Sad news from the 70000 Tons Of Metal headquarters. Read on...

"Sailors! This is your Skipper speaking. Unfortunately, I have some bad news to share with you.

Gojira will not be joining us on board next week. This is due to a serious medical issue of a very close family member that requires them to get back home at a moment's notice should the situation get worse. This is possible while they are on tour in their home country, but not while they are on a ship at sea at the other end of the world. I am sure I speak for all of us when I send this message to France: Nous souhaitons de tout cœur beaucoup de force et de confiance, ainsi qu'un bon rétablissement!

If that was not enough bad news, there's more. We will also be sailing without Nile. The situation there is that their new bass player will not receive his visa in time for the cruise. Normally he would not need one if they would only play the cruise, but since they are also going on tour in the US right afterwards he unfortunately needs a US work visa. Together with their management I tried to move heaven and earth to make this happen but at this point we are simply out of time.

Trust me that I am as frustrated as all of you about this situation. I am working around the clock to fill this gap it has created in our line-up.

I will make sure that we have adequate replacements on board 70000 Tons Of Metal , The Original, The World's Biggest Heavy Metal Cruise. Stay tuned!"

Annihilator leader Jeff Waters was the featured guest on a recent episode of 70000tons.tv’s Musician Monday. Watch below:

This year’s 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise, taking place February 2nd - 6th, will sail February 2nd – 6th, 2017 onboard Royal Caribbean’s luxurious Independence Of The Seas which will be leaving from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to an all new Caribbean dream destination: Labadee, situated on the northern coast of Haiti, featuring pristine beaches, coral reefs and lagoon-like bays surrounded by forested mountains.

Bands confirmed for the event include: Amaranthe, Amorphis, Annihilator, Anthrax, Arch Enemy, Avatarium, Axxis, Cattle Decapitation, Cruachan, Death Angel, Demolition Hammer, DevilDriver, Draconian, Dying Fetus, Edenbridge, Equilibrium, Ghost Ship Octavius, Grave Digger, Haggard, Kalmah, Kamelot, Marduk, Misery Loves Co., Moonsorrow, Mors Principium Est, Nightmare, Omnium Gatherum, Ordan Ogan, Orphaned Land, Pain, PowerGlove, Psycroptic, Revocation, Saltatio Mortis, Scar Symmetry, Serenity, Stam1na, Stuck Mojo, Suffocation, Testament, Therion, Trauma, Trollfest Uli Jon Roth, Unleashed, Vreid, and Xandria.