Metal, Rated “XXX”: Roadrunner Marks Three-Decade-Plus Mark with Four-Disc Box Set

One of the top labels in straight-up rock and heavy metal, Roadrunner Records, will celebrate their more than 30 years in the business with a new box set, XXX: Three Decades of Roadrunner Records, in October.

From its inception in 1980, Roadrunner was often toward the forefront of metal, from traditional heavy and thrash metal in the 1980s and early 1990s to the fast-paced tracks and nu metal stylings of the late ’90s. Along the way, they’ve opened up their roster to all kinds of hard rock, serving as a solid home base for veterans and upstarts alike. Mercyful Fate, King Diamond, Type O Negative, Dream Theater, Megadeth, Slipknot, Nickelback, Korn, Rush, Porcupine Tree, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Dresden Dolls and Heaven & Hell (the late ’00s project by Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice – essentially, the Dio-led version of Black Sabbath) have all called Roadrunner home at one time or another.

And of these and more will be featured on this themed, 54-track box set, divided into four discs: Foundations, featuring early heavy metal cuts from the label’s early days; Horns Up, a summary of Roadrunner’s output in the late 1990s and early 2000s; And Metal for All, featuring recent metal releases (including the 2004 label supergroup Roadrunner United) and Rock for the Ages, featuring everything that rocked in between. XXX: Three Decades of Roadrunner Records will also feature liner notes from Decibel writer Chris Dick, including interviews and quotes with label founder Cees Wessels as well as King Diamond, Max Cavalera of Sepultura and Soulfly, Matt Heafy of Trivium and more.

XXX: Three Decades of Roadrunner Records will be available October 1. Hit the jump for the usual full track list and (so far, just an Amazon U.K.) pre-order links!

XXX: Three Decades of Roadrunner Records (Roadrunner, 2013)

Amazon U.K.

Disc 1: Foundations

1. Evil – Mercyful Fate
2. Power Thrashing Death – Whiplash
3. Abigail – King Diamond
4. Carnivore – Carnivore
5. Slowly We Rot – Obituary
6. Alison Hell – Annihilator
7. Sacrificial Suicide – Deicide
8. Infecting the Crypts – Suffocation
9. Punishment – Biohazard
10. Christian Woman – Type O Negative
11. Matando Güeros – Brujeria
12. Veil of Maya – Cynic
13. Through and Through – Life of Agony
14. Excess and Overdrive – Treponem Pal

Disc 2: Horns Up

1. Wasting Away – Nailbomb
2. Imperium – Machine Head
3. No Fronts (Jam Master Jay’s Main Edit) – Dog Eat Dog
4. Crystal Mountain – Death
5. Roots Bloody Roots – Sepultura
6. Loco – Coal Chamber
7. Eye for An Eye – Soulfly
8. Shock – Fear Factory
9. Spit It Out – Slipknot
10. New Disease – Spineshank
11. Pure Hatred – Chimaira
12. Bloodwoork – 36 Crazyfists
13. What Comes Around – Ill Niño

Disc 3: And Metal for All

1. My Last Serenade – Killswitch Engage
2. Pull Harder on the Strngs of Your Martyr – Trivium
3. I Could Care Less – DevilDriver
4. Nymphetamine Fix – Cradle of Filth
5. Destroy Everything – Hatebreed
6. Inflikted – Cavalera Conspiracy
7. The Dagger – Roadrunner United
8. Fear of a Blank Planet – Porcupine Tree
9. On the Backs of Angels – Dream Theater
10. Heir Apparent – Opeth
11. Head Crusher – Megadeth
12. Witchtripper – Down
13. Bible Black – Heaven & Hell
14. L’enfant Sauvage – Gojira

Disc 4: Rock for the Ages

1. Side of a Bullet – Nickelback
2. Anger Rising – Jerry Cantrell
3. 30/30-150 – Stone Sour
4. Ma Petite Mort – Karma to Burn
5. Pretty Lush – Glassjaw
6. Girl Anachronism – The Dresden Dolls
7. No One Fits Me (Better Than You) – Airbourne
8. Dead in Hollywood – Murderdolls
9. Bad Girlfriend – Theory of a Deadman
10. Lonely Train – Black Stone Cherry
11. Get Up! – Korn feat. Skrillex
12. Headlong Fight – Rush
13. Still Unbroken – Lynyrd Skynyrd