Paul Mahon, guitarist for Irish rock band THE ANSWER, has issued the following update:

"Hey guys,

How's it goin? Let me start by offering our condolensces to the family of RONNIE JAMES DIO, one of the greatest voices in rock will be sorely missed! I first heard Dio when the opening chords of 'The Last In Line' belted out to open up that long lost lost but favourite program of my childhood, The Power Hour. A subsequent visit to John Digney's market stall furnished me with all the knowledge a young metalhead would need and Heaven And Hell, Holy Diver and Rainbow Rising were purchased. I have Stargazer blasting as I write this and it still is one of the most intense and exciting musical journeys ever committed to tape!

We were lucky enough to meet the man at the Classic Rock Awards and to see him in concert with HEAVEN AND HELL at Sweden Rock 2007, during which Cormo was so impressed with Mr. Dio's pipes he became a convert to Mob Rules which was never off the ipod in the dressing room and airport waiting rooms for years to come. Thanks Ronnie for the great voice, music and performances that will live on forever and rest in the knowledge the world of music and the wider world are a better place due to your contributions! We will all miss you! 'If your circle stays unbroken you are a lucky man, cause it never ever has for me, in the palace of the virgin lies the chalice of the soul and it's likely you might find the answer there!' Ronnie James Dio. Rest in peace, gone but not forgotten!

On a brighter note we have been working away diligently on the new album and it's getting there. As I said before, we will be exploring some new avenues and working down a few old streets. Recording in earnest should begin in the summer.

On May 12th I ended 22 years of hurt and finally got to see METALLICA! I got And Justice For All just after they played The Antrim Forum and never got the chance to see them. I kept missing the trip down to The Point or Rds and should have been there on the Load tour, Garage Inc. and St. Anger but fate seemed to keep us apart. Well it was worth the wait, it was fucking awesome! Metallica... Belfast f$$king loves u baby! I'm a big fan of 'Death Magnetic' and 'That Was Just Your Life' and 'Cyanide' with the lasers and all fucking blew me away to kick off the show! Even songs like 'The Memory Remains' were good. Hetfield had the crowd in the palm of his hand singing the Marianne Faithful refrain like a church choir long after the final chord had died out. It was a special moment in the show due to a song that barely gets a footnote in the history of Metallica's recorded output.

'Unforgiven' was magical, 'Harvester', 'Sad But True', 'Battery', 'Puppets', 'Hit The Lights', 'One', 'Seek', 'Sandman', 'Nothing Else', 'Four Horsemen', 'Judas Kiss', 'Fuel' all sounding good and heavy as fuck! 'The Day That Never Comes' though was perhaps my favourite song of the night, it was just the right song played at the right point in space and time and is a testament to the rebirth of Metallica, that a new song was my fav in a set of heavy hits I had waited 22 years to hear live in the flesh!

Even Lars couldn't ruin the night for me, though he was a little sticky on some of the transitions in the more technical pieces though he has cemented himself as the Phil Rudd of the thrash metal four to the floor. Anyway, I hope they get in the studio asap and record a classic!"