KATAGORY V founder and sole original member, bassist/songwriter Dustin Mitchell, has issued the following statement regarding the recent departure of guitarist Darrin Goodman and the return of former guitarist, Marc Hanson, as well as an update on the progress of the new album.

"It is with regret that I have to announce the departure of guitarist Darrin Goodman. Shortly after completing our pre-production sessions, Darrin had decided that due to personal obligations outside of the band, that it would be both in his and the bands best interest to leave Katagory V. We would like to wish him luck in his future endeavors.

Rest assured this slight personnel change will not undermine the bands current progress. Returning to Katagory V to help with the live aspect of the band, as well as possibly participating on the new album, is former guitarist Marc Hanson, who appeared on the bands last two efforts The Rising Anger and Hymns of Dissension. Marc and I got together recently and talked about Katagory V past and present and enjoyed a bit of nostalgia, jammed a few riffs ideas and old songs, and then I let him listen to the new Katagory V material. It was at this point that he expressed extreme interest in participating in Katagory V once again. Although Marc's current band SUPERSOFAR (www.supersofar.com, which also featured Jonni Lightfoot of STARBREAKER) keeps him rather busy; he has decided the time is right, and agreed to come back to Katagory V and shred once again! The guitar chemistry between Marc and Kris (Krompel) is absolutely amazing, and is sure to bring the live aspect of the band up several notches.

I'm sure it is becoming very cumbersome and frustrating for everyone out there, especially for myself, being that there is still no new material on display or even a new album after two years, and the revolving door of guitarists seems to keep spinning and hindering the progress. However, that is not the case now. Pre-production is in fact complete, we will be playing live at the beginning of the year, we will start tracking the new album in March 2010, and… we will be uploading and posting clips of new Katagory V songs, as well as revealing the title of the new album in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!"