Metal Blade Records turns 45 in 2027, and Brian Slagel has decided to mark it by talking for a year straight. The label has announced the Metal Blade Records' 45th Anniversary Podcast, which starts in January 2027 and runs weekly through the whole year on Pantheon, with each episode built around one of 25 landmark albums from the catalogue and featuring the artists — and the people around them — who actually made the records.
The arithmetic is worth pausing on. Slagel started the label in 1982 with essentially nothing but conviction, and its first release, the 'Metal Massacre' compilation, carried the earliest commercially released METALLICA recording. SLAYER followed a year later. Forty-five years on, the roster spans death metal, black metal, thrash, progressive metal, metalcore, darkwave and doom, and the label remains independent.
"I'm super excited to host this new podcast celebrating 45 years of Metal Blade Records," Slagel says. "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."
That predecessor is the tell. Slagel launched '100 Songs That Define Heavy Metal' with Pantheon in late 2024 — three-part episodes with historical framing from journalist Martin Popoff, a production deep dive, and an artist or notable fan on the song itself — and it has since been downloaded in more than fifty countries. The new series applies the same method to albums rather than songs, and narrows the scope to one label's own history.
"Brian Slagel didn't just witness the rise of heavy music — he built the platform that launched it," said Pantheon Media CEO Christian Swain. "Partnering with Brian on '100 Songs That Define Heavy Metal' showed us how passionate this community is for authentic, deep-dive storytelling. Nobody tells these stories better."
Bands confirmed for the series so far 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 which album each episode covers revealed week by week.
Slagel has been unusually visible this week for a label boss: he also turns up in KING DIAMOND's account of replacing Andy La Rocque, as one of the two people who pointed the singer toward Gus G. KING DIAMOND, MERCYFUL FATE, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, WHITECHAPEL and CATTLE DECAPITATION are all Metal Blade acts.
The Metal Blade Records' 45th Anniversary Podcast arrives on all major platforms in January 2027.