Weekly series launching January 2027 will revisit 25 landmark albums from the legendary metal label’s history
Metal Blade Records will celebrate its 45th anniversary in 2027, and founder, owner and CEO Brian Slagel is marking the milestone with a new podcast exploring some of the most important albums in the label’s history.
Launching in January 2027, the Metal Blade Records’ 45th Anniversary Podcast will feature Slagel in conversations with past and present Metal Blade artists, as well as other figures involved in the creation of 25 landmark records from the label’s extensive catalog.
New episodes will arrive weekly throughout 2027 across major podcast platforms, diving into the stories, challenges and creative decisions behind albums that helped shape multiple generations of heavy music.
Slagel comments:
“I’m super excited to host this new podcast celebrating 45 years of Metal Blade Records! Following my podcast 100 Songs That Define Heavy Metal, the concept is basically the same! Going to be fun to talk to everyone each episode!”
The series is being presented in partnership with Pantheon Media, following Slagel’s previous collaboration with the podcast network on 100 Songs That Define Heavy Metal.
Pantheon Media CEO Christian Swain adds:
“Brian Slagel didn’t just witness the rise of heavy music — he built the platform that launched it. Partnering with Brian on 100 Songs That Define Heavy Metal showed us how passionate this community is for authentic, deep-dive storytelling. We’re thrilled to host the Metal Blade Records’ 45th Anniversary Podcast on Pantheon as Brian opens the vault on 25 landmark albums that reshaped the musical landscape.”
Artists expected to be featured throughout the series include Amon Amarth, Armored Saint, Bitch, Bolt Thrower, Cannibal Corpse, D.R.I., Fates Warning, GWAR, Lizzy Borden, Omen, Six Feet Under, The Black Dahlia Murder and Unearth, with additional guests and albums to be revealed as episodes arrive.
45 Years of Metal Blade Records
Founded by Brian Slagel in 1982, Metal Blade began as an underground passion project in Los Angeles and ultimately developed into one of heavy metal’s most influential independent record labels.
Before founding the label, Slagel worked at a record store and became deeply involved in Southern California’s emerging underground metal scene. His desire to document that community resulted in the first Metal Massacre compilation, which famously included an early recording from a then-unknown Metallica.
Over the decades that followed, Metal Blade played an important role in the careers of artists including Slayer, Armored Saint, Fates Warning, Cannibal Corpse, GWAR, Amon Amarth, Whitechapel, The Black Dahlia Murder and Cattle Decapitation, while becoming the longtime home of acts including King Diamond and Killswitch Engage.
Despite growing from its underground origins into an international label with millions of records sold, Metal Blade has remained independent and maintained an emphasis on long-term artist development across virtually every corner of heavy music.
The label’s roster has expanded to encompass death metal, black metal, thrash, doom, progressive metal, metalcore and numerous other styles while maintaining the philosophy Slagel established during its earliest days: prioritizing music and artists over short-lived trends.
In 2017, Slayer guitarist Kerry King inducted Metal Blade into the Hall of Heavy Metal History. That same year, Slagel released his first memoir, For the Sake of Heaviness: The History of Metal Blade Records, followed by Swing of the Blade: More Stories from Metal Blade Records in 2023.
Slagel expanded into podcasting with 100 Songs That Define Heavy Metal in late 2024, followed by the interactive audio trivia game Metal Mondays in 2025.
Now, 45 years after the release of the original Metal Massacre, Slagel will return to the stories behind the records and musicians that transformed his independent label into a cornerstone of heavy metal history.
The Metal Blade Records’ 45th Anniversary Podcast launches in January 2027, with new episodes scheduled to arrive weekly throughout the year.
Metal Blade Records — Forging Metal Since 1982.