"Relapse 2," the planned sequel to Eminem's comeback album, has been pushed back to next year. The album was originally scheduled to drop right before the end of 2009.

Instead Eminem has set a Dec. 21 release for "Relapse: Refill," a beefed-up edition of "Relapse." The enhanced version will feature seven bonus tracks, including five previously unreleased songs.

"I want to deliver more material for the fans this year like I originally planned," the rapper said via a press release this afternoon.

Those bonus cuts apparently include material originally intended for "Relapse 2," which Eminem says is now headed in a new direction.

"I got back in with Dre and then a few more producers, including Just Blaze, and went in a completely different direction which made me start from scratch," he said in the statement. "The new tracks started to sound very different than the tracks I originally intended to be on Relapse 2, but I still want the other stuff to be heard."