For the Sake of Heaviness: The History of Metal Blade Records by Brian Slagel with Mark Eglinton

I am going to do something a little bit different today.  I just finished reading this book, which was a gift from my wife (I am a little disappointed she did not get me the version with the cassette compilation included, but that's okay).  It is the history of the Metal Blade record label written by founder and CEO Brian Slagel, with Mark Eglinton presumably helping put it together.  Given that it is written by the label's founder, there are two things that could be gleaned.  First of all, this man lived through all of this so he is going to have a better recollection for how things happened than a third party.  Second, it is going to be fairly one-sided.

I was excited to read the book because Metal Blade has been generally a favorite metal label of mine for quite a long time.  Metal Blade was not the first label I really noticed popping up in my collection a lot, that distinction went to Roadrunner.  But Metal Blade has always been the most consistent.  Roadrunner turned into a major trend-hopper, ditching death metal bands that it helped gain exposure to when they were no longer as profitable and jumping with both feet into the nu-metal trend.  Then doing the same with metalcore.  At this point in time, there are very few legitimate metal bands still on the Roadrunner roster.  That has never been the case with Metal Blade.  And that is reflected in the book where Slagel sounds more like a gushing fanboy of the genre than someone who has a legitimate impact on the kind of music that gets out there.

The primary strength of this book is the quick statements by other individuals, including employees and members of bands on the label roster, as well as lengthier interviews.  Slagel's comments show him to be a huge fan who cares about the music more than money and that is corroborated by the other interviews.  It is to the point that Slagel's reflections on himself and the label are legitimized by other people and one really does get the feeling that Metal Blade Records is a family environment where anything really goes.  Slagel stays out of the way of the artistic output of his bands and really just seems like a big fan first and foremost.  This comes through when he discusses specific instances where he actually weakened one of his bands in order to strengthen another group.  The primary example is referring bassist Jason Newsted of Metal Blade band Flotsam and Jetsam to non-Metal Blade band Metallica after the death of Cliff Burton.  Newsted was the heart and soul of Flotsam and Jetsam.  But that move kept Metallica going and the band eventually blew up to be the biggest heavy metal band of all time.

I was rather pleased at some of the individual anecdotes.  Of course there was going to be a big discussion about Metal Blade's part in the creation of Metallica.  Drummer Lars Ulrich was a friend of Slagel's and knew about Slagel's attempt to put together a compilation for the first official Metal Blade release.  Ulrich asked for a spot, even though he technically did not have a band yet and Slagel okayed it.  If not for that, who knows if Metallica would have ever gotten started?  But beyond that, there is a lengthy discussion about Slayer and how they were discovered, then how they left the label.  Two things I was curious about were also discussed.  First, there is the fact that the label seemed to stay away from nu-metal, even during a period of time in which traditional metal was a not selling well.  Slagel indicated he liked Korn and attempted to sign them but was blown out of the water by major labels and that he did not feel the rest of the nu-metal scene was really heavy metal and did not like it.  So he stayed away.  The second thing was just how in the hell the Goo Goo Dolls of all bands ended up on Metal Blade and actually did well.  I knew they were originally a little more punky and they were initially signed to a label imprint that did more punk that was then folded back into Metal Blade.  That makes a little more sense.  The label lost them though when they split from their distribution deal with Warner Bros. over a fight about the lyrical content of a new Gwar album.  Warner Bros. let Metal Blade out of their contract but insisted on retaining the rights to the Goo Goo Dolls. 

If I had to pick a complaint about the book, it would be the overly positive tone.  The book avoids any real controversy, which is fine, but I wanted a little bit of dirt too.  Every band is described as incredible.  Every album is amazing.  Every record sold well.  And the last part I find very disingenuous.  For instance, he talks about Lizzy Borden and Armored Saint being flagship bands of the label.  Quality aside, most casual metal fans have never heard of either band.  They should, but neither band is exactly a major force in the genre.  Like I said, I wanted a little dirt.

The book is a decent, if slightly underwhelming history of a very important metal label.  It has some interesting anecdotes, even though it is primarily about the business aspect of the label.  Do not go into it thinking you will get a lot of new information about bands, that is simply not the point of this book.  But it is a quick and enjoyable read.  Just know that there are limitations to it.

And so, to close this review up, I will do the same thing that the book ends with: my five favorite Metal Blade releases:

1.  Slayer: Show No Mercy
2.  Voivod: War and Pain
3.  Flotsam and Jetsam: Doomsday for the Deceiver
4.  Armored Saint: Symbol of Salvation
5.  Trouble: Trouble

Best recent Metal Blade release: Cattle Decapitation: Death Atlas

Best under-the-radar Metal Blade release: Lethal: Programmed