Diecast (band) - History

History

Formed in Boston in early 1997, Diecast was originally established as a four-piece group featuring vocalist Colin Schleifer, guitarist Nassim Rizvi, bassist Jeremy Wooden and drummer Jason Costa.

The band's first release Perpetual War was recorded by Brian McTiernan (of Salad Days fame) and released independently in 1997. The demo was recorded to cassette and is now a collectors item.

In 1998, the band released their debut LP Undo the Wicked via Samson Records. The album marked the first recording of the band as a five-piece line-up with the addition of guitarist Dave McGuire who was replaced just after the Samson Records release with guitarist Mehdy Rad who had been involved with a pre-Diecast version of the band.

After the departure of guitarist and founding member Nassim Rizvi, his position was temporarily filled by a number of friends of the band including Buz McGrath and Ken Susi of the band Unearth. Jonathan Kita would be named the permanent replacement on lead guitar in February 1999.

The band recorded a self-funded and self-distributed CD sampler with Dean Bartolonis which included early versions of songs "Solace" and "Disrepair." The band toured the east coast of the US and Canada non-stop for the next year.

Amid the buzz surrounding Undo the Wicked, the band signed with the now defunct Now or Never Records. Despite the departure of Guitarist Mehdy Rad in late 2000, they wrote, recorded, and released their second full-length album, Day of Reckoning, on February 13, 2001. After the release of Day of Reckoning they recruited Kirk Kolaitis. The band embarked on a number of tours across the United States, supporting such bands as All Out War, Dying Fetus, God Forbid, Napalm Death - and even opening for Alice Cooper and The Cult.

In the spring of 2002, Diecast secured the opening slot for the Slayer/Hatebreed tour. Upon the completion of the tour, the band decided to focus their attention towards a new album. Faced with record label issues, and dissension internally about the musical direction they should take, the recording phase for their third full-length album was halted. At this point founding member Colin Schleifer left the group in May 2003 to pursue other interests, and was replaced by current vocalist Paul Stoddard.

Diecast inked a new record deal with recognized independent metal label, Century Media Records in 2004. The band then released their third full-length album Tearing Down Your Blue Skies on October 19, 2004. An excerpt of the track "Rise and Oppose" was licensed by Volkswagen Automotive and used in an advertisement for the Volkswagen Jetta. The album was re-released by Century Media in 2006, with three bonus tracks including a cover of Raining Blood by Slayer. The three tracks were produced by Zeuss (Shadows Fall, Hatebreed), and were added to the re-release along with extras.

Jason Costa departed the band during their early 2006 tour. Dennis Pavia formerly of Tantrumn volunteered to fill in and then eventually became a full-time member.

On May 16, 2006, vocalist Paul Stoddard announced that in addition to Jason Costa no longer being part of the band, bassist Jeremy Wooden, the only original member remaining, had decided to depart as well. Dennis Pavia and Brad Horion were named as their replacements.

The band's fourth full-length album Internal Revolution was released on September 19, 2006 and features the single "Fade Away." A companion video was directed by David Brodsky. The album shifted 1,246 copies in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan. They are currently in the studio and have released a new song on their MySpace page entitled "Disconnect" as well as a second song, "Sanctified" on a sponsors MySpace page . They recently released a press statement announcing they had parted ways with label Century Media. In addition the band is shopping a 4 song demo to other labels and hopes to release a new album and tour shortly thereafter. In addition to shopping new labels in late 2008, bassist Eddie Barton joined the band as a full time replacement for Brad Horion.