Santa Barbara-based metal quintet DEVILDRIVER have issued the following update from bassist Jonathan Miller:

"To all DevilDriver fans and friends, I wanted to give you an update on my status as far as my health is concerned.

Regarding the past two European tours, I was either forced to leave by my own accord or asked to leave by my band/managment.

I have been touring with DevilDriver for almost the past ten years and the drugs and alcohol have finally caught up with me. I realized this when I ended up in the ICU on my birthday last week.

I need to make a change so that I can save my own life and keep the friends that I still have left.

I know that alot of DevilDriver fans seek me out first as the one to party with because I consider myself a very social person who is quite outgoing, personable and friendly.

That was all fun in my 20s touring with the band, but as I am entering my early 30s I can feel the damage catching up with me mentally and physically. I don’t want to burn out prematurely before my time on this Earth is up.

On January 1st I will be entering an intense rehabilitation program in order for me to reclaim my health and the person who I once was.

I will not be doing the Canadian tour in January or the Australian tour in February and March. This is for my own good. I need to come out of rehab with a sound body and mind. After I complete my rehabilitation I hope to see all DevilDriver friends and family as soon as I can.

Much love to you all."

Stay tuned for further updates.

DevilDriver will release their fifth album, Beast, via longtime label Roadrunner Records on February 22nd, 2011. The album was produced by Mark Lewis (ALL THAT REMAINS, TRIVIUM, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER) and will include the following tracklisting:

'Dead To Rights'

'Bring The Fight (To The Floor)'

'Hardened'

'Shitlist'

'Talons Out (Teeth Sharpened)'

'You Make Me Sick'

'Coldblooded'

'Blur'

'The Blame Game'

'Black Soul Choir'

'Crowns Of Creation'

'Lend Myself To The Night'

Check out the Beast album art below:

Check out a video update from Dez Fafara below on the album he describes as "pissed" and "technical".

While many bands in the modern era are already withering away by their second album and have shriveled up and died by their third, DevilDriver have proven to mutate, growing stronger, deadlier and more immortal with each successive release. Beast, which follows 2009's Pray For Villains, finds the band refusing to compromise in their mission to deliver music that will make you feel as though you were slapped upside the head with a baseball bat.

Frontman Dez Fafara also dubbed the record their most "extreme" to date and even compared Beast to "driving a Buick Skylark 200 miles an hour straight to Vegas".

Further updates to follow.