Most of you 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.
COMBAT will relaunched 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.
In 2019, Ellefson and Hazaert’s Combat Records, released joint venture reissues of several classic Combat catalog titles with Century Media Records, including releases by Exodus, Possessed, and Dark Angel.