Combat Records was founded in 1983 and unleashed such legendary albums as Megadeth's Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good, Death's Scream Bloody Gore, Mercyful Fate's Don't Break The Oath, and tons more from the likes of Venom, Bathory, Possessed, Slayer, Nuclear Assault, Voivod, Celtic Frost, Kreator, and so many more.
Combat lasted until 1991 and was briefly brought back in 2005 under Koch Entertainment. You can look forward to the re-ressurection of Combat Records in 2018, which will be run by Megadeth's David Ellefson and will be an imprint of his own EMP Label Group. Combat is already promising "some releases from mind-blowing legendary artists that we are dying to announce," so we'll see what happens with that.
Combat has also announced it does not own the rights to any of the previous Combat Records releases, as those are all owned by Sony. So don't expect any re-releases or anything like that. Instead, Combat Records has announced new releases from Dead By Wednesday, Raven, and Wrath.
Here's the full statement on the label's return.
"So we have a huge announcement to make. And, for once, that is really, truly, an understatement. We have teased this for a while, but now the cat is officially coming out of the bag. Most of you will remember Combat Records as one of the seminal thrash labels of the 1980s, their most prominent artist being, of course, Megadeth (the COMBAT imprint appeared on all MEGADETH releases through RUST IN PEACE.) Combat was also home to Helstar, Circle Jerks, Exodus, Nuclear Assault, and many more of the most influential Metal and Punk bands of all time.
After a handful of ownership changes and weird attempted reboots, COMBAT went dormant in the early 2000s and ceased to exist. in 2016, David Ellefson, with his partner Thom Hazaert from EMP Label Group, did the due diligence to research and acquire the intellectual property and the COMBAT brand, and bring it home to the EMP family.
With the UTMOST respect to the legacy of the past, COMBAT will relaunch in 2018 as an imprint of EMP LABEL GROUP, releasing not only releases from classic Thrash and Metal artists, but as a home for new and up and coming artists as well. It is an honor and a privilege to resurrect one of the World’s most recognized and beloved Metal brands, that has been such an instrumental and important piece of David‘s history and legacy.
This is really only HALF the story, as we have secured some releases from mind-blowing legendary artists that we are dying to announce.. Look for a full press release coming later this week with more details, info on some releases, etc. But all things in good time. Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare for COMBAT."
