RIOT ENTERTAINMENT Announces Distribution Deals With VICTORY, PEACEVILLE

Riot Entertainment has announced distribution deals with Victory Records and Peaceville Records for the Australian market.

Commented John Howarth, CEO of Riot: "Riot and I are totally honoured to be working with Victory and Peaceville. I have chased these labels for a long time and so we are extremely excited to be working with both labels. Tony Brummel [Victory head honcho] and I are also huge wrestling fans so that is a bonus.

"I have known Tony for a long time; he is an innovator in the industry and I am looking forward to working with him and learning from him, too. With a stack of killer new releases such as A DAY TO REMEMBER, ILL NINO, COMEBACK KID, HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS and more, this is a great time for Victory and Riot to start doing business together."

Howarth continued, "Peaceville is a label I have always been keen on and they have really been at the forefront of the darker side of the metal scene with bands like MY DYING BRIDE, KATATONIA, PARADISE LOST, OPETH, DARKTHRONE and more. Now with CRADLE OF FILTH on board, the sky is the limit. It is a really strong catalogue and a lot of their bands have really loyal followings here.

"The vibe on the new CRADLE OF FILTH is really strong and they have some other really impressive titles due for release."

Victory and Peaceville join a stable of other labels at Riot that includes Nuclear Blast, Metal Blade, Season of Mist, Relapse, Edel, Good Fight, Earache and more.

"There have been so many changes and massive upheaval in the industry here that we have to continue to build and consolidate, and becoming a home to these key labels is something that retail have been demanding," Howarth said. "Housing all the key product under the one roof is really helping all the labels as a lot of great product is all feeding off each other.

"We have so many bands from the Riot roster touring here between now and early 2011, such as SOILWORK, KATATONIA, A DAY TO REMEMBER, GWAR, DIMMU BORGIR, FOZZY, KYLESA, SILVERSTEIN, SMASHING PUMPKINS, BAYSIDE, ILL NINO, SAXON and plenty more. We are also building a profile here for RISE TO REMAIN who are playing Soundwave 2011. We really want to bring this amazing band to the fans here."

Next week Riot will announce the signing of a seminal Australian metal band returning to the scene. Howarth said, "I sat and listened to the final product and it is possibly the best Australian metal recording I have heard."

At the beginning of 2010, Riot set up an elite distribution deal with Warner Music Australia and more recently with New Zealand for its licensed and key label titles. These include the latest releases from THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, HELLYEAH, FILTER, JOHN 5, PEARL, AS I LAY DYING, DIMMU BORGIR, KAMELOT and others through the Warner system, several of which have had strong chart success.

"Warner have been great," commented Howarth. "They are also going to support us with key overseas signings and albums that we bring to the table, so if there are any international bands looking at doing deals for Australia, just reach out to us!"