BW&BK; has received the following press release:

"To prepare for the new DIR EN GREY album, Uroboros, we will be running a contest for those of you who are kind enough to pre-order it online. We are giving away...

Three VIP Grand Prize Packages:

-- one 8gig iPod Nano engraved with the winners name and 'Dir En Grey / Uroboros' in the color the winner chooses (colors limited to the nine options made by Apple). As an added bonus, the album and limited edition DVD extras will be pre-loaded onto the iPod!
-- 2 VIP tickets to the North American show of your choice with a special opportunity to meet the band!*
-- whichever version UROBOROS you pre-order, signed by the band in silver marker!
-- $100 gift certficate to The Omega Order store where you can get releases from THOUSANDS of other artists...
-- a Dir En Grey prize pack featuring many rare Dir En Grey items from Japan -- completely unavailable to the general public in North America until now!

Fourty Four (44) Runner Up VIP Packages:

-- 2 VIP tickets to the North American show of your choice with a special opportunity to meet the band (again, we will be giving away TWO pairs per show)*
-- whichever version of Uroboros you pre-order, signed by the band in silver marker!

Twenty Two (22) "Special" Winners:

-- 2 tickets to the North American show of your choice with a special opportunity to meet the band (we will be giving away ONE pair per show)*

Last but not least, TWENTY (20) others will be randomly selected to receive their copies of Uroboros signed by the band. We will be having the band sign these upon their arrival in North America so that they will ship before day of release. These winners will NOT receive tickets to the shows or anything like that, but when they receive their pre-orders in the mail, they will be signed!

Here's how you enter:

-- Pre-order the album (in any format) from The End Records (aka The Omega Order) here .

Please Note: The End Records offers an option for free domestic shipping within North America!

The End/Omega Order carry all North American versions of the album for the best price anywhere in the US/Canada/Mexico and even have a specially priced bundle which contains all variations of UROBOROS as well as a limited edition DIR EN GREY shirt! Starting as low as $10.99 and with FREE domestic shipping options, we want to provide options for EVERYTHING in pre-order to satiate the fans' demand.

Upon pre-ordering the album from The End/The Omega pre-order, you will receive an email confirmation. Forward this confirmation to degpreorder@gmail.com with the subject 'Dir En Grey Pre-order Contest' along with the show you would like to attend (such as 'Dir En Grey pre-order Contest - New York City, NY'). All North American tour dates can be found here so look them over and pick the show you'd like tickets for. Upon forwarding this e-mail, you will be entered to win.

All pre-orders placed before October 30th at 11:59PM EST will be eligible. Winners will be chosen randomly on October 31st and announced on October 31st at approximately 12:00PM EST. The results will also be posted to the Dir En Grey MySpace blog - subscribe here.

* We can only guarantee to shows on the North American tour -- dates between November 5th and December 5th. If you cannot attend one of these shows, please put "SHOW N/A" in the subject line of your e-mail. You will STILL be qualified for the contest, but we will however find a "substitute" prize in place of the concert tickets. Please do not write down a city/show you simply "wish" you could attend (i.e. you'd LIKE to go to the NYC show even though it is 100% unlikely you actually could). We don't want anyone to feel left out which is why we will give consolation prizes to those who cannot actually travel/attend a Dir En Grey show -- just please be honest with us and with yourself if you will not be able to attend a concert.

No purchase necessary to enter. To enter for your free chance to win please write and mail a 5 page single spaced essay on comparing and contrasting the uroboros symbol in alchemy versus the uroboros depicted in Hindu beliefs to: Bill H. C/O BRAT Marketing, P.O. Box 721, New Paltz, NY 12561."