Los Angeles metallers FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH have been forced to cancel a series of June dates in Europe due a combination of events; these involve both personal matters plus the necessity to finish mixing the tracks for second studio album, "War Is The Answer", due to be released worldwide in late August.

Commented the band: "In terms of the recording side, we were keen to work with Randy Staub (who has mixed METALLICA, STONE SOUR, and many more) on the album mixes, but due to Randy's tight schedule, [we] were only able to secure his services at a time that makes it impossible for the tour to take place. We apologize to our Europeans fans for the change in schedule, but promise to be back for a full run of dates this fall."

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH will still be playing the Download festival on June 13 at Donington Park, United Kingdom. However, this is the only date the band could keep on this current run due to the above-mentioned conflicts.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Zoltan Bathory recently stated about the band's upcoming sophomore album, "The new record has been co-produced by Kevin Churko, who was heavily involved with OZZY's [OSBOURNE] 'Black Rain' album.

"In terms of the overall style, I would say that we've continued the journey we started on the first album, so there's a healthy balance of melody and aggression, and as always we concentrated on writing strong metal songs in the traditional sense. There's some epic moments on the record, and there's some straight-up home-wreckers, too. All I can say is, those who liked our first album are going to LOVE this one!"

Bathory told The Pulse of Radio that he wasn't worried about coming up with material for the band's second studio effort. "We have a lot to say," he said. "I tell you what, we're not going to be hurting for material for a long time probably. We have like three, four albums worth of stuff. So it's not gonna be an issue. It's pretty much just the mechanical part of like, you know, like properly recording the songs. You have to go to a good studio, you know what I mean, you have to spend some time. But all the material, yeah, we have a lot of stuff."

The band's next album will follow up its 2007 debut, "The Way Of The Fist", which has sold 328,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The CD produced three singles, including "Stranger Than Fiction" and "Never Enough".

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH did confirm the departure of guitarist Darrell Roberts in January, replacing him with former ALICE COOPER axeman Jason Hook.