label with great bands and so on.