Metal Blade Records Launch a New Playlist and Merch Design from Travis Smith in Celebration of 40th Anniversary

August 25, 2022 Infrared Magazine Featured, News, Press Releases Comments Off

– August 25th, 2022 –

PLUS: Celebrate Metal Blade Records’ 40th Anniversary all Saturday & Sunday on The Metal 2 Channel – 48 hours of Metal Blade!

Los Angeles, California – Metal Blade Records, the fiercely independent label that launched Metallica, Slayer, Armored Saint, Cannibal Corpse, Amon Amarth, and dozens more iconic heavy metal bands, continues its 40th Anniversary Celebration in 2022 with the release of a new playlist featuring a selection of songs from the label’s 00′s catalog spanning 2000-2010.

In conjunction with the release of the label’s 00′s playlist, a brand-new merch design created by renowned heavy metal artist Travis Smith has also been released. Smith is known for creating iconic cover art for bands like King Diamond, Opeth, Devin Townsend, Nevermore, Soilwork, Anathema, and Bloodbath just to name a few.

Check out the new playlist, available on Spotify and Apple Music, and the new shirt design at: metalblade.com/40thanniversary

In other news, Gimme Radio salutes with 48 hours of programming on their Metal 2 channel this Saturday and Sunday with a slew of some of their best Slagel and guest artist shows! And grab titles from select Metal Blade artists HERE. FREE shipping on anything in the collection with the code ‘blade‘.

Two final anniversary celebration shows are taking place in Las Vegas, NV this September and October: SACRED REICH, an integral part of the thrash movement still churning out classics on Metal Blade, tops the bill on September 17 at The Space in Las Vegas while headliners KILLSWITCH ENGAGE are taking over the Las Vegas House Of Blues on October 5. Supporting KsE at the 3rd and final concert commemorating Metal Blade Records’ momentous anniversary is Fit for an Autopsy and labelmates VISIGOTH.

Sacred Reich tickets here: thespacelv.com/event/sacred-reich

Killswitch Engage tickets here: ticketmaster.com/event/17005CEF960D2267

About Metal Blade Records:
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 catalog, 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 celebrates its fourth decade.

Metal Blade Records launched Metallica, Slayer, Armored Saint, Fates Warning, GWAR, Cannibal Corpse, Amon Amarth, Whitechapel, The Black Dahlia Murder, Cattle Decapitation, and dozens more genre giants, shaping four decades and counting of hard rock, metal, and extreme music culture. Brian Slagel worked as a record store clerk when he founded Metal Blade in 1982, reserving a spot for a young Lars Ulrich on his Metal Massacre compilation series. Metal Blade grew from humble beginnings in Los Angeles to become an international powerhouse, selling millions of albums while remaining fiercely independent. In 2017, Slayer‘s Kerry King inducted the label into the Hall of Heavy Metal History. Slagel’s For the Sake of Heaviness: The History of Metal Blade Records arrived the same year.