MTV.com has issued the following report from Chris Harris and Jon Wiederhorn:

Two days before Florida death-metal band HATE ETERNAL were scheduled to embark on the 2006 Jägermeister tour with CHIMAIRA, ARCH ENEMY, NEVERMORE and GOD FORBID, drummer Derek Roddy quit to join TODAY IS THE DAY, forcing frontman Erik Rutan (ex-MORBID ANGEL) to scramble for a way to salvage the situation.

Not only was Rutan determined not to disappoint Jägermeister, Hate Eternal also had a live DVD shoot that had been planned for ages scheduled in London following the tour.

So Rutan picked up the phone and called Kevin Talley (ex-Chimaira), who had just finished filling in on a BLACK DAHLIA MURDER tour, and asked him if he was interested in playing with Hate Eternal. "It was a shot in the dark," Rutan said. "I just said, 'Hey man, we're leaving in two days. Can you learn six songs fast?' And he said, 'Sure.' He's an incredible drummer, so it worked out great."

For the DVD shoot, Rutan recruited Reno Kiilerich (ex-DIMMU BORGIR), who had to learn 14 songs while Hate Eternal were touring the U.S. with Talley. Then the band flew to Holland, practiced for two days and shot the London show without a hiccup.

For Rutan, overcoming such obstacles is commonplace. But the stressful incidents left their marks. And there would be more to come. Not long after returning home, bassist Randy Piro Jr. bailed to focus on his other group, Gigan. Now Rutan had two slots to fill before he was able to focus on the follow-up to Hate Eternal's 2005 album, I, Monarch. The yet-untitled LP is scheduled for release in February.

The drummer situation resolved itself first. When word got out that Roddy was no longer with the band, hundreds of players contacted Rutan, including Montreal native Jade Simonetto (ex-Camilla Rhodes).

"He sent me a video of him playing some of the songs, and he did everything perfectly," Rutan said. "He totally made himself available whenever we needed him — which was a week here and a week there, since I was producing albums by other bands [including Six Feet Under, Vital Remains and Demiricous] at the same time. Then, when I could focus on Hate Eternal full-time again, he came down, and we finished everything up. He's a great player, and he's really dedicated and wants to work for the future."

Finding a bassist proved more complicated. Rutan originally planned to work with Jared Anderson, who had played with Rutan in Morbid Angel and on the first two Hate Eternal records before being ousted because of substance-abuse problems. But on October 14, 2006, Anderson died in his sleep of undetermined causes. Unable to find a suitable replacement, longtime friend and CANNIBAL CORPSE bassist Alex Webster stepped in to record. He'll also likely tour with the band.

The numerous hardships Rutan has experienced will be reflected on the new Hate Eternal record, which will be more diverse and emotionally expressive than the band's other two discs. "Jared was one of my best friends, and his passing away really affected me and influenced this record a lot," Rutan said. "It's a very dark and heavy record — not just heavy as in 'heavy metal,' but heavy-hearted as well."

Read the full story at MTV.com.