Nuclear Blast
Encyclopedia
Nuclear Blast is an independent record label
and mail order
record distributor with subsidiaries
in Germany
, the United States
and Brazil
. The record label was founded in 1987
by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk
records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic death metal
, grindcore
, power metal
and black metal
bands, as well as tribute albums. Nuclear Blast is widely respected as the top label for the death metal scene, along with fellow non-RIAA label Century Media. The label's main office is in Donzdorf
, Göppingen
. Nuclear Blast America and Century Media work together as a strategic partnership between the two independent metal labels. They are distributed through Caroline/EMI.
records by bands like Agnostic Front
, Attitude and Stark Raving Mad
. They progressed toward metal in 1990, however, currently signing and distributing dozens of artists such as Dimmu Borgir
and Hypocrisy
. They have also released a series of compilation albums called "Death Is Just the Beginning".
for four weeks and saw a gig
of his favorite band BL'AST!
. The label was originally titled simply "Blast", but this was soon changed to Nuclear Blast. The label's first release was a vinyl compilation called Senseless Death (NB 001) featuring US Hardcore bands like Attitude, Sacred Denial, Impulse Manslaughter and others. The first edition of 1000 copies was sold out after one year.
Nuclear Blast started signing grindcore acts after Staiger discovered Las Vegas' Righteous Pigs. This followed with releases by Atrocity
, Deathstars
, Master and (Incubus) Opprobrium
, which all sold over 30,000 copies. The grindcore explosion is considered a landmark in the label's history, gaining it worldwide attention which of course is just an opinion.
In the early nineties, black metal
became highly popular in the European underground, and Nuclear Blast signed many bands. Many of them, such as Dimmu Borgir
and Dissection
, are still signed to Nuclear Blast. The black metal trend became increasingly popular, and by 1996, several Nuclear Blast-signed artists were entering European charts. By the end of 1997, Nuclear Blast had 20 employees and mailed out a 100 page catalogue quarterly to 50 countries.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, they expanded into a direction of power metal
, promoting bands such as HammerFall
and the German power metal innovators Helloween
. During the 2000s, Nuclear Blast started promoting some Finnish
bands, such as Stratovarius
and Sonata Arctica
, and the German band Blind Guardian
, expanding their style further into different subgenres
of metal.
Swedish band Meshuggah
became the first band in the history of Nuclear Blast Records to crack the Billboard 200, landing at #165 with their 2002 album, Nothing. Meshuggah also became the first Nuclear Blast band to be reviewed in Rolling Stone
magazine.
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
and mail order
Mail order
Mail order is a term which describes the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote method such as through a telephone call or web site. Then, the products are delivered to the customer...
record distributor with subsidiaries
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. The record label was founded in 1987
1987 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1987.See also:Record labels established in 1987-January-February:*January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic death metal
Melodic death metal
Melodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...
, grindcore
Grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....
, power metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
and black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
bands, as well as tribute albums. Nuclear Blast is widely respected as the top label for the death metal scene, along with fellow non-RIAA label Century Media. The label's main office is in Donzdorf
Donzdorf
Donzdorf is a town in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.It is located 12 km east of Göppingen, and 13 km south of Schwäbisch Gmünd. It is notably known from being home to one of the biggest heavy metal music record companies, Nuclear Blast Records....
, Göppingen
Göppingen (district)
Göppingen is a Kreis in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Rems-Murr, Ostalbkreis, Heidenheim, Alb-Donau, Reutlingen and Esslingen.-History:...
. Nuclear Blast America and Century Media work together as a strategic partnership between the two independent metal labels. They are distributed through Caroline/EMI.
Music
At their inception, Nuclear Blast focused on releasing hardcoreHardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
records by bands like Agnostic Front
Agnostic Front
Agnostic Front is an American hardcore band. The band began playing hardcore similar to their contemporaries, and were thrust to the forefront of the burgeoning New York hardcore scene in the mid-1980s with their widely regarded 1984 classic Victim in Pain before evolving to incorporate thrash...
, Attitude and Stark Raving Mad
Stark Raving Mad
Stark Raving Mad can refer to:*Stark Raving Mad, a 1983 film depicting a fictional account of the Charles Starkweather/Carol Fugate killings*Stark Raving Mad, a 1999 television series*Stark Raving Mad, a 2002 film...
. They progressed toward metal in 1990, however, currently signing and distributing dozens of artists such as Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir is a Norwegian black metal band from Oslo, Norway, formed in 1993. Dimmu borgir means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, Faroese and Old Norse. The name is derived from a volcanic formation in Iceland, Dimmuborgir...
and Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy (band)
Hypocrisy is a melodic death metal band from Sweden. It was formed in 1990 in Ludvika, Sweden by Peter Tägtgren.Musically, the band started off with a traditional death metal sound on their first albums, and soon drifted to become a melodic death metal band. The lyrics in their early stages -...
. They have also released a series of compilation albums called "Death Is Just the Beginning".
History
Nuclear Blast was formed in 1987 after founder Markus Staiger travelled throughout the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for four weeks and saw a gig
Gig (musical performance)
Gig is slang for a musical engagement in which musicians are hired. Originally coined in the 1920s by jazz musicians, the term, short for the word "engagement", now refers to any aspect of performing such as assisting with performance and attending musical performance...
of his favorite band BL'AST!
Bl'ast
Blast was a California hardcore punk and rock band from Santa Cruz. The original lineup consisted of Clifford Dinsmore on vocals, Mike Neider and Steve Stevenson on guitars, Dave Cooper on bass, and Bill Torgerson on drums....
. The label was originally titled simply "Blast", but this was soon changed to Nuclear Blast. The label's first release was a vinyl compilation called Senseless Death (NB 001) featuring US Hardcore bands like Attitude, Sacred Denial, Impulse Manslaughter and others. The first edition of 1000 copies was sold out after one year.
Nuclear Blast started signing grindcore acts after Staiger discovered Las Vegas' Righteous Pigs. This followed with releases by Atrocity
Atrocity (band)
Atrocity is a German Heavy Metal band formed in Ludwigsburg.-History:First started in 1985 as Instigators and playing grindcore, Atrocity arose as a death metal band with their debut EP, Blue Blood, in 1989, followed soon by Hallucinations, a concept album about drug use...
, Deathstars
Deathstars
Deathstars is a Swedish band from Stockholm that perform industrial and gothic metal. Formed in 2000, the group are noted for their dark horror-themed lyrics, pessimistic and misanthropic social commentary, distinctive trademark face paint, dark stage uniforms and physical appearances that...
, Master and (Incubus) Opprobrium
Opprobrium (band)
See also opprobriumOpprobrium is a death metal band from Metairie, Louisiana. Founded in 1986 by brothers Francis and Moyses Howard under the name Incubus, Natives of Rio de Janeiro, the Howards emigrated to New Orleans and formed the band...
, which all sold over 30,000 copies. The grindcore explosion is considered a landmark in the label's history, gaining it worldwide attention which of course is just an opinion.
In the early nineties, black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
became highly popular in the European underground, and Nuclear Blast signed many bands. Many of them, such as Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir is a Norwegian black metal band from Oslo, Norway, formed in 1993. Dimmu borgir means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, Faroese and Old Norse. The name is derived from a volcanic formation in Iceland, Dimmuborgir...
and Dissection
Dissection (band)
Dissection was a black metal band from Strömstad, Sweden. The band was formed in 1989, by Jon Nödtveidt. The band released its first EP in 1991. They disbanded in 2006, after Nödtveidt's suicide.- Band overview :...
, are still signed to Nuclear Blast. The black metal trend became increasingly popular, and by 1996, several Nuclear Blast-signed artists were entering European charts. By the end of 1997, Nuclear Blast had 20 employees and mailed out a 100 page catalogue quarterly to 50 countries.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, they expanded into a direction of power metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
, promoting bands such as HammerFall
HammerFall
HammerFall is a power metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. The band was formed in 1993 by ex-Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak.- Early days :...
and the German power metal innovators Helloween
Helloween
Helloween is a German power metal band founded in the mid 1980s by members of Iron Fist and Powerfool. The band was a pioneering force in the European Power Metal movement and their second and third studio albums, Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt...
. During the 2000s, Nuclear Blast started promoting some Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
bands, such as Stratovarius
Stratovarius
Stratovarius are a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1984. Since their formation they have released 13 studio albums and one live album. Along with Helloween, Blind Guardian, Rhapsody of Fire and Gamma Ray, Stratovarius are considered one of the leading groups of the power metal and symphonic...
and Sonata Arctica
Sonata Arctica
Sonata Arctica are a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, originally assembled in 1995. Their later works contain several elements typical of progressive metal.....
, and the German band Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in the mid-1980s in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres...
, expanding their style further into different subgenres
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
of metal.
Swedish band Meshuggah
Meshuggah
Meshuggah is an extreme metal band from Umeå, Sweden, formed in 1987. Meshuggah's line-up has primarily consisted of founding members vocalist Jens Kidman and lead guitarist Fredrik Thordendal, drummer Tomas Haake, who joined in 1990, and rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, who joined in 1992...
became the first band in the history of Nuclear Blast Records to crack the Billboard 200, landing at #165 with their 2002 album, Nothing. Meshuggah also became the first Nuclear Blast band to be reviewed in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine.