Wes Borland Back In Limp Bizkit

LAUNCH Radio Networks

Limp Bizkit has confirmed the return of guitarist Wes Borland to the band's lineup, signaling a reunion that both sides had sworn would never happen. Limp Bizkit's entire site--news, biography, photos, etcetera--has been replaced by a series of five photos, all showing Borland jamming with the rest of the Bizkit guys. The photos each bear the caption, "August thirteenth, two thousand and four." Borland's return also signals the end of former Snot axeman Mike Smith's tenure with the group. Smith played guitar on one Bizkit album, 2003's tepidly received Results May Vary.

Wes Borland left Bizkit in 2001, over the ever-popular reason of "creative differences." The move crippled both sides: Borland was unable to get a solo project going, and Bizkit leader Fred Durst launched a nationwide search for a replacement guitarist, ultimately settling on Smith.

The band has been writing their next album and reportedly plans to release it in February of 2005. In an interview with Limp Bizkit fan website TheArmpit.net, Durst said that date could change: "I do not know when we will finish recording this album. It will be released as soon as it is finished. The band is on another level at this point in time. A level, I believe, to be the most accomplished mentally we have ever been... the backbone of this unit is more solid than it has ever been."

With regards to the departure of Smith, Durst said, "We are very content with Mike being gone. We are the type of people that stay true to our family and our instincts and at any moment will act on intuition as a whole. Mike wasn't the guy. We had fun playing with him, but always knew, in the back of our minds, that he wasn't where we needed him to be mentally."

Durst added about the band's potential touring plans, "We will be touring as soon as the album is finished. So very soon. And it will be the one you don't want to miss."