Nuclear Blast Records has announced the signing of British punk-legends THE EXPLOITED. Founded in 1980 in East Kilbride, Scotland by Wattie Buchan, the band has now signed a worldwide contract with the label.

Wattie states: “At last, after giving my word four years ago that we would sign to Nuclear Blast, it’s now official! For us it's a big deal to be signing to the biggest indie record company in Europe. One of the main reasons we signed to them is the fact that Marcus, the owner, is a big Exploited fan and I know he will give us 100% backing to make the next album as great as the last ones. PS - It WILL be this year sometime!!!!!Punks Not Dead.”

Nuclear Blast owner Markus Staiger adds: "Having The Exploited sign a deal is a longtime dream coming true. In my youth I listened to hardcore and pPunk almost exclusively and The Exploited have been one of my absolute favorites ever since. Records like Punks Not Dead, Troops Of Tomorrow and later on also Beat The Bastards and Fuck The System have been on heavy rotation constantly. The shows of this band have always been and still are a very special experience. Honest, hard and snotty – just like punk should be. A true highlight for me of course was their performance at the Nuclear Blast HQs on my birthday in 2013. After that the deal has been set via handshakes and we’ve been celebrating till the break of dawn! Welcome to Nuclear Blast guys, punks not dead!!”

The recordings for the new album are expected to take place this spring, so the release will be in fall 2014.