Seminal Metal Label NOISE RECORDS To Be Relaunched By BMG

April 14, 2016

According to Billboard.com, BMG will relaunch the seminal metal label Noise Records.

Noise was a German record label founded by well-known industry figure Karl Ulrich Walterbach. Walterbach had originally started Modern Music Records in Berlin, with a two-pronged approach of promoting German-speaking punk bands (SLIME, DAILY TERROR and TOXOPLASMA) and licensing American bands such as BLACK FLAG, MISFITS and THE ANGRY SAMOANS. From this base, he developed the Noise label in 1983, specializing in thrash metal bands such as KREATOR, TANKARD, CORONER and SABBAT but also successfully diverting into other genres such as power metal (HELLOWEEN),heavy metal (RUNNING WILD) and the extreme metal of CELTIC FROST. The label quickly became the leading European player in its field, with Hamburg-based HELLOWEEN topping charts around the world with their "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" album, while "Part 2" sold in excess of a million albums in the late eighties. During the early nineties, after signing directly to previous distributor EMI, the band became embroiled in a legal dispute with Noise, which was eventually and unequivocally settled in favor of the label. Noise also administrated a number of other imprints — Machinery was best known for its industrial and experimental acts, such as OOMPH! and CARBONATE, while T&T brought more melodic rock bands to the Noise roster and released albums by the likes of VIRGIN STEELE, STRATOVARIUS and ELEGY.

Noise was eventually acquired as part of the Modern Music Group by Sanctuary in 2001, before being purchased by BMG in 2013.

The Noise relaunch will begin with a reissue campaign starting in May. Planned releases include a series of best-of compilations and reissues from CELTIC FROST, HELLOWEEN and VOIVOD.

"The Noise label made an invaluable contribution to metal music as home to a long list of artists who helped define the genre as we know it today," said Peter Stack, BMG executive vice president global catalogue recordings, announcing the label's return. "I'm really excited about giving Noise's rich heritage a new lease of life in 2016 and beyond."

noisecomeback_638

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).