30 Years of Roadrunner: Lamb of God

2010 marks the 30th anniversary of Roadrunner Records, and as we close out the year in celebration, we're looking back on the last three decades with a little help from our friends.

But first, a quick history lesson: Founded in 1980 in Holland as a label licensing American metal bands in Europe, it wasn't until 1986 that Roadrunner opened an office in New York City and began to put out records locally. The first US signing was King Diamond, followed by Carnivore and Whiplash, thus sparking the new initiative: finding and cultivating burgeoning bands.  

From there, acts like Pestilence, Annihilator, Obituary, Deicide and Sepultura got their start, and by the 90s, Roadrunner was expanding along with the state of metal music into many different directions. In 1993, Type O Negative's Bloody Kisses marked our first gold record, while Machine Head,  Fear Factory and Coal Chamber also garnered gold status before the decade was out.

The advent of Slipknot, Nickelback and Killswitch Engage at the turn of the millenium saw ventures into Platinum certification, and solidified Roadrunner's status as an undeniable force in the rock and metal worlds that's still continuing today.

Following on from our artists before him -- Soulfly/Cavalera Conspiracy's Max Cavalera, Machine Head's Phil Demmel, Slipknot/ Murderdolls' Joey Jordison, Killswitch Engage's Mike D'Antonio, Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt, DevilDriver's Dez Fafara, Trivium's Matt Heafy, Airbourne's Joel O'Keeffe and Grand Magus' JB, we're turning it over to Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler to help us recount the past by answering some quick questions survey-style.

See what he had to say below, and simply click the names above to see what our other artists had to say about 30 years of Roadrunner.

In 30 years you will be…

I'm looking forward to staying as active as possible in heavy music. Sooner or later my body might give out, but I'll never stop listening and loving it. If I can do that from a beach somewhere, no complaints!

 

Best music moments of the last 30 years?

Starting at 1980 huh....wow. Well we've all seen the rise of heavy metal as we know it today in that time. That's pretty huge for me. The death of rap-metal was a real good move, too.

 

Highlight of your career thus far

Touring the world has been great and we've been very fortunate to have such a long career. The awards, plaques and nominations are all very nice to have as well, but for me I think the highlight has been showing my mom all the magazines we make it in to. She's very proud and very supportive and it always makes her smile.

 

Crappiest moment in music in the last 30 years

Two words, Fred Durst. Also, I've never been a fan of country music, but I've noticed how it has become very pop oriented. I'm sure that drives real country artists nuts, because most of that shit sucks.

 

Album from your generation that will be legendary in 30 years?

Radiohead OK Computer, Refused Shape of Punk to Come, Meshuggah Destroy Erase Improve

 

Roadrunner classic album.

Death Symbolic.  What makes it a classic? This album changed what I thought was possible within heavy music. All the stars aligned for Chuck on this record and it continues to blow me away. I hope someday, when I grow up, I can make an album like this.

Though Lamb of God are not part of the Roadrunner family in the US, they are on the label overseas. 

Source: http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/news/story.aspx?newsitemID=22595

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