PILEDRIVER Mainman Pulls Plug On All Band Activities

Lead vocalist Gord "The Exalted Piledriver" Kirchin of the Canadian cult metal band THE EXALTED PILEDRIVER (a.k.a. PILEDRIVER) has announced that the he has put all of the group's activities on hold while he deals with "numerous insurmountable obstacles and negativities that prevent me from moving forward at this time," adding that "it's only wise that I pull the plug until this metal machine works properly again and no-one else gets hurt". He explains: "Major health problems have been hampering live performances for over a year, and that's one of the numerous reasons for this season of 'downtime' for me right now. I need to have a few things fixed or adjusted, and I'll be back in the health saddle in a few months."

Kirchin's PILEDRIVER bandmates — guitarist Mark "Kinky Pork Cream" Kopernicky and bassist Rob "Lobo El Fsnort" Tollefson — kindly forced the hiatus move by tendering their resignations to the frontman on May 9, 2009 via e-mail, stating that they were doing so "because we love you". Kopernicky is presently working on an album with former bandmates NASTY BLACK and a solo album, and Tollefson is fond of drinking. It is not known at this time that they will be returning to the band lineup after the hiatus.

Another huge negativity preventing forward movement at this time for PILEDRIVER is the global economic downturn that has rendered this summer's "UnSuck The Continent Tour Of Europe" "a depressing financial bloodbath," and thus it is sadly cancelled. "We had huge unbookable holes in the schedule that essentially made the tour financially impossible for us at this time, and it is with great sadness that we must announce its cancellation," Kirchin states. "This really hurts us deeply on many fronts, and besides all the other cool gigs, my appearance at Headbanger's Open Air was something that I had lived my metal life to do, and now it's gone... this is killin' me!"

THE EXALTED PILEDRIVER's first album in 22 years, "Metal Manifesto", was released on November 18, 2008. The CD was mixed by veteran Neil Kernon (CANNIBAL CORPSE, NEVERMORE) and it follows up the classic cult discography of the band: "Metal Inquisition" (1985) and "Stay Ugly" (1986).

PILEDRIVER was founded in 1985 by Gord Kirchin. They were known for an over-the-top image and flamboyant song titles/lyrics ("Sex With Satan", "Alien Rape", "Sodomize the Dead", "Witch Hunt", "Human Sacrifice", etc). Probably their best known song was the title track of their debut album, "Metal Inquisition", which featured in the chorus the sound of a falling guillotine blade chopping someone's head off. The album was followed by "Stay Ugly" a year later.