«
»
Editorials

METAL BLADE RECORDS IN 2010: STILL KILLING IT

 Monday, July 12th, 2010 at 4:30pm by

metal blade records logo

Is it just me or is Metal Blade Records on something of a win streak lately with their young band signings? While certain labels to remain nameless seem to be venturing into either mainstreamy/emoy metalcore or seem content to sign the same old same old or hedge their bets all on one sub-genre, Metal Blade’s young band roster is extremely diversified and remarkably clunker free. Let’s take a look at the band’s they’ve signed in the past couple of years:

  • Aeternam: Classic American death metal mixed with a more melodic, epic, and Euro — but decidedly dark — sense of melody. Check out the song “The Coronation of Seth” on their MySpace page — pure win.
  • Allegaeon: Technical melodic death metal that our own Sammy O’Hagar seemed to like and that our own Bob Cock seems to LOVE.
  • Bison B.C.: My favorite of the Mastodon-inspired psych/stoner/crust metal masses with a good bit of originality. Incredibly fun to watch live.
  • Istapp: Frosty Immortal-style black metal that indulges in every cliche in the book (in a good way) and isn’t mired in shit production.
  • Barn Burner: Up-beat, throwback stoner metal ala The Sword that’s got some real soul and actual musicality.
  • Fleshwrought: Johnny Davy’s and Navene Koperweis (ex-Animosity, Animals as Leaders) new tech-death project. Quality!

They’ve been on the label a bit longer, but I’d also like to toss Woe of Tyrants into the conversation; a very talented young band that isn’t necessarily breaking any molds but is very, very good at what they do and seems criminally under-exposed. And while we’re at it, The Ocean; although they’re practically Metal Blade vets at this point, they’ve still kind of got “young band” status in the U.S.

Now, of course the flipside of all of this is that none of these bands are exploding up the charts; I don’t have access to Metal Blade’s books, but I’d say that their well-established sellers like Cannibal Corpse, The Red Chord and Job For a Cowboy are keeping the label financially viable at this point. As, of course, are Whitechapel, who I loathe. But it’s really hard to find much fault with a label who continues to take risks on young bands who are actually talented and have little to no existing fanbase, especially when those bands are so diverse. Metal Blade is really going for the “long sell” here with actual artist development, instead of simply trying to achieve a series of short-term cash-ins by signing whatever’s hot at the moment. This approach is all too rare these days.

So, nice work Metal Blade. Kisses and hugs.

xoxo,
Vince Neilstein

PS: In the interest of full disclosure — and for you comment trollsters — yes, Metal Blade does purchase advertisements with MetalSucks. So do plenty of other labels, some of whose bands we mercilessly trash-talk anyway despite the presence of large advertisements. No, Metal Blade did not send hookers and blow to the MS Mansion in consideration of this article.

Tags: , , , , , ,
  • Honeynutzz

    But hopefully they will now.

    • Jake Jones

      lolz

  • http://www.myspace.com/palehorseofhell lord assenfroth

    the intro to bison b.c.’s wendigo pt. 3 is so fucking sweet. it reminds me of something, but i cant put my finger on it.

    • cocolover

      hi

  • http://www.smnnews.com big_metal_al

    Hey Vince, I agree. Metal Blade is indeed kicking some ass this year, and shame you didn’t mention AEON! Which reminds me, I’m behind on reviews – cya later gator.

  • shpostal

    Metal Blade, Roadrunner, Earache – I have to special order almost every CD of my favorite bands because there isn’t a metal scene here in NW Arkansas, at least that I know of, except for a handful of wannabes around the University Of Arkansas doing terrible Lamb Of God covers.
    It seems the Hastings chain is the only one that ever bothers to stock catalog items, and then it’s to fill the last copy that was sold. For example: Overkill’s “Ironbound”, which is a barnburner of a thrash album is in the racks, but forget any other CD of theirs, including “Immortalis.” Stores now just don’t want to stock back items, only the newest releases. Is this because MP3 has ruined the CD market? While MP3s are convenient, I’m old enough to remember how fun vinyl album artwork and the occasional swag they came with. Now, even CD artwork is so shrunken you have to have a telescope to make out the credits or track listings.
    I had an iPod, tried to download some of my CDs, and the damn thing wouldn’t save any of it. I know it was just a faulty player, but damned if I’m going to be computer dependent to get my music. You never know if files will fuck up and disappear, which I know happens a lot. I will have an MP3 player eventually, but it pisses me off that the only bands that have back catalog material are only the biggest of the big.
    Perhaps these metal labels could do more to market older titles, because when I buy a new band and decide I dig them, I want more and unless I get it online, I’ll never find any old releases. Even then, I have to wait a week for my music and that sucks. I want permanent copies of my music and I don’t consider downloads permanent. Once your MP3 player fucks up, you’re screwed and have to pay all over again for those tunes, without artwork, band info, etc. No thanks.

    • stu1

      You generally save the music on your computer, too.
      And yes, this is all because (mostly illegal) downloading has crippled the CD market.
      Most of these labels have webstores where you can get back catalog items.

      • nick

        you’d have to buy a new cd if the copy you had got scratched badly enough. at least now we can back things up and have multiple copies in several formats.

        I’m not at all nostalgic for the old days. I mostly either mail-order or download from amazon and I’m happy for the convenience. I still get to congregate with other metal-heads at shows so whatever community a record shop fostered is not at all lost for me.

    • Deth

      Brick and mortar stores are not going to carry back items of bands that are virtually unknown. Sure, you can say Overkill is popular, until you talk to the 16 year-old who grew up listening to Top 40. We (metal heads) are a very small, miniscule market for music as a whole. The music industry and stores have to target the high school Top 40 crowd (or country, a close second target audience) to succeed – thus you get the mega-mart full of DVD, electronics, video games, cell phones, etc. You can’t just stock CDs anymore. Thus you won’t find back catalogues for metal, only popular artists whose back albums sell (Beatles, Aerosmith, The Doors, etc.).

      And if music is legally purchased, that purchase stays with you – even if your computer or mp3 player crashes. The songs I bought in itunes five years ago (TNT tracks that I couldn’t find anywhere else – needed them to complete my hair metal playlist) have remained in itunes for me through two other computers and another ipod.

      I agree that digital downloads are ruining music (it was actually the topic of my masters thesis) but there are ways that it is helping too – primarily making music accessible to those like yourself that wouldn’t get it otherwise. Unfortunately, for those of us who still appreciate a physical item in our hand complete with artwork, the Internet is our only outlet. I am lucky enough to have a music store locally that sells metal but they rarely get stock of anything I’m looking for.

      This is just how music evolves and will continue to evolve. It’s the cycle of life – as it were.

  • Joe

    They made another good signing too, but they haven’t announced it yet :(

  • \m/Eluveitie\m/

    And they still haven’t made up for signing The Goo Goo Dolls.

    • CtrlZ

      But it gave them the capital to stay in business to keep on signing other awesome bands. In this case you have to take the good with the bad (really really bad in ggd’s case)

      • Brian Roach

        actually, in Metal Blade’s defense, Goo Goo Dolls weren’t bad when they were on Metal Blade. They were still in their alternative/punky/rip off the Replacements phase, which, while not earth shattering, is certainly preferable to the excrement they have become! And yea, they probably still help keep the lights on over at Metal Blade!

  • Alex

    As I Lay Dying, love them or hate them, are doing really well for Metal Blade as well

    • Perpetual Black Screen Name

      Agreed. It’s very strange to me that Vince didn’t mention AILD, Black Dahlia or Unearth as namesake bands because those bands draw numbers for shows and sell records. But whatever, I didn’t write the article. haha

      And no, I don’t mean ‘legendary’ when I said namesake. Every popular band on a record label makes it what it is, at that time.

      • stu1

        Those 3 are 3 of their biggest, too.

        • Honeynutzz

          Even if they aren’t legendary I would bet they are metal blades biggest 3 bands of the last decade.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tanner-Westhomas/1506171449 Tanner Westhomas

            and Behemoth

  • http://www.heavyblogisheavy.com/ Alkahest

    Love Metal Blade. Their PR dude Vince is a swell guy from my experience.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Lance-Zeran/100000142665110 Lance Zeran

    We need more Barn Burner. I could care less about the rest.

    I have yet to check out Bison B.C., they might be up my alley.

  • Ryan

    Those hookers from Metal Blade were for you?

  • Deth

    So are Aeternam mentioned here because of a planned participation in this blog or because of the email I sent you guys last week touting them?

    Either way, glad they’re included in the list. Their disc is definately in my top ten of th year so far.

    • Malamor

      Aeternam is awesome and one of the newer band signings they have done. If you have not listened to ‘disciples of the unseen’ i suggest you do.

      • Dr schwine-hoot

        Pretty much a poor man’s Nile… nothing new

        • Alex_P

          Agreed. Nile meets old In Flames without the brutality of the first or the hooks of the second.

  • Mitch K

    bis on bc and barn burner… 2 awesome bands that im proud to say are canadian :)

    you forgot to add they signed Cancer Bats as well! just sayin haha

    • stu1

      Well Cancer Bats were on Black Market for a record.
      I heard Barn Burner last year after a buddy had seen them play in Canada and he raved about them. I thought they were pretty mediocre.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Travis-Leon-Dreher/605590543 Travis Leon Dreher

      They signed them for the US releases i believe. In Canada their signed to Distort.

      • stu1

        Just that 1 record on Black Market. They’re on Good Fight in US now.

  • Goolash

    dont forget they recently aquired Goatwhore and Soilent Green in the last few years

    • http://deathmetalbaboon.com/ byrd36

      GOATWHORE!!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jake-Lentz/20725060 Jake Lentz

    No mention for Woe of Tyrants?

    • Alex_P

      Right up in there.

      Personally, the only one of those bands I love (apart from the Ocean) is Barn Burner. Istapp are fine, but the production does little for me. Bison are ok. The rest are meh.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jake-Lentz/20725060 Jake Lentz

        Oh, I see it now. Sneaky MS writers.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/William-Casey-Thompson/643980360 William Casey Thompson

    did we forget about THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER?… they mayed there quota on Majesty alone.

  • mike

    Not every Metal Blade signing is a winner…just check out the band Nightfall. Hatchet was a crap signing, shitty retro-thrash band that has had a million line-up changes.

    However, Razor of Occam FTW and also The Arcane Order for being the most overlooked band on that roster.

    • Natsquatch

      I was going to say something about The Arcane Order being SEVERELY under-promoted, and shame on Metal Blade for that. It’s nice to see at least one other person thinks so. They were my favorite new discovery of 2008.

  • http://zoinks.tv Patrick

    I am a geezer. As a teenager I shopped at Brian Slagel’s record store on Topanga Canyon Blvd. Bought the first Tank record there. Tygers of Pan Tang, too. If there is every a heavy metal hall of fame, Slagel’s in on the first vote. There are very few labels that deserve to survive the death of the record industry. Metal Blade is one.

  • T-Rocket

    I’m really enjoying the songs up on Allegaeon’s myspace. Looking forward to listening to the album.

  • Yeah, It’s Me Again…

    Hahaha trollsters. Sorry, but when you blatantly kiss ass, it would just be wrong to call it anything else. And it has nothing to do with who’s buying adspace or giving you money for anything. You just seriously earned a brown fucking nose for this one. The ONLY band of note that Metal Blade has ‘taken a chance on’ is Allegaeon. They’re not even that unique, but they do their own rendition of The Black Dahlia Murder pretty well. The rest of Metal Blade’s recent signings have been utter crap. Taking a chance on relatively ‘unknown’ bands… right. They have pre-requisites just like any other label and believe me when I tell you, they’re far from being a label to ‘take chances on young talented bands with little to no existing fan base’. None of the bands they signed are ‘new’ to doing what they do, and the whole signing of Navene/Jonny Davy… is that REALLY taking a risk or being ‘BOLD’ signing something that you know fans of both dudes former/other bands will latch onto? Give me a break with the unjust praise. They’re a label just like any other right now, afraid of taking genuine risks because they’re losing money on cd sales and there’s just not enough money to take those kind of risks on bands with no pattern of self establishment. Metalsucks kisses ass and lies through their teeth again (probably for a few extra dollars too). lmao!!

    • http://www.metalsucks.net Vince Neilstein

      Troll!

      You’re certainly right about Fleshwrought having name value and not really being a “risk.” But musically, it’s a much harder sell than JFAC. Anyway, the rest of my points stand. These are bands that aren’t selling much more than a couple thousand records a piece.

      • Yeah, It’s Me Again…

        Well of course your points stand, partly because this IS your site, but mostly because your points are nothing more than glorified opinions… and who can argue with opinion? It’s not factually based, it’s preferential. Kudos to you for being “open minded” and being able to dig all these bands who play extremely different styles and cater to extremely niche sects of the metal community at large… but that doesn’t make any of them ‘good’. And again, none of them are ‘new’. Allegaeon has been plugging away for a number of years now as Colorado’s most notable unsigned band, and I’m willing to bet that the rest of them have as well. Demon Hunter got signed without playing a single show (which is the exception and never the rule) and based on what I’ve been told, metalcore turned pop rockers Atreyu did as well. Bet that’s not the case with any of these bands that MB supposedly ‘took a chance on’. All these bands have probably been around for at LEAST 2 years playing every basement, dive bar and house show they could land… versus a label like Nuclear Blast signing Hackneyeyd, who couldn’t have been doing much in the way of touring or self promoting prior to being signed. THAT is what you call ‘taking chances on young bands with little to no existing fanbase’. Having an annual Battle of the Bands type contest on a massive global scale to award the band that gains the most votes a deal. THAT is what you call catering to the fans whims when they’re the ones that cast the votes to decide who gets that shot. About 50% of the time, I don’t really care for what any given label signs and tries to sell me on with their baseless hype points, and it’s no different with Metal Blade and the trash they’ve signed lately. You’ve been on that side of the industry, there’s no way you can pretend that you don’t know it’s all politics and a tiny bit of who you know and who knows you. The rest is based on marketability. Oh, Mastodon just got huge?? Sign that Barn Burner band and hell, Bison BC Too!!! Behemoth makes waves? Sign Aeternam! The Black Dahlia Murder bands are always a hit, sign Allegaeon! Jonny Davy AND Navene?? Is that even a question. And ok, ok we’ll wrap it all up and make this look good by signing this random black metal band to maintain that we’re most definitely ‘keeping our eye on the underground’. Alright everyone, good job!! Call me a troll all you want, I just call it like I see it. And in this instance, you should definitely add a certain word into that closing line so that it reads “___ kisses and hugs.” Yeah, I said it…

        • TMeld

          To be fair, why does Metal Blade owe it to anyone to truly take a chance? They aren’t in the business of changing the game, at least at this point; they’re just trying to remain an effective business in an economic area that has changed drastically over the last decade. At this point, I don’t think you’ll see any major label, with substantial overhead and staff numbers greater than one, investing heavily in some insane game-changing band who hasn’t proved themselves on the live circuit. And, for what it’s worth, I am bummed about that as a music fan, but can anyone blame them for it?

          • Yeah, It’s Me Again…

            I never said they owed anything to anyone. I was simply stating that they’re not taking any risks or signing any game changing bands that are ‘young and inexperienced’ and that MetalSucks is doing nothing but kissing some major ass here. Just about every band mentioned above has been touring in some capacity for 2 to 3 years now and one is just comprised of dudes from other bands which will be an easy sell. That’s hardly being inexperienced and none of them are unique in any way.

            Metal Blade was on a win streak several years ago with The Black Dahlia Murder, Unearth, As I Lay Dying… amongst others. Now, signing shit that sounds like other shit that’s getting attention does not amount to being a leader in an industry that’s still in a downward spiral and doesn’t know what to do. Simply put, they’re NOT taking chances… and should they be? Well, in regards to staying afloat as a business, maybe not. But in regards to being touted as a label that does so… then yes, by all means they should.

  • red4man

    Across the Sun just got signed to Metal Blade, check them out , they rule!!!

    • Dissolution

      Word, Portland represent!!! :)

      Brandon, Alan, Shane, Sam, and Colin are great guys. Brandon hopped on stage during 36cf’s set with Fear Factory and he sounded better than Brock. Kid has a set of pipe’s on him like nothing else.

      Karl

  • christopher

    Woe of Tyrants are horrible. I saw them open for Entombed and they put the room to sleep.

  • Christoff

    Lazarus A.D. FTW

  • FongChung

    Bison BC = The record of the year. The others on that last besides Aeternam and Istapp, and Barn Burner. Really really suck balls. Woe of Christians suck too. That new band Dave Otero(Who should stick to Cephalic Carnage, Clinging To The Trees of a Forest Fire, Enemy Reign) produced suuuuuuucks.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tanner-Westhomas/1506171449 Tanner Westhomas

    Simply put, I fucking LOVE Metal Blade, they have so many excellent bands, and are always signing new ones. If my band ever works out, my dream is to be on Metal Blade. In my opinion, Century Media roster slowly becoming a hub for mediocre mainstream crap (IWABO& that vampire band), I use to buy quite a few CM CDs, now I usually only get new CD from a band i already know on CM and even most of those have been disappointing. They do still have enough quality bands to redeem themselves yet. As for Nuclear Blast, theres only like 3-4 bands i still listen to regularly. Earache, has a few gems but overall blah roster. Relapse I’ve noticed is building up it’s roster quite nicely.

  • Dunlopeth

    Aeternam are Canadian.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Nathaniel-Wolf/749780007 Nathaniel Wolf

    Ummmmm….Metal Blade kinda sucks, they’re probably one of the worst metal record labels out there

  • Anal Leakage

    Metal Blade is certainly for the mainstream metal listener but they definitely do not suck sucka.