Background
In June 2000, Killswitch Engage released their debut album, titled Killswitch Engage through Ferret Records. The band got its recording deal as a favor for the artwork bassist Mike D'Antonio created for Ferret. The label's CEO, Carl Severson signed the band without a contract simply to get the album out to the public because he thought the album "ruled", and stated "I had a one-off deal and when I knew they wanted to go someplace bigger, I figured is was in my best interest, as their friend, to make the best thing happen for them." After the album was released, Severson showed it to Roadrunner Records A&R man, Mike Gitter.
Gitter played the album for other Roadrunner employees and stated "The feeling was this was something that touched upon classic metal, pulls it up through hardcore, and creates something fairly new and completely exciting. When their music started circulating around the office, there was an immediate 'Holy ... this is great!' feeling about it. People weren't halfway about it." Gitter offered to sign the band to the label and felt that signing Killswitch Engage was the label's last chance to have any heavy metal bands on the roster. The band was apprehensive at first, judging by the artist roster of Roadrunner at the time, but after nearly six months of deliberation, Killswitch Engage signed to Roadrunner due to the opportunities provided for them. After signing, the band began work on their major label debut, which would become Alive or Just Breathing. Gitter has claimed that signing Killswitch Engage was the most gratifying signing of his career.
Read more about this topic: Alive Or Just Breathing
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