Metallica has bought the controlling interest in Furnace Record Pressing, an Alexandria-based company the Grammy-winning heavy metal band has worked with for about 15 years.

Citing demand for their vinyl records, Metallica bought into the company to “better serve the needs of any and all vinyl lovers in the Metallica family,” the band wrote in a joint statement with the company. The announcement came as Metallica gears up to release a new album, 72 Seasons, on April 14.

“[Furnace’s] indie spirit, the passion they have for their craft… culturally we’re kindred souls,” lead vocalist and Metallica co-founder James Hetfield said in the statement.

CEO Eric Astor started Furnace in 1996, packaging CDs and DVDs out of his basement in Falls Church. In 2015, Astor purchased $2 million worth of vinyl pressing equipment from a plastics business owner — an adventure that involved machetes and trips to Mexico City, according to a story on WAMU’s old music blog, Bandwidth. Before that, Furnace imported vinyl records from European pressing plants before handling packaging and shipping from Northern Virginia.

In 2018, Astor and his crew moved into their current 70,000-square-foot pressing facility in Alexandria, near Springfield. Today, with over 100 employees, Furnace is one of the largest pressing plants in the U.S.

Their 14 presses produce more than 25,000 records daily — including vinyl for the iconic D.C.-based punk label Dischord Records, Astor told DCist/WAMU in an email. Astor even joined the Kojo Nnamdi Show in 2015 to talk about the revival of vinyl.

Furnace has produced or been involved with the production of more than five million Metallica vinyl pieces since 2014, including some of their biggest hits: Kill ‘Em All, Ride the Lightning, and Master Of Puppets. Metallica has worked with Furnace in some capacity since 2008, when the company had a hand in the pressing and distribution of Metallica’s “Black Album.”

Metallica has been among the highest-selling artists for vinyl records, pressing over 900,000 records last year alone, according to Billboard. The San Francisco-based band took ownership of its master recordings a decade ago, started its own label (Blackened Recordings), and has continuously supplied dedicated fans with vinyl sets, even amid supply-chain issues and delays, per Billboard.

“While the ownership structure is changing, 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 said in a statement.

Under the new model, Astor, Chief Operating Officer Ali Miller, and Vice President of Operations Mark Reiter will continue in their roles and maintain equity ownership of Furnace. The company will also continue pressing vinyl projects for other bands, according to Billboard.

“They want to keep the quality and service the whole industry,” Astor told the outlet. “It will give us the opportunity to invest more.”