|PIC1|The anticipated world premiere of the powerful new music video "Slow Fade" from Christian music's top-selling artist Casting Crowns, launched exclusively at Yahoo! on Wednesday.

Casting Crowns' video, which has homepage and video premier page placement, follows Yahoo's recent premieres from Sugarland, Kid Rock, Scarlett Johansson and Rascal Flatts.

As one of the most visited US websites, the average Yahoo! Music video premiere initially receives 150,000 views and 2-3 million impressions.

"Slow Fade" is the first music video from the Grammy-winning, multi-platinum band's blockbuster RIAA Gold album "The Altar and The Door".

Produced and directed by the Erwin Brothers, the "Slow Fade" music video was shot in Birmingham, Alabama, and features crashing pianos and stained glass windows as the storyline follows the heart-wrenching reality of a deteriorating family.

The song, which highlights vocals from lead singer Mark Hall's daughter Reagan, was "inspired by the spreading cancer of moral failure in the fathers of this generation", Hall said.

The "Slow Fade" video tells the story of a family slowly fading because of compromising decisions they have made. Hall adds, "As believers, we must guard our hearts and understand that no one crashes and burns, they just slowly fade away, one little compromise at a time."

Casting Crowns recently led the 39th Annual GMA Dove Awards with seven wins including Group of the Year for the fourth consecutive year, and Song of the Year for its No 1 hit "East to West".

The group's third studio recording, "The Altar and The Door" achieved a historical debut at No 2 on The Billboard 200 chart with 130,000 first-week copies sold, making it the highest debut in the country that week. The album sailed to RIAA Gold status in 10 weeks. Casting Crowns was the No 1 top-selling Christian music artist of 2007 and won its first American Music Award in November.

Lead singer Mark Hall is a full-time youth pastor, serving his 17th year in youth ministry as a student pastor at Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church in Atlanta. All seven band members remain active in student ministry in the Atlanta area and tour part-time around their local church duties.

View Slow Fade on Yahoo! at: new.music.yahoo.com/videos/premieres/