British punk legends THE EXPLOITED are forced to cancel upcoming tour dates with labelmates HATEBREED and stop all activities till May 2014. Singer Wattie Buchan suffered a heart attack on stage during the band's concert last night (Thursday, February 13th) in Lisbon, Portugal during the Tour Of Chaos with Hatebreed and NAPALM DEATH.

The Exploited released following statement: "We are sorry to say that due to a severe illness that Wattie can't continue with the tour. He will be in hospital for at least a week. Thanks for all the get-well messages. Much appreciated. Regards."

Nuclear Blast Records recently announced the signing of The Exploited. Founded in 1980 in East Kilbride, Scotland by Wattie Buchan, the band has now signed a worldwide contract with the label.

Wattie stated: “At last, after giving my word four years ago that we would sign to Nuclear Blast, it’s now official! For us it's a big deal to be signing to the biggest indie record company in Europe. One of the main reasons we signed to them is the fact that Marcus, the owner, is a big Exploited fan and I know he will give us 100% backing to make the next album as great as the last ones. PS - It WILL be this year sometime!!!!! Punks Not Dead.”

Nuclear Blast owner Markus Staiger adds: "Having The Exploited sign a deal is a longtime dream coming true. In my youth I listened to hardcore and pPunk almost exclusively and The Exploited have been one of my absolute favorites ever since. Records like Punks Not Dead, Troops Of Tomorrow and later on also Beat The Bastards and Fuck The System have been on heavy rotation constantly. The shows of this band have always been and still are a very special experience. Honest, hard and snotty – just like punk should be. A true highlight for me of course was their performance at the Nuclear Blast HQs on my birthday in 2013. After that the deal has been set via handshakes and we’ve been celebrating till the break of dawn! Welcome to Nuclear Blast guys, punks not dead!!”

The recordings for the new album are expected to take place this spring, so the release will be in fall 2014.