New Jersey emo-rockers My Chemical Romance and drummer Bob Bryar have parted ways, the band announced on their website.

“We wanted this news to come from us and not some bullshit gossip site,” guitarist Frank Iero wrote. “As of four weeks ago, My Chemical Romance and Bob Bryar parted ways. This was a painful decision for all of us to make and was not taken lightly.”

Last December, the band’s fourth album appeared to be on target for a Spring release, but now the remaining members are heading back into the studio, making a Fall 2010 on-sale date more likely. “We have been writing some very powerful new songs, so this week the four of us entered the studio once again, and what has been ending up on tape each night is some of the most exciting and honest work we have ever created,” Iero continued.

Reps for MCR’s label played seven new songs for SPIN staffers in December, which featured Bryar’s drum work, but now, with the band writing and recording again, it’s unclear how many of those tracks will make the final album.

At the time, Way spoke to SPIN.com about what to expect from the new material. Unlike 2006’s The Black Parade, the singer promised that the new album would not be conceptual. “At this point, the best way to describe the new album is My Chemical Romance being the purest, most distilled version of itself,” Way said. “No bells and whistles.”

Thematically, Way said the music was influenced by the band members’ New Jersey childhoods, the Springsteen-esque notion of “getting up and blowing out of town,” and how “a band and an audience can be immortal through rock’n'roll, even if just for one night.”

MCR previewed three new songs last August at a performance in Los Angeles — with Bryar on drums — including the Hives-inspired “Death By Disco.” You can watch video of the performance here.

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Hello Friends,

Recently it seems as though every time we write to you guys we have bad news, and we apologize for that, but we’ve learned in life you can’t have the sweet without the sour. As a band we have been very fortunate over the years that our sweet times have greatly outweighed the sour ones, and a great deal of that is owed to you, the fans. Which is why we wanted this news to come from us and not some bullshit gossip site.

As of 4 weeks ago, My Chemical Romance and Bob Bryar parted ways. This was a painful decision for all of us to make and was not taken lightly. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors and expect you all to do the same.

We also wanted to give you all a quick heads up on how the record is progressing. We have been writing some very powerful new songs so this week the four of us entered the studio once again, and what has been ending up on tape each night is some of the most exciting and honest work we have ever created.

We hope this letter finds you well, we miss you…
talk to you soon,
xo MCR

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Thanks to Gustavo for the heads-up! According to Portugese site Blitz, MCR are set to perform at Reading 2010. Of course, this is a RUMOUR, but seeing as they have a new album out this year, it could be a distinct possibility! The other headliners from that site include Linkin Park, Lostprophets, Blink-182, Green Day and Franz Ferdinand…if it’s true, I shall definitely be going

Currently, I am in my final year of University and my life is currently very, very busy. I am looking for a few people who wish to help out with the site in terms of news updates – if you have a working knowledge of WordPress (preferably some HTML skills, and your own site) and would like to help out, please leave a comment and I’ll get back to you. I really hate leaving this site un-updated, and I know MCR/Gerard news is very slow lately, but I don’t want the site to appear abandoned at all. Thanks!

I’ve just been uploading all the miscellaneous pictures I had saved on my laptop, including 3 photoshoots! There is also a brand new layout in the works, so stay tuned for that