Switzerland's heavy metal formation Burning Witches announced that guitarist Larissa Ernst is expecting a baby this summer and will be therefore absent for some time. As a temporary replacement, the band introduce Courtney Cox from The Iron Maidens.

Statement from the band as follows: ''First of all, congrats to our shredder Larissa, she is expecting a baby this Summer. So all the best for this special time of your life sister! Yes, this came very unexpected and in the middle of the new album but that is life, the show must go on! We were looking for the BEST solution possible until Larissa is back from her maternity leave and we wanna introduce our good friend and fantastic guitar player Courtney Cox (The Iron Maidens) as her replacement. We are super thrilled she will be playing with us all the upcoming shows and you can see her shred already in the next WITCHES video.

[i]Larissa explains[/u]: "Dear fans, friends, metalheads, due to my motherhood I will not be regularly playing on stage for some time. I am very thankful, that my desire to have children got fulfilled, but I am missing my witch-sisters and you all already. I am glad that we found a good solution for the meantime and want to say thank you to my girls for their flexibility and love, to Courtney for playing the upcoming shows, to our amazing fans, label, supporters and to everybody involved! I am looking forward to seeing you all at future Burning Witches shows, stay metal!"

Mrs Cox adds: "Where do I even begin... I have been friends with the mighty WITCHES for a long time now and to be able to lend my guitar to their mighty coven is beyond an honor for me. To Larissa, I hope I make you proud. READY TO FIGHT! Love CC"

Source:	facebook.com
Band profile:	Burning Witches