Swedish garage rockers THE HELLACOPTERS, who were former by ex-ENTOMBED drummer Nicke Andersson, have issued the following message:

"If you haven't noticed yet, our new album Head Off is comprised of songs we didn't write ourselves. But before you scream 'oh no, a cover album!', let's just clear a few things up.

The idea for this record dates back about two years. We thought it'd be great to record an album of more or less contemporary songs that are too good to be left unheard. We know that the state of rock 'n' roll have seen better days but the fact is that there are shitloads of great bands with equally great songs out there. Guess you just have to dig a little. Songs that could and SHOULD be on the charts all over the world. But as you all know, the world is far from a perfect place. We're not saying that by recording these songs we'll put them on any charts or anything but maybe, just maybe, a few more people will get to know these gems and their origins.

Anyway, we selected about 50 tunes that we think kick ass and eventually and carefully narrowed 'em down to about 20. We wound up chosing the songs that sounded like they were written for us - by us even - and ended up with an album that's one hundred percent The Hellacopters. In other words, it's not a case of 'hey, we don't have any songs - let's just record a bunch of covers and get it over with'.

The decision to break up the band was obviously made after we recorded and mixed the album. That decision has nothing to do with the "concept" of Head Off. It just happened to be our last studio album and we hope you'll like it.

Why the secrecy? Well, by not announcing that we're releasing a "cover album", rather than just a new album - which is how we see it - we're trying to avoid any preconceived ideas people might get about it. We basically want people to listen to the album for what it really is: our new album. Period."

The band have also issued a run-down of the originals, covered on Head Off. Check that out at this location.

In other news, the band have announced that they will play the Kiruna Up North festival, taking place June 28th in Kiruna, Sweden.

See the band's live itinerary here.