FOZZY Frontman To Co-Emcee BEYOND THE MOUNTAIN Christian Metal Festival

BTM Productions has announced a change of dates and location for the upcoming Beyond the Mountain Festival. The event will now take place on November 4-5, 2005, at the Arcada Theater, in St. Charles, IL. The new venue is an exuberant movie house located in downtown St. Charles, about 30 miles outside Chicago and convenient to both O'Hare and Midway airports.

"The financial hurdles of organizing a festival of this magnitude in California became a nightmare," explains BTM Productions owner and Beyond the Mountain promoter Ken Sheahan. "After the postponement of the first show, BTM put every effort into making this festival a reality, against all odds. In conjunction, we heard an outcry of metalheads from the East Coast and the Midwest who wished Beyond the Mountain was taking place closer to them. Therefore, choosing Chicago made sense, from a monetary and a logistical standpoint."

In combination with the announcement of the new venue and dates, BTM has added one of the hottest newcomers to the metal scene to the festival's line-up: Solid State recording artists BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE. The Atlanta-based quintet has created quite a buzz recently with the release of their CD "Terminate Damnation" and has garnered comparisons to LIVING SACRIFICE, OPETH, and UNEARTH. This newest addition is the latest on a brand-new lineup that already includes HOLY SOLDIER, BARREN CROSS, JACOBS DREAM, DELIVERANCE, and ONCE DEAD, among others.

Ken Sheahan is no newcomer to the world of concert promotion and event management. A longtime crew member and road manager for such acts as VENGEANCE RISING, THE CRUCIFIED, TOURNIQUET, ZEBRAHEAD and CHRISTAFARI (which earned him the nickname "Ultimate Roadie"),as well as the Vans Warped Tour, he has traveled throughout the world acquiring much of the experience he has and is now utilizing at the helm of BTM Productions.

This once-in-a-lifetime affair features some of the greatest names in Christian metal, past and present, together at a festival of massive proportions: HOLY SOLDIER, BARREN CROSS, Metal Blade recording artists JACOBS DREAM, DELIVERANCE, ONCE DEAD (featuring former members of VENGEANCE RISING),WHITECROSS, SACRED WARRIOR, SAINT, and NEON CROSS, among others. In addition, wrestler Chris Jericho of WWE fame — himself, unbeknownst to many, a fan a Christian metal — will co-emcee the event by introducing some of the bands. The magnitude of this lineup ensures that Beyond the Mountain will be etched with fire on the memories of metalheads for decades to come.

"What makes this event unique, besides the outstanding roster, is that some of these bands are actually reuniting for this festival only," says Ken, "and this might be the only chance their fans will have to see them perform for many years, if not forever." SACRED WARRIOR is an example of that. Other acts such as WHITECROSS, HOLY SOLDIER, and SAINT, are in the midst of their reunions and will surely rock the Midwest in November, in what promises to be one of the greatest festivals in Christian metal’s history.

For ticket information, directions and up-to-the-minute information on the festival, please visit the Beyond the Mountain web site: www.beyondthemountain.com.