It is with sadness in our hearts that we must say goodbye and announce the departure of drummer David Hurley from ASTRA. He has been with the band from the beginning and is one of the founding members. His unique style of playing helped form and shape the ASTRA sound and he was also an integral part of the writing of both of our albums. Unfortunately for us, the road of life is taking Dave in a new direction away from the band. He is an amazing drummer and a close friend and he will be missed. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors, wherever they may lead.

This is by no means the end for ASTRA. We would like to give a warm welcome to our long time friend and our new drummer, Paul Marrone. Paul is a fantastic drummer and fellow long-haired freak that we have had the pleasure of watching in several great bands (Radio Moscow, JOY, Psicomagia) over the past year and he was our ideal choice. While Dave will be missed, we know that Paul will add his own, new uniqueness to our sound and we are beyond excited to be working with him. Rehearsals are going great! We'll be ready to play shows again shortly and more importantly continue the writing for our third album!

Roadburn has just announced the debut album from Paul's band Psicomagia in which ASTRA's own Brian Ellis plays saxophone. Check out the news and great promo video.