Seminal Noise Records Announces First Releases As Part Of Label Reissue campaign
22nd March 2016Seminal Noise Records
Announces First Releases As Part Of Label Reissue campaign
8 Best Of CDS / Digital
Label Sampler
6th May 2016
Kreator Love Us Or Hate Us (The Very Best Of The Noise Years 1985-1992) 2CD
Helloween Ride The Sky (The Very Best Of 1985-1998) 2CD
Kamelot Where I Reign (The Very Best Of The Noise Years 1995-2003) 2CD
Sinner No Place Like Heaven (The Very Best Of the Noise Years 1984-1987) 2CD
Running Wild Riding The Storm (The Very Best Of The Noise Years 1983-1995) 2CD
Tankard Oldies & Goldies (The Very Best OF the Noise Years 1986-1995) 2CD
Skyclad A Bellyful Of Emptiness (The Very Best Of The Noise Years 1991 – 1995)
Grave Digger Let Your Heads Roll (The Very Best Of The Noise Years 1984-1987) 2CD
Various Noise Album Sampler 1CD
The creation of Karl-Ulrich Walterbach, Noise Records’ origins lay in the late 70s/early 80s West Berlin punk rock scene. Due to the influence of Los Angeles hardcore punk masters Black Flag, Walterbach would gradually turn his interests from punk to metal, forming Noise Records in 1983 as the European response to the likes of Metallica and Slayer. From there, the label would enjoy an unprecedented signing streak of bands who would play a significant role in defining underground metal as we know today.
Noise’s early releases – including the seminal 1984 Death Metal compilation – would lay the groundwork for future European metal mainstays such as Grave Digger, Hellhammer (who became Celtic Frost), Helloween, Kreator, Running Wild, and Tankard. These acts would become Noise’s bedrock outfits, leading the charge in heavy metal innovation via death metal (Celtic Frost), power metal (Helloween), and thrash metal (Kreator). The label’s roster was filled with variety.
But it was the success of Helloween that propelled Noise to the next level. The band’s twin Keeper of the Seven Keys albums (Part I and II) were milestones for the genre. Guided by the stratospheric vocals of Michael Kiske, Helloween’s epic, strident, and symphonic numbers were in a league by themselves circa the late-80s. And with hit songs such as “Future World” and “I Want Out” leading the way, Helloween became the first Noise outfit to reach seven-digit figures in album sales.
As the Berlin Wall fell in late 1989, the music scene and political landscape underwent radical changes. By then, Noise’s worldwide distribution setup covered 43 countries, boasting a highly-profitable back catalog and lasting viability in territories like Japan, ensuring the label’s survival as the genre of metal struggled with diminishing sales and negative public perception. Bands such as Kai Hansen’s Gamma Ray, British folk innovators Skyclad, Floridian melodic metal upstarts Kamelot, and Finland’s Stratovarius carried Noise throughout the turbulent 90s, allowing the label to remain vital, even as newer, more “alternative” forms of rock became popular.
Not wanting to contend with the oncoming digital revolution, Walterbach sold Noise to Sanctuary Music in 2001. Sanctuary would steer Noise for the next six years, helping launch the career of multi-national power metal sensation Dragonforce, until it was sold to Universal Music in 2007. Noise’s catalog has laid dormant ever since…
…until now.
BMG purchased Noise’s holding company Sanctuary records from Universal Music in 2013, and will re-launch Noise Records in 2016. 6th May 2016 sees eight 2CD Best Of’s from the legendary Kreator, Helloween, Kamelot, Sinner, Running Wild, Tankard, Skyclad and Grave Digger. Full Tracklistings are available here http://bit.ly/1p8c2rD
There will also be a 1CD eight track Noise Album Sampler. Tracklisting below
Helloween – “Dr Stein”
Kreator – “Betrayer”
Tankard – “Space Beer”
Running Wild – “Conquistadors”
Skyclad – “Thinking Allowed”
Grave Digger – “Heavy Metal Breakdown”
Kamelot – “We Are Not Separate”
Sinner – “Born To Rock”
The campaign will see the reissuing of classic titles from Celtic Frost, Helloween, Kreator, Running Wild, Tankard, Voivod, and more, featuring expanded liner notes, rare bonus material, and a fresh mastering job.
