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How 'Metal' Is That Metal Label?

There are countless metal labels out there. Many have been around since the the early days when metal was only listened to by long-haired satanic baby murderers (i kid). But in recent years, many labels have begun jumping on trends and letting those iconic bands that built up the label slip away. Would Roadrunner Records know how to work a Death album in this day and age? Would Century Media for that matter?

The scientific method used: Everyone has a different opinion of what metal is. To some, Bolt Thrower is the only true metal band. To others, Asking Alexandria is the most extreme band on the planet. So how did we weed out the metal from the trends? We used Metal Archives of course. They take pride in what is and isn't worthy of being listed in the archives. Although they have lessened the rules recently, a few 'trend' bands were listed as metal including a lot of metalcore bands I thought wouldn't be listed. So is this list perfect? No. It still comes down to what a large group of people deem as metal but it is the closest thing to science we have. In the end it really doesn't matter. You like what you like. It is interesting how labels seem to go after the trends when they are having money problems. Look at Roadrunner Records, Earache and recently Century Media Records.

You can check out the rankings below per label. Coming soon, album quality per label.

metal label signings