Portuguese metallers WITCHBREED - the band formed by bassist Ares (ex-MOONSPELL, DEEPSKIN) and guitarist Dikk (ex-DEEPSKIN) - have parted ways with singer Ruby Roque (also THE PROJECT HATE).

Roque's statement reads as follows:

"As some of you might know, I left Witchbreed due to my health that doesn’t allow me to jump or bang my head until the other half of 2011, it wasn’t fair for me to delay Witchbreed’s work so, they are now looking for a new singer. I am not leaving The Project Hate. I am with them as they are with me, as you know TPH don’t tour, so it doesn’t affect my life with them and even if they did tour, after May, I will be ready to rock the stages again! So be prepared because Ruby and TPH are forever! So in the first half of 2011 the album of TPH will be out and you can still hear me make some serious damage!!"

Witchbreed’s official statement can be found below:

"We are sorry to announce that due a very risky pregnancy Ruby (singer) was medical advised to stop all music activities that include physical effort of any kind; obviously that health comes first and we made the decision to put a break on Witchbreed. Ruby let us knew about her serious health issues sometime ago when she was diagnosed with tumour/cancer which by the time was not prohibitive of any music activity. So we all carried on hoping everything would work fine for her, Unfortunately now with her early pregnancy being at risk she informed us that she really needed a healing break from music. For the rest of us (Ares, Dikk, Filipe and Hollow) the four guys behind the music of Witchbreed, this is not a

easy decision but it's probably the best and most human(!) decision we could make at this point, we wish Ruby all the best for her health and upcoming child.

Having said that we were eager to play all the live dates we had booked for the upcoming year as well as the most immediate gigs including the show next Friday at the Hard Club in Oporto, we had high expectations for this show being the first time we would play in Oporto for an apparent growing crowd and everything was ready for a very special night. The recordings for our sophomore would be next, the second Witchbreed album is half way finished and will have to be put on hold a well.

As for the future, this is not meant to be a 'Ba(n)d Ending' statement of any kind, the four of us (Ares, Dikk, Filipe and Hollow) are already working on new material and are now looking for a vocalist (M/F) to complete this new cycle. So anyone interested in fronting an heavy, dark and mystic unit please get in touch!! We are ready to go in studio and blast on recordings and live shows, we are interested in hearing from devoted artists with an ambitious spirit who feel have something to say through lyrics and stage presence."

Interested parties are urged to contact:

Tiago Lopes - hollow.death@gmail.com

Filipe Sousa - emansousa@gmail.com

For more info visit Myspace.com/witchbreed.