MORTIFICATION leader Steve Rowe checks in with the following update:

"Hi everyone out there.

I guess most of you are in winter right now, but here in Australia we are in the middle of a summer heat wave. It is currently the hotest week in 100 years here in Melbourne, so we are struggling with all the bushfire problems once again. I am glad that we live in the suburbs but even a house 2 minutes from here was burned down from out of control grass fires last week. Scary!

In Mortification recording news, all the bass and vocal parts have been completed. Drums, guitars and mix will be completed next month. The new Mortification album will be called The Evil Addiction Destroying Machine. Look out for an initial release through us here at Rowe Productions in June. CDs will be available from Rowe Productions through the soundmass.com webstore.

Dave Kilgallon has been busy in Perth with personal commitments and recording the new SCOURGED FLESH and GRAVE FORSAKEN albums. I have heard both albums and they are killer releases! Dave will not be joining Mortification on the drum kit with personal, employment and band commitments in Perth being so huge right now. Do yourselves a favor and check out the new Scourged Flesh and Grave Forsaken albums when they come out soon on Soundmass.

Recently I went and saw Adam Zaffarese play in his rock band THE GREETING METHOD. I asked Adam if he wanted to play on the new Mortification album and he said "Yes". Adam played on The Silver Cord Is Severed in 2001 and toured the world with Lincoln Bowen and myself that same year. He was just 16 at the time. Adam also played on the 2002 Mortification release Relentless. Adam is now 24 and has decided to rejoin Mick Jelinic and myself in Mort. Currently we are working through rehersing the songs with Adam, who is a very established player these days... and so the Mortification Machine lives on!

We are working towards presenting the highest quality production available to us here in Melbourne's finest metal studio Penny Drop. The bass guitar and vocal tracks sound MASSIVE! Penny Drop Studio has the most supreme recording technology available. We are using the same mics and studio gear that METALLICA used on their most recent album. The cost is high and right now we do not have a mainstream record company behind us. Combine this with my medical bills and I am really pushing it to cover the costs. If this mission has blessed you over the years and you would like to keep Mort and myself alive, your support would be much appreciated. You can do so through PayPal: info@roweproductions.com

Way too many people are stealing our music from the internet, so I am very grateful for the supporters out there who do buy my CDs and help us keep releasing quality productions. Someone mailed me the other day and asked for the lyrics to a Mort song that they stole from the internet! In general, people see music as "free" and don't realise just how much it costs to make great sounding recordings, especially when a band is an independent artist or even on an independent label. Please support the bands that support you.

Blessings,

Steve Rowe."