Heavy metal band Metallica acquired a majority interest in Furnace Record Pressing, which is based in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County.
The deal formalizes the long-standing relationship between Metallica and Furnace. Furnace, a 70,000-square-foot facility on Bren Mar Drive, has produced more than 5 million pieces of Metallica vinyl since 2014, including deluxe box editions of Kill ’Em All, Ride the Lightning, …And Justice For All, and Master of Puppets.
The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
While the ownership structure changes, Eric Astor, founder of Furnace, said, “Under the hood, everything stays the same: the same people, same spirit, same culture and the same never-ending quest to perfect our craft.”
Astor, Chief Operating Officer Ali Miller, and Vice President of Operations Mark Reiter will continue in their roles at Furnace. Each remains an equity owner and member of the board of directors.
“We couldn’t be more happy to take our partnership with Furnace — and Eric, Ali and Mark specifically — to the next level,” said Lars Ulrich, co-founder of Metallica, in a news release.
“Their indie spirit, the passion they have for their craft. … culturally we’re kindred souls,” said James Hetfield, co-founder of Metallica.
“Furnace has been great to Metallica and more importantly to our fans. This deepened relationship between Metallica and Furnace ensures that fans of vinyl everywhere, particularly our Fifth Members, will have continued access to high quality records in the future,” Hetfield said.
Metallica gained some new fans when the Netflix show Stranger Things featured the song “Master of Puppets” in its fourth season. The song is from the band’s third album of the same name.
“Knowing our long-term future is secured while also being better able to take advantage of growth opportunities is really exciting for every member of the Furnace staff,” said Astor.
Metallica’s next album, its 11th, will be pressed by Furnace and released on April 14.
Furnace, one of the largest record-pressing companies in the U.S., has 107 employees and has been in business since 1996. The company last year pressed 3.1 million vinyl records.
Feature image courtesy Metallica/Tim Saccenti
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