SHADOWS FALL Singer Comments On OVERCAST's Deal With METAL BLADE

Metal Blade Records has confirmed the signing of OVERCAST — the reunited Massachusetts band which features in its ranks KILLSWITCH ENGAGE bassist Mike D'Antonio and SHADOWS FALL singer Brian Fair (as BLABBERMOUTH.NETfirst reported on June 20). The group will release "Reborn to Kill Again", a collection of re-recorded versions of more than a dozen of the group's classic tracks, along with two previously unreleased songs, on August 19. The CD was recorded in 2006 with Adam Dutkiewicz (KILLSWITCH ENGAGE) at the helm.

Commented Fair: "Finally, after much waiting and wondering if it would ever see the light of day, OVERCAST is 'reborn to kill again!!!' We are all very excited to be working with Metal Blade Records for this release. It is a legendary label that has been home to some of the most influential bands in metal history. It was actually Metal Blade who gave OVERCAST our first release on CD as part of one of the 'Metal Massacre' comps way back in the day, so it seems as if everything is coming full circle. The time has come once again for the beast known as OVERCAST to rise again. You have been warned."

Brian Slagel of Metal Blade Records added, "We are greatly honored to be able to work with and put out such a legendary artist as OVERCAST."

Started in August 1991, OVERCAST disbanded in November 1998 after years of being turned down by labels, skimped out on by promoters, and a general sense of the band being too much of an albatross to continue. Heartbroken and emotionally taxed, each of the members went their separate ways. Brian joined SHADOWS FALL (a band who had opened for OVERCAST on many occasions),Mike D'Antonio started working on a project called KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, Pete Cortese (guitar) continued writing and ended up in a band called SEEMLESS, Scott McCooe (guitar) began playing bass in TRANSIENT, and Jay Fitzgerald (drums) formed and played in many bands, finally settling down in the band TUNNEL DRILL.

Mike D'Antonio spoke about the OVERCAST reunion in an April 2006 interview with MTV.com. The group originally split up a week or so after the band's first U.S. tour (with DISEMBODIED and SHAI HULUD) had concluded, and the guys in OVERCAST returned from a six-week road trip with about $500 to their names.

"We were all just kind of beaten to death," D'Antonio recalled. "We had worked so incredibly hard to get the band to where it was, with little or nothing to show for it besides just fans coming out and seeing us and being really into the band. We just needed to cut our losses and go home, and unfortunately, that was the way most of the people felt in the band. We had gotten done with a practice, and everyone told me how they were feeling. [That band] was my baby — something I cared about more than almost anything else in the world at that point. So when people were telling me they didn't want to do it, I didn't want to face reality. It really bothered me."

Video footage of OVERCAST's June 3, 2006 performance at the El N Gee Club in New London, Connecticut can be viewed below (courtesy of HessianTV).