Wikipedia

Metal Injection

For the metalworking process, see Metal injection molding.

Metal Injection is an American online music publication focusing on hard rock and heavy metal. It was founded in 2003 by Frank Godla and Robert Pasbani in Brooklyn, and officially launched on January 1, 2004. It was initially established as a public-access TV show, but quickly transitioned to online video interviews and content. Since 2022, the site has been owned by The Orchard, a subsidary of Sony Music.[1]

Metal Injection
Type of site
Online music magazine
Music, news and media
Available inEnglish, Italian, French, Russian, Spanish
Founded2003; 21 years ago (2003)
Country of originUnited States
OwnerThe Orchard
Founder(s)
  • Frank Godla
  • Robert Pasbani
EditorGreg Kennelty
CEOFrank Godla
URLmetalinjection.net
CommercialYes
RegistrationNo
LaunchedJanuary 1, 2004; 20 years ago (2004-01-01)

History

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2003–2005: Formation and launch

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Metal Injection was established in the summer of 2003 by Frank Godla and Robert Pasbani in Brooklyn, New York.[2][3] Godla first became immersed in heavy metal culture through his father's record collection and decided he "[wanted] to be a part of it" after seeing Guns 'N' Roses perform on their Use Your Ilusion Tour in 1991.[4] Pasbani got into rock music through watching wrestling, and majored in TV & Radio production.[3] Both had known each other in high school but did not reconnect until many years later, when Pasbani accompnied a friend to a job interview at a telecommunications company Godla worked at.[2] Pasbani later approached Godla with the idea of establishing a public access TV show focusing on heavy metal, and the two formed a partnership.[2][3] Pasbani came up with the name Metal Injection.[2] "I just tried to come up with a name that had the term 'metal' in it and sounded cool, and including 'Injection' evoked so much imagery that I thought it would be perfect."[2]

Metal Injection was officially launched on January 1, 2004.[2] Godla and Pasbani launched the site DIY-style, with no startup capital; the former initially promoted the site by handing out flyers outside of shows.[4] The TV show originally aired on Saturdays at 3:00 am, whilst its website was originally a news site.[3] The programme featured music videos, live footage from VHS tapes, and some skits between videos.[3] Godla said that he "borrowed my mom's Hi-8 camera, made some trade deals to get a few things along the way, and slowly bought everything else needed to be a self-sufficient TV studio on the cheapest budget ever."[4] A few weeks after its launch, Godla and Pasbani decided to move the Metal Injection show online and began uploading the full 30-minute episodes to the website after realising its "reach on the Internet was far greater than a local public access channel", according to Pasbani.[3] Metal Injection soon stopped publishing episodes and began focusing on uploading clips instead.[3] Running the site online proved to be expensive in its early stages due to the high cost of renting servers at the time.[4]

2006–2021: Continued growth and expansion

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In August 2006, Metal Injection launched the first-ever 24-hour "broadband network for extreme music", Overdose.[5] In January 2007, over 30 hours of archival footage was uploaded to Metal Injection "Video Vault" for a limited time.[6] In April 2008, the site was relaunched featuring a new forum and gallery, alongside the ability for users to upload their own videos onto the site.[7][8] The site's user community was affectionately known as "junkies".[3] In 2010, six years after its launch, Metal Injection finally became a profitable operation, allowing Godla and Pasbani to quit their daytime jobs to focus solely on running the website.[3][4] By 2012, the site had developed its own 24 hour radio network, Metalinjection.fm,[9] and expanded into audio podcasts (such as the weekly Metal Injection Livecast) and had an iPhone application.[2][3]

In 2008, Metal Injection launched the New England Metal Fest TV series to provide coverage of the 2008 New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. In 2012, Metal Injection partnered with fellow heavy metal blog MetalSucks to hold a CMJ showcase featuring Pig Destroyer, KEN Mode, Early Graves, and Encrust.[10] From April 2012 until May 2015, Metal Injection produced the On the Record series, which focused on the impact of the internet on heavy metal music and culture.[11][12][13] In May 2016, the site launched the "Taste of Metal" series with chef Brian Tsao, in which featured artists prepared meals inspired by their music.[14] In 2017, Metal Injection partnered with MetalSucks to launch the advertising network Blast Beat Network.[15][16]

Between 2020 and 2021, Frank Godla organized the monthly Slay at Home "virtual music and art festival" series amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.[17][18] The first edition of the festival took place between May 29 and 30, 2020, and was livestreamed on the Metal Injection YouTube channel.[18][19] A second edition of Slay at Home was held in December 2020, and its third and final took place in June 2021.[20]

2022–present: The Orchard acquisition

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In early 2022, Metal Injection, MetalSucks and Blast Beat Network were acquired by The Orchard, a subsidary of Sony Music.[1][21] As a result of the acquisition, Godla became the overseer of both Metal Injection and MetalSucks, and Pasbani and MetalSucks co-founders Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenburg all moved on from their sites.[22]

In 2023, Metal Injection held the first-ever Metal Injection Festival, which took place between September 16–17, 2023, at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California.[23] A second edition of the festival will take place in September 2024, headlined by Jinjer and Converge.[24]

In June 2024, Metal Injection launched their own Pilsner brand, Neck Breaker, in collaboration with Thin Man Brewery.[25]

Recognition

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In 2012, Metal Injection won the "Beyond the Blog" award at the MTV O Music Awards.[26] LA Weekly listed it as one of the ten best "Online Resources for Metal Knowledge" in 2013.[27]

Staff

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As of 2024, the staff of Metal Injection consists of the following personnel:[28]

References

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  1. ^ a b Thrashnkill, Joe (February 16, 2022). "Toilet Radio 355 – Now Owned By The Orchard Entertainment Group". The Toilet Ov Hell. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Islander (May 3, 2012). "Keyboard Video Warriors: Robert Pasbani and Frank Godla". No Clean Singing. Archived from the original on May 6, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ramirez, Carlos (March 2, 2012). "MetalInjection Co-Founder, Sirius XM DJ Robert Pasbani: Noisecreep Interview". Noisecreep. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e Friedman, Michael (August 16, 2016). "How Frank Godla Has Injected Heavy-Metal Music Into Our Lives". Hardcore Humanism. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  5. ^ Blabbermouth (August 14, 2006). "'Metal Injection' Launches First Extreme Music On-Demand Broadband Network". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  6. ^ BraveWords (January 8, 2007). "Metal Injection Uploads Video Vault With Over 30 Hours Of Footage". bravewords.com. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  7. ^ MetalSucks (April 25, 2008). "Metal Injection: Now With 110% More Awesome". MetalSucks. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  8. ^ BraveWords (April 29, 2008). "Metal Injection Launches New Website Focusing On Community Features". bravewords.com. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  9. ^ Neilstein, Vince (August 23, 2012). "Metal Injection Launches 24/7 Streaming Radio". MetalSucks. Archived from the original on June 6, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  10. ^ BrooklynVegan Staff (September 5, 2012). "Pig Destroyer, KEN Mode, Early Graves, and Encrust confirmed for CMJ". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on November 29, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  11. ^ MetalSucks (March 28, 2012). "Metal Injection Captures the Metal Industry "On the Record" in New Video Series". MetalSucks. Archived from the original on August 12, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  12. ^ Keene, Jamie (April 2, 2012). "'On The Record': how the internet changed heavy metal". The Verge. Archived from the original on February 25, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  13. ^ Shotwell, James (May 21, 2015). "MUST WATCH: Season Finale of Metal Injection's On the Record Explores Record Labels Versus DIY Culture". Haulix Daily. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  14. ^ jpdeuce73 (May 4, 2016). "Metal Injection Launches "Taste of Metal" Series With Chef Brian Tsao — Watch". I'm Music Magazine. Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved June 26, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Bellino, Emily (January 9, 2017). "Blast Beat Network Offers Unsigned Band Promopalooza". Decibel Magazine. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  16. ^ Olsen, Hanna Brooks (September 3, 2014). "How the Co-Founder of MetalSucks Made His Dream Into His Day Job". CreativeLive Blog. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  17. ^ Staff, NextMosh (December 16, 2020). "'Slay at Home' announces December 2020 edition". NextMosh. Archived from the original on September 24, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  18. ^ a b Bellino, Emily (May 29, 2020). "Interview: Slay at Home Festival Organizers Discusses Planning, Livestreams and Collaborations". Decibel Magazine. Archived from the original on May 28, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  19. ^ Skinner, Tom (May 27, 2020). "Trivium, Megadeth and Stone Sour for virtual metal festival Slay At Home". NME. Archived from the original on May 27, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  20. ^ Neilstein, Vince (May 28, 2021). "Final 'Slay at Home' Streaming Festival Lineup Announced". MetalSucks. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  21. ^ Robb Flynn (February 18, 2022). "Frank Godla (Metal Injection Website)". No F'n Regrets (Podcast). YouTube. Event occurs at 31:30. Archived from the original on June 25, 2024. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  22. ^ Robb Flynn (February 18, 2022). "Frank Godla (Metal Injection Website)". No F'n Regrets (Podcast). YouTube. Event occurs at 31:58. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  23. ^ Moore, Theron (June 19, 2023). "News: Metal Injection Announces Festival In September". New Noise Magazine. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  24. ^ "Jinjer and Converge to Second Annual Metal Injection Festival". Knotfest. May 15, 2024. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  25. ^ Keenan, Hesher (June 4, 2024). "Our Friends Over at Metal Injection Now Have a Beer You Can Buy". MetalSucks. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  26. ^ Benjamin, Jeff (June 29, 2012). "MTV O Music Awards: Recapping 23 Awards In 24 Hours As The Flaming Lips Break A World Record". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 15, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  27. ^ Roche, Jason (March 21, 2013). "Our Top Ten Online Resources for Metal Knowledge". LA Weekly. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  28. ^ "Contact Us". Metal Injection. Archived from the original on June 1, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
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