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Century Media - Band updates


Some news from Century Media - Shadows Fall, Children of Bodom, The Haunted, Arch Enemy, Lacuna Coil, God Forbid, Diecast:

SHADOWS FALL - www.shadowsfallrocks.com

In its first week of release, the new SHADOWS FALL album, The War Within , SoundScanned an impressive 39,251 copies, debuting at #20 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart. The disc also checked in at #1 on the Nielsen SoundScan Independent Labels Chart and #2 on the Nielsen SoundScan Hard Music Chart (behind Chevelle). This is the highest first-week SoundScan and Billboard chart debut of any Century Family artist to date. SHADOWS FALL's first week numbers also surpass those of Atreyu, Killswitch Engage and Lamb of God, a further notable testament of the band's genre status. The group is featured on the cover of Revolver's November issue, which is currently on stands.

This accomplishment comes after almost a decade of relentless touring, four studio albums and an undying work ethic. After touring the world with the likes of Hatebreed, Kittie, Mushroomhead, Children of Bodom and The Dillinger Escape Plan, the band were invited to take part in Ozzfest 2003. They were heralded as the breakout band of the year and consistently sold more records every week than any other sidestage band. This led to being the only band invited for a two-year stint at Japan's Beast Feast, the 4th annual Take Action Tour (alongside Avenged Sevenfold and Poison The Well) and then co-headlining the first annual MTV2 Headbanger's Ball Tour with Killswitch Engage and Lamb of God. Videos for the tracks "Thoughts Without Words," "Destroyer of Senses" and "The Idiot Box" were greatly embraced by U.S. television programs Headbanger's Ball on MTV2 and Uranium on Fuse; two shows where the band appeared as guests several times. All of this exposure enabled SHADOWS FALL to watch both their fanbase and record sales explode. Their previous album, The Art of Balance, went on to SoundScan over 100,000 copies in the U.S. becoming the first album in Century Media history to reach this illustrious milestone.

SHADOWS FALL's stunning new offering was produced once again by Zeuss (Hatebreed) at Planet Z Studios and features 10 tracks of sonic devastation. The first pressing of the disc is limited to 150,000 embossed Digipak copies and is packaged with a bonus DVD, featuring a video for "Stepping Outside the Circle" from The Art of Balance , two live videos, guitar lessons with Matt Bachand and Jon Donais, a drum lesson with Jason Bittner and a Century Media sampler.

SHADOWS FALL will also embark on a massive co-headlining U.S. tour alongside Damageplan and The Haunted, which kicks off on October 27th. Click here for dates.

"SHADOWS FALL are the leaders of the thrash metal renaissance."
-- CMJ New Music Monthly

"[SHADOWS FALL] ? have crafted the perfect metal album."-- Revolver


THE HAUNTED - www.the-haunted.com

Four albums into the band's stellar career, THE HAUNTED return with their most savage assault, proving that there truly is no compromise. Their new disc, rEVOLVEr , featuring the long-anticipated return of original vocalist Peter Dolving, is also the group's most dynamic offering to date. The group also features primary songwriter/guitarist Anders Björler and bassist Jonas Björler both ex-members of the legendary At The Gates. The innovators of Swedish thrash metal have returned, and they are ready to lay waste to anything that stands in their way.

THE HAUNTED makes their triumphant return to the U.S. alongside Damageplan and Shadows Fall on October 27th . Look for their new video "All Against All" shot by acclaimed director Roger Johansson (Arch Enemy, In Flames) to debut on Headbangers Ball and Uranium later this month.

Click below to hear "All Against All" and be sure to pick up rEVOLVEr on October 19th .
http://mp4.centurymedia.com/audio/5.ram


ARCH ENEMY - www.archenemy.net

Swedish extreme metal titans ARCH ENEMY continue their worldwide rebellion this fall on MTV2's Headbangers Ball Tour alongside Cradle of Filth, Bleeding Through and Himsa. The group will be releasing the Dead Eyes See No Future EP in the U.S. on November 2nd , which features the following tracklisting:

Dead Eyes See No Future (studio version)
Burning Angel (Live in Paris 2004)
We Will Rise (Live in Paris 2004)
Heart of Darkness (Live in Paris 2004)
Symphony Of Destruction (Megadeth cover)
Kill With Power (Manowar cover)
Incarnated Solvent Abuse (Carcass cover).
We Will Rise (Enhanced video clip)

Mike Amott (guitars) further describes the group's excitement over their new EP and upcoming tour, "Well - finally! Back to the U.S. again! After some of the problems we had earlier this year in America, it's a relief to know we'll be back again before the end of the year to shred it up for all you maniacs one more time! It'll be a real blast coming out with Cradle of Filth, not only will it give us a chance to play to a slightly different audience, but it'll also be like a family outing for the drumming brothers Adrian (CoF drummer) and our very own Daniel. Obviously Daniel's going to enjoy showing Adrian how it's really done every night - we'll see!! We're also pleased to get a chance to get back to Canada again - we had such a great response last time we played there with Iron Maiden, we wanna see if they still remember us."

The decision to make this EP started to come about after we played a particularly intense, sold- out show at the Elysee Montmartre in Paris this past April, which we were taping. Most of the recording came out sounding great, so we thought we should give you guys the chance to own a slice of prime live Enemy, especially for all the people who haven't seen us play yet! The inimitable Andy Sneap was on hand to do the actual live recording, and he also mixed the whole thing at his studio (where we did all the sessions for "Anthems..."). The cover songs on the EP - we had a real blast working out our take on these classic metal tunes, especially the Carcass song... I was expecting to find it kind of strange to play it with the AE guys, but I have to say they made an amazing job of it - in my not-so-humble opinion! Being a huge fan of Megadeth, I must admit it's a tough task to better the original there?we just did a very, very heavy version of the song. The Manowar track turned out unexpectedly brutal, this was always a favourite song of mine from my early "heavy metal daze"! I love the speed and intensity of this song - it sounds very ARCH ENEMY with lots of guitar shredding! So a fairly spur-of-the-moment idea actually turned into something good enough to let you guys get your teeth into it so enjoy."

ARCH ENEMY will be featured guests on Headbangers Ball on November 6th and will premiere their new video for "Dead Eyes See No Future" on the same episode.


CHILDREN OF BODOM - www.cobhc.com

The Finnish melodic thrash titans CHILDREN OF BODOM will embark on a national U.S. tour alongside Fear Factory, Lamb of God and Throwdown this month. This will be the quintet's third U.S. tour in support of their highly acclaimed new album, Hate Crew Deathroll , released in September of 2003. This trek will also see the band performing a stunning 45-minute set for the first time in the U.S. and it will be their last tour until the release of their next album. The track "Needled 24/7" will also be featured on the upcoming Headbangers Ball CD released this month.

Henkka T. Blacksmith (bass) further describes the band's excitement over the upcoming tour, " So CHILDREN OF BODOM will return to the U.S. very soon. We have done a lot of shows over there lately, but we decided to do this tour because it's a very interesting package. We are looking forward to playing with all three bands, and it's going to be an extremely heavy tour. It is very cool for us that we can be part of this package, and we hope to see all the COB fans there too. I am really looking forward to it."

Alexi Laiho (vocals, guitars) is also going to be featured on Guitar World's inaugural CD-ROM insert featured in November's issue, which is currently on stands. Fans will be able to watch him run through various tracks step by step and see his technique in vivid detail.

The group will also be featured guests on Headbangers Ball on October 16th and talk about the tour and what their plans are for next year.


DIECAST - www.bhcdiecast.com

Boston-based quintet DIECAST just shot a video for "Medieval" with acclaimed director Dale Resteghini (Fear Factory, Hatebreed). The track comes off of the band's highly anticipated new album, Tearing Down Your Blue Skies , set for an October 19th release. Jeremy Wooden (bass) checks in with the following band update; "DIECAST just had a very busy weekend. First I'd like to thank Mike Hsu and WAAF for the interview on Harder Faster on Thursday night. On Friday, we shot our first video for our single "Medieval". I'd like to thank Scott Lee for being so cooperative and allowing us to use Fat Cat's if we had needed it. At the last minute we were able to end up shooting the video at Fort Revere in Hull, which was amazing. We were expecting a few cameras and a couple of people for the video. What we got were 4 box trucks full of equipment and a 15 person video crew. Dale and his crew were some of the best people we've ever met. We had cameras on mini railroad tracks, lighting, fog machines, guns, hookers and fire-trucks. For a minute I thought I was playing bass for Britney Spears...it was awesome. I'd like to thank all of our friends we haven't seen in a long time for coming out to be in the video. We even had a surprise guest appearance by the almighty hoods in the video.

On Saturday night we played a hometown show at Club Liquid, which is about a mile from my house. The club took great care of us and the show went well minus the fight that happened and some asshole owes me $150.00 for putting their foot through my bass case. We topped it off on Sunday at WAAF sponsored Locobazooka. Unfortunately, for us and Candiria we went on after Damageplan who closed their set with "Walk" by Pantera. That was a tough act to follow but Candiria ripped it up, brought all the kids running back over and the crowd gave us an amazing reaction. Kids were singing our new stuff all the way to the back of the crowd, which was amazing to us. I'd also like to thank our manager Mike Crowley and his buddy Kevin for helping out all weekend. Last but not least we finally got scrims and a banner, which almost made me cry tears of joy. Thanks everyone for a great weekend and we'll see you soon.

DIECAST will also embark on a string of headlining west-coast dates in early November. It has been over two years since the band hit this area and these shows are not to be missed. Their new album, Tearing Down Your Blue Skies , is set for an October 19th release.

10/15 The Edge- Augusta, ME (Record Release Show)
10/16 Downtime- New York, NY (CMJ Showcase)
10/17 The Bomb Shelter- Manchester, NH
10/31 The Kave- Bucksport, ME (Halloween Party)
11/04 The Whisky- West Hollywood, CA w/ All Shall Perish
11/05 Big Game- Fresno, CA
11/06 Chain Reaction - Anaheim, CA w/Cattle Decapitation, Black Dahlia Murder

Click here for MP3's of the tracks "Fire Damage" and "Medieval"

http://mp4.centurymedia.com/audio/diecast_firedamage.mp3
http://mp4.centurymedia.com/audio/diecast_medieval.mp3


GOD FORBID - www.godforbid1.com

New Jersey metal titans GOD FORBID just completed a brief headlining tour with support from A Life Once Lost, Norma Jean and Throwdown. All of these shows were filmed for a live video for the album's title track, "Gone Forever," by acclaimed director Zach Merck (Atreyu, Shadows Fall). These dates served as the last GOD FORBID shows in the U.S. this year as they will immediately head to Europe with Machine Head to close out 2004 with nine weeks worth of shows.

The group just wrapped up a highly successful run on Ozzfest and a short stint in Japan. Doc Coyle (guitars, vocals) checks in with the following update: "We have just returned from a very successful first-time trip to Japan. There were two shows in Tokyo with the legendary In Flames and mighty Chimaira. The crowd was extremely appreciative and active, even though we were the opening act. The show was highlighted with a 'GOD FORBID' chant and plenty of fist pumping! A great deal of thanks goes out to Tetsu and everyone at Toy's Factory and Creative Man for rolling out the red carpet for us. It was a blast, and we can't wait to go back ASAP.

The conclusion of Ozzfest was also a great way to end the summer. We were disappointed that the last show in West Palm was canceled. Hurricanes suck and we will try to get back down there on our next U.S. trek. Overall, this was the best thing to ever happen to GOD FORBID. I've never had more fun in my life, and I can't say enough how much we appreciated that opportunity. I want to thank the GF crew: Dirty Larry, Willie Gee, Billy "Vietnam" Bomba, Hoss Money, Jeremy, Socks, the entire 2nd stage, Jimmy and all at Jager, everyone at Century Media and of course all of the bands (especially 2nd stage) for being cool ass motherfuckers. Playing the shows was amazing, but the best part was the nighttime hangouts and grill sessions with all the boys (and a few girls). Damn, I feel like I'm accepting an Oscar. Anyway, props to Andy ETID for the Metallica Party and Ozzy for keeping that shit going!

We will soon embark on a 10-week European trek with Machine Head from Oct. 9th through Dec. 15th. This is our 2nd tour with Machine Head this year. We really bonded with the guys on the U.S. tour so it will be an honor to share the stage again with such a class act. I know a lot of people wanted us to tour the U.S. immediately after Ozzfest but we are committed to becoming a global band and are already planning a U.S. tour for early 2005. Lastly, we have plans to start working on the next GOD FORBID album as soon as possible. Our goal is to have something out by late next year. We definitely don't want another 3-year wait between records and have eager fans on our mind. See everyone soon."

Click below to view the "Antihero" video
http://mp4.centurymedia.com/g6.ram


LACUNA COIL - www.lacunacoil.it

LACUNA COIL has had an extremely successful 2004 as they emerged as this year's Ozzfest breakthrough artist and watched their latest album, Comalies , break the 150,000 SoundScan mark in the U.S. The group consistently outsold every Ozzfest band (minus Slipknot) each week with the oldest release of any second stage act. Even mainstage acts Black Label Society, Superjoint Ritual and Dimmu Borgir weekly album sales combined were surpassed by LACUNA COIL's weekly sales alone. All of this coupled with the commercial radio support of their latest single "Swamped" helped the album even crack the coveted Billboard Top 200 chart at #178. Comalies continues to SoundScan a steady 4,000 units per week.

LACUNA COIL was just hailed as one of the "Ten Bands To Watch" by Rolling Stone magazine in their next issue, which hits newsstands on Sept. 23rd. Cristina Scabbia (vocals) also caught the attention of Stuff magazine who dedicated a two-page feature to her in their September issue. The group's hit single, "Swamped" is currently featured on the Resident Evil: Apocalypse Soundtrack and the Vampire: Bloodlines videogame.
Posted: 05.10.2004 by wrathchild



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