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"Daringly different and dazzlingly diverse" Rough Trade

TROPICAL FUCK STORM / DERADOORIAN / THE LEMONHEADS / EARTH / LUCKY BREAK / HAYLIE DAVIS / WHITNEY K / BLACK LIPS / MONDE UFO / PICTISH TRAIL / GRAHAM REYNOLDS / VANISHING TWIN / JANE WEAVER / DECISIVE PINK / MARINA ALLEN / RVG / BAS JAN / MARTA DEL GRANDI / ISLET / ELLA RAPHAEL / FATEN KANAAN / LUCY GOOCH / HATER / RATS ON RAFTS / JOSEPHINE FOSTER / DEATH AND VANILLA / ROYAL TRUX / KRISTIN HERSH / THROWING MUSES / THE CHILLS / HALF JAPANESE / SEBADOH / THE DREAM SYNDICATE / AMBER ARCADES

Metal Blade Records history by Dan Slessor:
Founded upon owner Brian Slagel's enduring drive to find great bands and get their music out to as many people as possible, since 1982 Metal Blade has brought wave after wave of powerful, innovative, and often genre-defining music to the ever-hungry metal masses. It is this ethos that has seen Metal Blade build up a stunning and diverse catalogue, weather the various storms facing any independent label, and in an age of declining record sales boast the most successful years of its existence as it strides into its fourth decade.

What perhaps makes this achievement all the more notable is the fact that Slagel never even intended to start a label. Working in an LA record store and writing for various publications, Slagel was acutely aware that many great bands in the local metal scene were being ignored, and he decided to release a compilation of tracks drawn from these ranks. "There were a lot of really good bands and I was just bummed out that nobody could hear them. It just seemed like I could help them out and have some fun at the same time, and that compilation was the first Metal Massacre," he states. Collating tracks from then unknown bands including Ratt, Bitch, Cirith Ungol, and Metallica amongst others, the compilation sold out immediately. "How important is Metal Blade to our career? They're only the reason we are enjoying the worldwide success we have today," states Metallica's James Hetfield. "Without Brian's openness to some raunchy teens with a crap sounding cassette tape we would be who knows where, and playing who knows what!" With the popularity of the tape spurring Slagel on, the first seeds of Metal Blade were sown. "After the success of those compilations I just started putting out records of bands that I was friends with, but without ever really intending it to be a label at all," he explains. "After I put out four or five releases I started to feel like something was happening, and I decided to quit the record store and quit college and see where it went."

Battling through the first few lean years, when the label consisted solely of Slagel working out of his mom's poorly ventilated garage in the San Fernando Valley, it gradually grew in both revenue and stature. Within a few years Metal Blade would go on to release the debuts of Slayer, Armored Saint, Trouble, and Corrosion Of Conformity amongst others, fanning the flames of the burgeoning metal scene and launching careers of bands that would go onto reap global success. "Without Metal Blade, there is a damn good chance we never would've made it out of L.A," says Slayer's Kerry King. "That was the one bit of luck we needed. You can be the most awesome band on the scene, and if no one notices you, you don't catch on. And Brian Slagel is still one of the biggest metalheads I know!" This genuine love and devotion to metal is central to the relationship many of the artists have with Metal Blade, and King Diamond credits much of its relevance and strength to this passion. "I refer to it as having 'boots on the ground'," the mighty Dane states. "It's not like a major label where some people might be into what you're doing but a lot of them just see it as a job – there's a genuine love for metal there. Through staying true to that and doing their own thing they've carved out a very specific niche that they control, and as an artist it's wonderful to be a part of that."over the years. Clearly without those people we couldn't do what we do, and to everyone out there who has helped us along by being a fan we are so very grateful to you."

Read more: http://www.metalblade.com/us/about-us/

New album Father Of All... out Feb 7. Hella Mega Tour w/ Green Day, Fall Out Boy + Weezer coming in 2021 http://hellamegatour.com

Hailing from Denmark, an upcoming fresh sounding heavy metal quintet. The band's two latest offerings, a twelve-tracked album entitled 'Temporality' and the EP "I AM" featuring four songs, focuses on the band's solid song structure, schizophrenic signature and the enhanced melodic expression, evolving the hard rock band into a fresh modern metal-outfit. 

If success is granted through diversity, Diamond Drive deserves great recognition for their impressive handling of various genres and influences. The mix of grunge, rock, metal and subgenres within produces a gritty and aggressive yet seducing sound.

Links:
http://www.diamonddriveband.com
http://facebook.com/Diamond-Drive

Established 1999. Releasing newfangled and archival sounds. 

OKeh short history: 

OKeh was founded by Otto K. E. Heinemann when he set up his own recording studio and gramophone record pressing plant in New York City in September 1918. Heinemann formed the name of the record label "OKeh", from his initials.  OKeh began by issuing popular songs, dance numbers, and vaudeville skits similar to the fare of other labels, but Heineman also wished to experiment with music for audiences neglected by the larger record companies. OKeh produced lines of recordings in German, Czech, Polish, Swedish, and Yiddish for the USA's immigrant communities. In 1920, Ralph Peer's recordings by African-American blues singer Mamie Smith were a surprise smash hit for Okeh. The company perceived the significant, little-tapped market for blues and jazz by African American artists. Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Bix Beiderbecke are only a few names of jazz greats that have recorded for the label. By 1926 Columbia Records bought the label and kept it running into the 60's with jazz and R&B recordings. 

In 1994, Sony Music reactivated the OKeh label as a new-age Blues label. Okeh's first new signings included Keb' Mo, Popa Chubby, and Little Axe. By 2000, the Okeh label was again retired, but in 2013 it will see its re-launch as a jazz label once again.

www.instagram.com/WalterJHuaman
www.facebook.com/AnObscureSignal

<b>Gary Clark Jr </b>
Warner Records
Austin TX

info@grandpastan.com

East London Alt Pop Label & Management Co.  Representing Producers, Bands/Artists, Composers/ Arrangers, Supervision/Clearance.

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