CINJED, metro Atlanta’s fast rising metal band, has perhaps seen the last of their famous ‘curse.’  On November 16, the results of the BALLS, VOLUME and STRENGTH Contest, sponsored by MyYearbook.com and Eventful.com, were announced, making CINJED the winning band. The coveted prize: opening for the Hell Yeah concert set for Wednesday, November 28, at The Roxy in Atlanta.

CINJED originated four years ago. After changing lead singers early in 2007, the pace began to pick up for the group exponentially.  While they’d always hoped to have an opportunity of this magnitude, they were acutely aware of how difficult it would be to pull something like winning a major contest off. After learning they had won, drummer Henderson exclaimed, “I can’t believe we get to open up for these guys”, and he added, “Vinnie Paul has been my favorite drummer for years and Chad Gray is D.J.’s favorite singer.”

CINJED is made up of lead singer, D.J. McKay; guitarist, Ray Haynes; drummer, Ben Henderson; and bass player, Marcus Jalores. Each of the artists has his own rendition of the famous 'curse,' which is known by all their fans and more than respected by each of CINJED’s members. Henderson remembers, “The curse consisted of the loss of our original singer and the long battle of replacing him. DJ seemed to fit the bill, changing the face and the style of the music. We added him to the band on Valentines Day '07.”

Satisfied that McKay was the right singer who could take the band in a more powerful direction, CINJED loaded up their show schedule and got ready to take Georgia by storm. Unfortunately, right after booking a slew of shows, Haynes was in a devastating motorcycle accident, breaking his collarbone and putting the band on hold for six weeks.

Once again, after the return of Haynes, the group filled their schedule to the brim and began to get ready for action. But, within less than 2 months time, Jalores, while at work, fell off a truck, knocking out six teeth and fracturing both his wrist and ankle. Fill-in bassists stood in while Jalores healed. But, during a freak accident at practice, Henderson was cut deeply, requiring stitches. Then, McKay sprained his knee at The Masquerade, in Atlanta, while opening for Adema.

But, winning the Demand/MyYearbook contest seems to have shifted the bands destiny and opened new doors of possibility. "We certainly hope this band version of 'Final Destination' is over," commented McKay.

It appears it has – and, in a major way. Winning this contest, a huge coup for the group, hopefully marks the beginning of brighter days and better things to come, according to McKay. Their Myspace, (www.myspace.com/cinjed), has been inundated with over 2000 song plays and 4000 profile views in the few weeks since the contest– all important statistics to start-up bands in today’s numbers-driven music industry.

The bands’ members attribute the win to their huge fan base, which covers a number of southern states, and who came out in force, casting their votes on the DEMAND website. Each email address was allowed only one vote, so CINJED worked overtime to urge each and every fan to vote, and the hard work paid off.

The band often plays in the Athens and Atlanta markets but has also toured outside the state. In late October they returned from a tour of Florida, where they received an overwhelming response from the audience in every venue they played – usually packing the places to capacity

What does the band plan next? “We’ve had a lot of opportunities open up for us since winning the contest, and we expect a lot more after the show,” stated McKay. The band will be featured on an upcoming segment of a new half-hour Atlanta-based news show sometime after the start of the new year. They have received some interest from on-line music sites wishing to interview them or stream their songs as well. Henderson said their show schedule is filling up faster than they know what to do, but added that was a good problem to have. They plan to do another multi-state tour soon.

Hell Yeah is a heavy metal ‘supergroup’ featuring members of Pantera, Damageplan, Mudvayne and Nothingface. The band consists of Mudvayne vocalist Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett, Nothingface guitarist Tom Maxwell, Damageplan bassist Bob Zilla, and former Pantera and Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul.

The idea to form a supergroup originated in 2001 on the Tattoo the Earth tour but took several years to come to fruition due to scheduling conflicts. During the summer of 2006 all members were able to take the project seriously and record their first album which was released in April of 2007 and entered the Billboard charts at number 9.

The show, headlining Hell Yeah and featuring Otep and Bloodsimple, is on Wednesday, November 28 at The Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre, (located at 3110 Roswell Road, Atlanta, GA 30305.) Doors open at 6 p.m. The show begins at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are still available at www.TicketMaster.com.

Contact CINJED through their Myspace at: www.myspace.com/cinjed or via email at Hellavox@msn.com.