New Label Blacklight Media Signs Good Tiger

Chris Santos - executive chef and managing partner of the New York City restaurants Vandals, The Stanton Social and Beauty & Essex - together with Brian Slagel of Metal Blade Records, today announces the launch of Blacklight Media. Santos is a lifelong fan of hard rock and metal music and a longtime friend of Slagel's.

This new collaboration results in a a label focusing on hard rock and heavy metal. Blacklight Media's debut band, Good Tiger, will help launch the label while heading on tour this March.

Blacklight Media, a name created to expose talent that has been concealed and deserve the recognition of a larger audience, will work with high energy bands with a unique sound. Blacklight will release music that possesses an extensive amount of melody, mixed with heavy ebbs and flow to catch the attention of its listeners.

"Starting a label of my own is truly a dream come true," said Santos. "Music has always spoken to me in a visceral, instinctive way, and I'm hoping to curate a blend of hard rock and heavy metal that is unique in every way. Similar to my cooking, I hope the music our artists create will be engaging, well rounded, and sometimes whimsical."

Partnering with Santos in the project is metal industry heavyweight Brian Slagel, who founded Metal Blade Records in 1982. Notably, Metal Blade is credited for launching the careers of bands such as Metallica, Slayer, GWAR, Cannibal Corpse, and Amon Amarth, among others.

"Chris Santos has been a good friend of mine for quite some time and his taste in music, as in food, is tremendous. He has turned me onto four bands who eventually signed to Metal Blade - the whole Metal Blade family is so excited to be working with him on this new venture," said Brian Slagel.

The label's first signing, Good Tiger, will release "A Head Full of Moonlight" on CD and LP via Blacklight Media on April 22nd. Featuring former members of Tesseract, The Safety Fire, and Architects, Good Tiger previously released the album digitally.

In regards to the signing, Good Tiger's Derya "Dez" Nagle comments: "It's very exciting to be working with such a driven and forward-thinking group of people. Chris and the rest of the team behind Blacklight Media are simply amazing. To be involved with the label from the offset, and chosen as their first signing is humbling. As a band we set out to create energetic, fun and interesting music, and I think those same qualities are reflected in the team we are working with."