Brian Slagel

Swing of the Blade follows Brian Slagel's critically acclaimed 2017 book, For the Sake of Heaviness, which delivered a compelling inside look at how a metal-obsessed California teen built Metal Blade Records into the preeminent international home of heavy music. Rabid readers demanded more anecdotes, more bands, and more of Slagel's musical wisdom. With Swing of the Blade, he delivers.

Metal Blade Records founder Brian Slagel and Merlin Alderslade from Metal Hammer return to rank Iron Maiden opening songs! They’ve got their Top 10 selected and count them down in a spirited debate that’s filled with great trivia about songwriting, recording, and concerts. Do any songs from the Blaze Bayley era make the cut? And how did the return of Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith affect their respective lists?

The story of Metal Blade Records is the story of Brian Slagel-a metal-obsessed Southern California kid who launched a fanzine and landed a record store job before cobbling together what he assumed would be a one-off compilation of fledgling bands from the L.A. scene. Released in 1982, the Metal Massacre LP included the debut recordings of local groups such as Steeler, Malice, Ratt, and Metallica.