In 1981, Karl-Ulrich Walterbach founded the
independent record company Modern Music Records GmbH in
Berlin, Germany. In the first years of activity, the label division called Aggressive Rock Produktionen (AGR) published only
punk German-speaking groups (
Slime, Daily Terror, Toxoplasma, compilation series like "Soundtracks zum Untergang") and American punk bands (
Black Flag with
Henry Rollins,
Hüsker Dü,
Misfits,
Angry Samoans, etc.). In 1983, Walterbach was working closely with Black Flag and the American label
SST and was also in contact with
American West Coast underground metal bands such as
Saint Vitus. From this nucleus he developed the label Noise Records, which was in 1984 the first specialized outlet for European
thrash metal bands such as
Kreator,
Tankard,
Sabbat and
Coroner, but released also the works of bands with other metal styles, such as
Helloween,
Running Wild,
Celtic Frost,
Grave Digger,
Voivod, and
Rage. and settled out of court after a two-year legal battle. The settlement cost Helloween a seven-digit figure. The other result of the legal battle was that Helloween stopped releasing albums and touring for two years and then went their own way. With a stylistic change towards
glam metal in
Pink Bubbles Go Ape their sales declined to 25% of their Noise Records heights and resulted in EMI dropping the band after just two studio albums.
Machinery Records (or simply Machinery) was a record label founded by Jor Jenka and Anna Rosen in 1989 and also based in Berlin, Germany. The label was best known for releasing
industrial and
experimental acts, several of which (such as
Oomph! and
Cubanate) went on to achieve later success. The label's heyday was the early 1990s when it was considered one of the most important labels for
EBM and
electro-industrial music. In 1991, Machinery came under the Noise Records banner, as part of the Modern Music Records group. By the end of the 1990s Machinery was releasing less music, with many of the original acts instead releasing on the
Dynamica sub-label. When Modern Music was acquired by the
Sanctuary Records Group in 2001, the Machinery imprint was finally dropped. The imprint
T&T Records was born in 1993, as a subsidiary of Noise Records and brought to the roster more melodic heavy metal bands (
Virgin Steele,
Stratovarius,
Elegy, etc.), while the cooperation with the Berlin label
Hellhound Records in 1994 introduced Noise in the
doom metal scene. The productions of Noise Records were sold or licensed through a worldwide distribution in about 42 countries. In the United States and the United Kingdom the label had its own offices. Noise Records was sold together with the whole Modern Music Group to the English
Sanctuary Records Group in 2001. After the acquisition by
Universal Music Group in August 2007, Sanctuary Records was closed as an independent label. This at the same time meant the end of Noise Records. An unofficial biography on Noise Records entitled
Damn the Machine – The Story of Noise Records, was released in 2017. The book was authored by American metal journalist David E. Gehlke, who received full cooperation from Walterbach and the Noise Records roster. == Future ==