Roadrunner’s 25 years of existence coincided with the birth of Heavy Music as we know it today. In the label’s earliest days, Roadrunner began licensing now-classic U.S. releases for distribution to rabid fans overseas, truly growing American Metal on a worldwide scale. By the late eighties, Roadrunner was signing its own talent í¢ä‰åäóì bands from around the World that would quickly become titans in their own right. In 2005, to commemorate 25 years of genre-defining music, Roadrunner will re-release those albums that are truly Metal classics, each with bonus content relevant to the era in which it was put to tape plus extensive liner notes and expanded artwork. OUT NOW` SEPULTURA ‘ROOTS’, FEAR FACTORY ‘DEMANUFACTURE’, SOULFLY ‘SOULFLY’, MERCIFUL FATE ‘MEILISSA’, KING DIAMOND ‘ ABIGAIL’, OUT OCT 24th COAL CHAMBER – COAL CHAMBER Details of the first 6 (of 10) re-issues, with comments on the originals from A&R legend Monte Conner, follow: SEPULTURA ‘ROOTS’ DOUBLE CD í¢ä‰åñSepultura were on a creative high here, bringing all sorts of new tribal and third world elements into their sound í¢ä‰åäóì something Max still does to this day with his new band Soulfly. The band took a big chance with this record, as it was vastly different from the more traditional metal heard on í¢ä‰åñChaos A.D.í¢ä‰åŒ This one owed more to the í¢ä‰åñnuí¢ä‰åŒ school with its fat, down-tuned Korn style riffs. Producer Ross Robinson was the perfect man to helm the sessions as he knows no rules and really got the band’s creative juices flowing. While it alienated some core Sep fans and got some bad reviews when it first came out, it has come to be regarded as a groundbreaking classic. It certainly kept the band relevant sounding for many years to come. Besides featuring the bands all-time classic song í¢ä‰åñRoots Bloody Roots,í¢ä‰åŒ it has the most muscular and beefy mix ever to be found on a metal record, and even on an Andy Wallace record. The pummeling, bass-heavy (in a good way) mix just adds to the power of the material.í¢ä‰åŒ 퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ CD1: Roots Bloody Roots Attitude Cut-Throat Ratamahatta Breed Apart Straighthate Spit Lookaway Dusted Born Stubborn Jasco Itsari Ambush Endangered Species Dictatorsh*t. CD2: Procreation (Of The Wicked) Mine War Lookaway (Master Vibe Mix) Mine (Andy Wallace Mix)* Dusted (Demo) Roots Bloody Roots (Demo) R.D.P. (Demo)* Untitled (Demo)* Attitude (Live) Roots Bloody Roots (Megawatt Mix 1)* Roots Bloody Roots (Megawatt Mix 2)* * = previously unreleased. FEAR FACTORY ‘DEMANUFACTURE’ DOUBLE CD퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ í¢ä‰åñFear Factory never sounded better than on this landmark 1995 release. Not only did their songwriting take a huge jump up from their debut album, but Burton C. Bell greatly expanded his vocal range, utilizing a new found heavy voice that sounded tough as opposed to brutal, and it was the main factor in why the band were able to break out of the narrow confines of the death metal graveyard and gain exposure a whole new audience who were as enthralled with this album as I was.í¢ä‰åŒ CD1: Demanufacture Self Bias Resistor Zero Signal Replica New Breed Dog Day Sunrise Body Hammer Flashpoint H-K (Hunter-Killer) Pisschrist A Therapy For Pain Your Mistake* !Resistancia!* Concreto* New Breed (Revolutionary Designed Mix)* Manic Cure* Flashpoint (Chosen Few Mix)* CD2: Remanufacture National Panel Beating Genetic Blueprint Faithless Bionic Chronic Cloning Technology Burn T-1000 Machines Of Hate 21st Century Jesus Bound For Forgiveness Refinery Cyberdyne* Refueled* Transgenic* New Breed (Spoetnik Mix)* * = rare track. KING DIAMOND ‘ABIGAIL’퉌æCD + BONUS DVD í¢ä‰åñKing Diamond peaked early in his career as a solo artist, but oh what a peak it was. An incredibly chilling, morbid, edge-of-your-seat concept album that sounds as cool and badass today as it did back in 1987. The level of musicianship is top notch throughout, especially in the guitar department, with the battling leads of Andy La Rocque and Michael Denner often grabbing the spotlight. The whole band sounds on fire and Roberto Falcao’s reverb-drenched, 80’s production suits the material perfectly. A must-have for any real metal fan. This was the first Roadrunner release to crack the Billboard Top 200 chart.í¢ä‰åŒ CD1: Funeral Arrival A Mansion In Darkness The Family Ghost The 7th Day Of July 1777 Omens The Possession Abigail Black Horsemen Shrine A Mansion In Darkness (rough mix) The Family Ghost (rough mix) The Possession (rough mix) DVD:퉌æ Live in Gothenberg, Sweden, 1987*: Funeral Arrival Come To The Sabbath The Portrait The Family Ghost The 7th Day Of July 1777 Halloween * = previously unreleased. MERCYFUL FATE ‘MELISSA’ CD + BONUS DVD퉌æ í¢ä‰åñThe legendary debut album by one of the very first black metal bands. To this day, King Diamond has not surpassed this album. All seven songs are stone-cold classics and it’s got some of the wickedest riffs you will hear anywhere, not to mention King’s unique voice, which to this day, remains as unique and compelling as it was back in 1983. You can’t call yourself a metal fan if you don’t know this album inside out.í¢ä‰åŒ CD1: Evil Curse Of The Pharaohs Into The Coven At The Sound Of The Demon Bell Black Funeral Satan’s Fall Melissa Black Masses Curse Of The Pharaohs (BBC Radio 1 Session) Evil (BBC Radio 1 Session) Satan’s Fall (BBC Radio 1 Session) Curse Of The Pharaohs (demo) Black Funeral (demo) DVD: Live at The Dynamo, Eindhoven, Holland, 1983*: Doomed By The Living Dead Black Funeral Curse Of The Pharaohs * = previously unreleased. SOULFLY ‘SOULFLY’ DOUBLE CD퉌æ í¢ä‰åñMax Cavalera sure had a lot to say back in 1997 and Ross Robinson was the man to coax every sweaty ounce of it out of him. This record is all over the place in a chaotic and psychotic way but it all holds together to form one of the most creative, dynamic and off-the-wall metal records you will ever hear. This album is every bit as solid as Max’s last with Sepultura (í¢ä‰åñRootsí¢ä‰åŒ) and continues many of the ideas first visited on that album.í¢ä‰åŒ CD1: Eye For An Eye No Hope = No Fear Bleed Tribe Bumba First Commandment Bumbklaatt Soulfly Umbabarauma Quilombo Fire Song Remains Insane No Prejudice Karmageddon Cangaceiro Ain’t No Feeble Bastard Possibilty Of Life’s Destruction Blow Away CD2: Live at Roskilde ’98*: Eye For An Eye No Hope = No Fear Spit Bleed Beneath The Remains Tribe Bumba Refuse-Resist Quilombo Roots Bloody Roots Attitude The Song Remains Insane No Live at Crossing Border Festival*: Max Cavalera spoken word performance Spoken Word Jam Eye For An Eye (4-track demo) * = previously unreleased. COAL CHAMBER ‘COAL CHAMBER’ CD + BONUS DVD퉌æ(OUT OCT 24) í¢ä‰åñAh, the ever controversial Coal Chamber. The controversy started because Coal Chamber was the very first band after Korn to come out with that then-distinctive nu metal sound. As much as they were maligned back in the day, it is ironic that now, some 500 nu metal bands later, Coal Chamber has had the last laugh because history has been kind to the band and they are now regarded as real innovators of that sound. Some of the songs here are still timeless, like í¢ä‰åñLoco,í¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åñBig Truck,í¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åñSwayí¢ä‰åŒ and í¢ä‰åñOddity.í¢ä‰åŒ Simply put, this was the right record at the right time and it really struck a nerve with the kids in a huge way.í¢ä‰åŒ 퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ 퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ퉌æ CD1: Loco Bradley Oddity Unspoiled Big Truck Sway First Maricon Puto I Clock My Frustration Amir Of The Desert Dreamtime Pig Headstones And The Walking Dead Big Truck (Hand-On-Wheel Mix) Pig (demo) Sway (demo) Unspoiled (demo) Loco (demo) DVD: Live concert recordings ‘Loco (video)’