Holy shit. 'member back when Nuclear Blast was like four people? HOLY SHITAt Nuclear Blast Records, one of metal’s biggest independent labels, global retail sales rose last year to 2.53 million albums, up from 2.25 million in 2014 and 1.84 million in 2013. In the late 1990s and 2000s, Nuclear Blast made a bet on bands with a potential to sell well globally, such as Norway’s Dimmu Borgir and California veterans Exodus, says Gerardo Martinez, U.S. manager for Nuclear Blast. Since he joined the company in 2003, payroll has doubled to 200 employees in five offices including Germany and Brazil.
In December, Tengger Cavalry, a group formed in Beijing by musician and throat singer Nature Ganganbaigal that is now based in New York City, played a sold-out Christmas Eve show at Carnegie Hall.