Where would heavy metal be without Metal Blades Records and its label founder, Brian Slagel. Would Metallica have even existed if not for Metal Blade? The band was famously formed when Lars wanted a slot on Slagel's Metal Massacre compilation.

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Point being, Brian Slagel has seen many metal fans come and go and has put out hundreds, if not thousands, of releases under the Metal Blade banner in the last 35+ years.

The fine folks at Louder Sound asked Slagel to pick the best releases in the label's history, and while I'm sure it wasn't an easy task for Slagel, here were his 11 picks, in no particular order:

Armored Saint – Symbol Of Salvation (1991)

Metal Massacre compilation (1982)

Fates Warning – The Spectre Within (1985)

Cirith Ungol – King Of The Dead (1984)

Amon Amarth – Twilight Of The Thunder God (2008)

New Wave Of British Heavy Metal ‘79 Revisited (1990)

Cannibal Corpse – Butchered At Birth (1991)

Witchkiller – Day Of The Saxons EP (1984)

Between The Buried And Me – Coma Ecliptic (2015)

Riot – Fire Down Under (1999)

For in-depth explainations on what each pick means to Brian, head over to Louder Sound.