Combat

About Combat

# Combat

Combat Records started in 1983 as an independent metal label in New York, founded by Relativity Records as its heavy metal imprint. At a time when major labels were still pretending thrash metal didn't exist, Combat became one of the primary outlets for extreme music in North America. They didn't invent the sound, but they documented it while it was still dangerous.

The label's early catalog reads like a who's-who of 1980s underground metal. They released Megadeth's debut demo, put out albums from Nuclear Assault, and gave North American distribution to European thrash acts that would have otherwise remained obscure imports. Their licensing deal with British label Music for Nations brought Voivod, Exodus, and early Death releases to American record stores. If you were a teenager in 1986 buying thrash records at an actual store, you owned Combat releases whether you knew it or not.

Combat's aesthetic was deliberately raw. The production values were often basement-level, the album art ranged from iconic to questionable, and nobody was trying to make these bands radio-friendly. This wasn't a bug, it was the entire point. They released Circle Jerks' "VI," Dark Angel's "Darkness Descends," and gave Possessed a platform for "Seven Churches," which pretty much invented death metal as a recognizable genre. The label understood that scrappy and aggressive was the appeal, not something to fix in post-production.

By the late 1980s, Combat had expanded beyond pure thrash into death metal, grindcore, and hardcore crossover. They put out early Agnostic Front records, released the first Agent Steel albums, and distributed Onslaught to American audiences. The label became synonymous with a particular era of tape trading, demo culture, and fans finding music through word of mouth rather than marketing departments.

The 1990s brought changes. Relativity Records was sold to Sony in 1987, and Combat's independence slowly eroded. The label that had thrived on outsider status was now corporate property. They continued releasing albums into the early 90s, but the moment had passed. As thrash went mainstream or underground depending on the band, Combat's reason for existing became less clear. Megadeth and Metallica were on major labels, death metal had its own infrastructure, and the scrappy independent spirit that defined Combat's early years didn't translate to the post-Nirvana music industry.

The Combat catalog got absorbed into various corporate entities over the years, reissued and licensed in the way old metal records tend to be. The label itself stopped operating as an active entity by the mid-1990s. What remains is a discography that captured a specific moment when extreme metal was still figuring itself out, before subgenres had Wikipedia pages and festival slots. Not a bad decade of work, all things considered.

Combat shows tend toward smaller venues where the crowd comes specifically for the music rather than the scene. The energy is tense and focused—people actually listen instead of talk through sets. You'll see heads nodding, occasional freestyle call-and-responses with the artist. Not a party atmosphere, more confrontational and serious.

Known for Combat, Street Life, Real Talk, No Surrender, Rise Up

See Combat Live