British doom legends CATHEDRAL have issued the following update:

"Regrettably, Cathedral will be withdrawing from their planned appearance at this year's Hammer of Doom festival (October 28th - 29th at Posthalle in Würzburg Germany). This is due to the use of animal blood as part of the stage show of one of the other bands on the bill. We do not condone nor endorse this type of activity, and in fact we are very much opposed to it. We would like to apologise sincerely to any of our fans who were expecting to see us at Hammer of Doom, but we feel very strongly about this issue and therefore felt we had no alternative but to withdraw."

Acts scheduled for Hammer Of Doom VI include: MANILLA ROAD, DOOMSWORD, BATTLEROAR, MOUNTAIN THRONE, THE DEVILS BLOOD, YET SO FAR, BLOOD CEREMONY, ORCHID, 11TH HOUR, SEAMOUNT, DEVIL, AGE OF TAURUS.

TheQuietus.com caught up with Cathedral mainman Lee Dorrian, who revealed the band will record one final album, entitled The Last Spire. An excerpt from the interview is available below.

Q: Did you feel you'd achieved all you could with Cathedral?

Dorrian: "Yes, way beyond what we ever thought we could achieve to be honest. For a start, when we first formed the band we seriously never saw beyond making a demo. What we were doing was purely out of love for our favorite doom metal bands, and they were so few and far between. To have had the opportunity to develop as a band and follow our own path has been nothing short of a miracle in the face of adversity. We had no plan, we just let it happen and we are utterly grateful to the people that have supported us, enabling it to come this far."

Q: What can you tell us about The Last Spire? Is it definitely the last album?

Dorrian: "Yes, The Last Spire will be our last album. I always said that if we make it to 10 albums it would be great. I can't tell you much about it yet, as we haven't started rehearsing for it."

Q: What does the future hold for the members of Cathedral?

Dorrian: "Who knows – no definite plans. We're just making the most of these last times together at the minute."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Cathedral recently announced they will play their last ever show at the HMV Forum in London, England on Saturday, December 3rd.

In an explanatory statement, vocalist and founding member Lee Dorian says: “Well we’ve been doing this for over 21 years now and I think it’s a bit of a cop out when bands get back together. I never-say-never, but I honestly can’t see it ever happening. The music means more to us than that and it’s not as though people haven’t had enough chances to see us over the years. I would say it’s very unlikely.”

Support will come from GRAND MAGUS, COMUS and GENTLEMAN’S PISTOLS. Tickets, priced at £22.50 each, went on sale May 20th.