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Combat Records
Combat Records was an American independent record label founded in 1982 and based in New York City. The label was made specifically for heavy metal and punk rock acts. Notable artists include: Megadeth, Circle Jerks, Nuclear Assault, OZ, Death, Dead Brain Cells, Possessed (band), Possessed, Crumbsuckers, Agnostic Front, Agent Steel, Dark Angel (band), Dark Angel, Heathen (band), Heathen, Zoetrope (band), Zoetrope, Ludichrist and Exodus (band), Exodus. In 2017, it was announced that Combat was being relaunched by Megadeth bassist David Ellefson and Thom Hazaert as a new label imprint under their EMP Label Group. History Combat Records was the in-house Heavy metal music, heavy metal label for the independent powerhouse distributor Important Record Distributors. Important had several United States offices promoting and selling Combat's releases. Important Records was also home to Megaforce Records in the mid-1980s and produced Metallica's ''Kill 'Em All'' and ''Ride the Light ...
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Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the publishing division, Sony Music Publishing. Founded in 1929 as American Record Corporation, it was acquired by the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1938 and renamed Columbia Recording Corporation. In 1966, the company was reorganized to become CBS Records. Sony bought the company in 1988 and renamed it SME in 1991. In 2004, Sony and Bertelsmann established a 50–50 joint venture known as Sony BMG to handle the operations of Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG), but Sony bought out Bertelsmann's stake four years later and reverted to using the 1991 company name. This buyout led to labels formerly under BMG ownership, including Arista, Jive, LaFace and J Records into former BMG and currently Sony's co-flagship record label ...
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Dark Angel (band)
Dark Angel is an American thrash metal band from Downey, California, formed in 1981. The band's current lineup includes drummer Gene Hoglan, guitarists Eric Meyer and Laura Christine, frontman Ron Rinehart and bassist Mike Gonzalez. In its history, they have gone through many lineup changes, and as of guitarist Jim Durkin's death on March 8, 2023, there are no original members left in the current lineup of Dark Angel, although Meyer (who joined the band in 1984) is the only member to appear on all of their studio albums. Dark Angel's over-the-top style (extremely fast, heavy and lengthy songs with many tempo changes, lyrics, and extended instrumental parts) earned them the nickname "The L.A. Caffeine Machine". Despite never achieving mainstream success, the band is often credited as one of the leaders of the second wave of the 1980s thrash metal movement, and as one of the progenitors of the " progressive/technical thrash metal" sound. Their music has also been cited as a form ...
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Anthrax (American Band)
Anthrax is an American thrash metal band from New York City, formed in 1981 by rhythm guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Dan Lilker. The group is considered one of the leaders of the thrash metal scene from the 1980s and is part of the "Big Four" of the genre, along with Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer. They were also one of the first thrash metal bands (along with Overkill (band), Overkill and Nuclear Assault) to emerge from the East Coast. The band's current lineup consists of Scott Ian, drummer Charlie Benante, bassist Frank Bello, vocalist Joey Belladonna and lead guitarist Jonathan Donais. Anthrax's lineup has changed numerous times over their career, leaving Ian as the only constant member of the band. Ian and Benante (who replaced one-time drummer Greg D'Angelo in 1983) are the only two members to appear on all of Anthrax's albums, while Bello has been a member of Anthrax since 1984, replacing Lilker. After cycling through a number of members, Anthrax released their debut alb ...
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Elektra Records
Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1950s and 1970s. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived as an imprint of Atlantic in 2009. In October 2018, Elektra was detached from the Atlantic Records umbrella and reorganized into Elektra Music Group, once again operating as an independently managed frontline label of Warner Music. In June 2022, Elektra Music Group was merged with 300 Entertainment to create the umbrella label 300 Elektra Entertainment (3EE), though both Elektra and 300 continued to maintain their separate identities as labels. In Oct 2024, 300 Elektra Entertainment merged with Atlantic Records, though still retaining imprints on releases. History 1950–1971: Founding and early history Elek ...
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Ride The Lightning
''Ride the Lightning'' is the second studio album by the American thrash metal band Metallica, released on July 27, 1984, by the independent record label Megaforce Records. The album was recorded in three weeks with producer Flemming Rasmussen at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark. The artwork, based on a concept by the band, depicts an electric chair being struck by lightning flowing from the band logo. The title was taken from a passage in Stephen King's novel '' The Stand'', in which a character uses the phrase to refer to execution by electric chair. Although rooted in the thrash metal genre, the album showcased the band's musical growth and lyrical sophistication. Bassist Cliff Burton introduced the basics of music theory to the band and had more input in the songwriting. Beyond the fast tempos of its debut '' Kill 'Em All'', Metallica broadened its approach by employing acoustic guitars, extended instrumentals, and more complex harmonies. The overall recordin ...
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Kill 'Em All
''Kill 'Em All'' is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 25, 1983, through the independent label Megaforce Records. After forming in 1981, Metallica began by playing shows in local clubs in Los Angeles. They recorded several demos to gain attention from club owners and eventually relocated to San Francisco to secure the services of bassist Cliff Burton. The group's '' No Life 'til Leather'' demo tape (1982) was noticed by Megaforce label head Jon Zazula, who signed them and provided a budget of $15,000 (equivalent to $48,835.49 in 2025) for recording. The album was recorded in May with producer Paul Curcio at the Music America Studios in Rochester, New York. It was originally intended to be titled ''Metal Up Your Ass'', with cover art featuring a hand clutching a dagger emerging from a toilet bowl. Zazula convinced the band to change the name because distributors feared that releasing an album with such an offensive title and ar ...
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Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. Metallica's current lineup comprises founding members and primary songwriters Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. Guitarist Dave Mustaine, who formed Megadeth after being fired from Metallica, and bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted are former members of the band. Metallica first found commercial success with the release of its third album, '' Master of Puppets'' (1986), which is cited as one of the heaviest metal albums and the band's best work. The band's next album, '' ...And Justice for All'' (1988), gave Metallica its first ...
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Megaforce Records
Megaforce Records is an American independent record label founded in 1982 by Jon Zazula and his wife Marsha Zazula to release the first works of Metallica, and devoted primarily to hard rock and heavy metal. It has offices in New York City (where the corporate office is located) and Philadelphia. The label currently is distributed in the United States by The Orchard and Sony Music internationally, having previously been distributed by Atlantic Records while Anthrax's recordings from 1985 to 1991 were marketed by Island Records. Megaforce artists that have appeared on the Billboard Top 200 chart include Metallica, Blue October, Anthrax, Overkill, Testament, Mushroomhead, Ministry, Bad Brains and Meat Puppets. The Black Crowes and Meat Puppets have both received various RIAA certifications in the US. Marsha Zazula, the co-founder of Megaforce Records, died of cancer on January 10, 2021, at the age of 68. Her husband Jon died a year later, on February 1, 2022, at the age of 6 ...
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Heavy Metal Music
Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a Music genre, genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a thick, monumental sound characterized by distortion (music), distorted guitars, extended guitar solos, emphatic Beat (music), beats and loudness. In 1968, three of the genre's most famous pioneers – British bands Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple – were founded. Though they came to attract wide audiences, they were often derided by critics. Several American bands modified heavy metal into more accessible forms during the 1970s: the raw, sleazy sound and shock rock of Alice Cooper and Kiss (band), Kiss; the blues-rooted rock of Aerosmith; and the flashy guitar leads and party rock of Van Halen. During the mid-1970s, Judas Priest helped spur the genre's evolution by discarding much of its blues influence,Walser (1 ...
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Thom Hazaert
Thom Hazaert is an American musician, author/journalist, music executive and radio personality. He was co-founder and president of Corporate Punishment Records and currently runs THC: MUSIC, a management firm and label. With David Ellefson, he relaunched metal label, Combat Records, as part of EMP Label Group. Hazaert's work was also influential in the early advent of lifestyle street and viral marketing among rock acts, as an independent consultant for record labels including Flip Records, Interscope Records, Warner Bros. Records, Hollywood Records, Jive Records, and as co-founder of Total Assault Street Teams. Hazaert is also the lead vocalist for David Ellefson's solo band, first appearing on the album ''Sleeping Giants'', a collection of new songs and archived Ellefson solo material, released in 2019 on Combat Records as a companion to Ellefson's second memoir ''More Life With Deth'', co-written by Hazaert; Hazaert also performed with Ellefson on several US and European tou ...
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David Ellefson
David Ellefson is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist and backing vocalist for thrash metal band Megadeth across two stints. Ellefson initially became an accomplished bassist and honed his songwriting skills while leading several of his own bands through the club scene of North America's Midwest region before relocating to Los Angeles. He was then the bassist of Megadeth from 1983 to their breakup in 2002, and again from 2010 to 2021. Ellefson co-founded the hard rock band the Lucid in 2021 alongside vocalist Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge), guitarist Drew Fortier (formerly of Bang Tango), and drummer Mike Heller ( Fear Factory, Malignancy, Raven). In addition to playing bass guitar in Megadeth and the Lucid, Ellefson had various side projects, which include Temple of Brutality, F5, Killing Machine, and Metal Allegiance. Biography Pre-Megadeth Ellefson played in a band called Killers, which featured himself on bass, Greg Handevidt on guitar, ...
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Exodus (band)
Exodus is an American thrash metal band formed in 1979 in Richmond, California. Their current lineup consists of guitarists Gary Holt (musician), Gary Holt and Lee Altus, bassist Jack Gibson, drummer Tom Hunting, and lead vocalist Rob Dukes. Notable former members include vocalists Paul Baloff and Steve Souza, Steve "Zetro" Souza, drummers John Tempesta and Paul Bostaph, and founding guitarist Kirk Hammett who later joined fellow Bay Area thrash metal band Metallica. There are no original members left in Exodus other than Hunting, who had departed from the band twice, in 1989 and 2004, but rejoined in 2007. Holt, who has been in the band since 1981, is the only member to appear on all of Exodus' recordings. Much of the band's career has been affected by lineup changes, feuds between both band members and record companies, two extended hiatuses, deaths of former band members, and drug addictions. Since its formation, Exodus has released eleven studio albums, three live albums, on ...
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