Former TESTAMENT/DEATH guitarist James Murphy has issued the following update regarding his upcoming DEATH tribute project, "Within The Mind - In Homage To The Musical Legacy Of Chuck Schuldiner" (web site), tentatively due in June through Holland's Mascot Records:

"This past Saturday [Feb. 21] I traveled to Orlando to Richard Christy's [ICED EARTH, ex-DEATH, CONTROL DENIED] warehouse where he and I practiced the songs which he will be playing on for the 'Within The Mind' project. on the first passes through the songs we nailed them... it sounded more like we had been playing together for months rather than minutes. Richard is a very disciplined and talented musician and clearly those traits, along with his love for the music of DEATH and Chuck Schuldiner, have pushed him to put a good amount of his free time into practicing for the upcoming session. The results will be awesome, I'm more than certain.

"It's also looking like a few more guests have been added, Matt Thompson of KING DIAMOND is tentatively scheduled to play drums on one or two tracks, his touring and recording schedule allowing, as is PISSING RAZORS/SINGLE BULLET THEORY vocalist/guitarist Matt DiFabio, barring OPETH drummer Martin Lopez's availability, the remainder of the drum tracks are scheduled to be recorded with Dave Culross of MALEVOLENT CREATION and SUFFOCATION fame.

"Immediately following the recordings with Richard Christy I will begin traveling to gather the rest of the performances. Currently planned destinations include California, Pennsylvania, Iowa, NY and Canada. More US locations and several European locations will also be visited before the project's end."

As previously reported, the project, which was conceived by CKY guitarist/vocalist Deron Miller as a means to help Murphy raise money for his medical bills (Murphy is currently receiving treatment for a massive brain tumor with which he was diagnosed in August 2001), is expected to feature a number of special guest appearances, including those by Miller, Murphy, Culross, Christy, Luc Lemay (GORGUTS), Patrick Mameli (ex-PESTILENCE), Jean-Francois Dagenais (KATAKLYSM), Mikael Thomson (SLIPKNOT), Paul Gray (SLIPKNOT), Brett Hoffmann (ex-MALEVOLENT CREATION), Ross Dolan (IMMOLATION), Mike Chlasciak (PAINMUSEUM, ex-HALFORD), and Terry Butler (SIX FEET UNDER, ex-DEATH, MASSACRE). Other musicians that are interested in participating (if their touring and/or recording schedules allow) include Peter Tägtgren (HYPOCRISY, PAIN), Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT), Eric Peterson (TESTAMENT, DRAGONLORD), Andy LaRocque (KING DIAMOND), and Ryan and Chad of MUDVAYNE.

According to Murphy, "the track selection will span DEATH's career from 'Scream Bloody Gore' to 'Symbolic', the thought being that the 'Sound of Perseverance' songs are too recent to consider for a tribute CD."