British thrashers EVILE have revealed the identity of their new bassist, who joins the band following the tragic and untimely death of their late bassist, Mike Alexander.

Mike Alexander passed away on October 5th, 2009 while the band was on tour in Sweden.

EVILE members Matt Drake, Ol Drake and Ben Carter have released the following statement:

"This has been one of the most bizarre and surreal tasks we've ever had to undertake. It isn't like Mike has decided to leave the band and we're simply finding a new bass player, he was taken from us, and we were forced to replace him. In effect we had to look for a new Mike, but that would never happen. He was one of a kind, and we'll never forget him.

"We had hundreds upon hundreds of emails from bass players from around the world (though we can only realistically have a bassist from the UK), and we want to thank everyone for taking the time out to contact us, and the people who came to jam with us. We only had a certain amount of time to actually audition/jam with bass players before the upcoming tours, to get time in for rehearsing the songs, getting visas sorted etc.

"Our new bass player goes by the name Joel Graham. He's an excellent, experienced bass player, and a really nice guy. We'd all appreciate it if you gave him a warm welcome to the band, as this must be a bizarre situation for him to be in also. We'll be getting some photos taken with him soon so you can see us with Joel, we just wanted to get the news out there that we have a new bassist, and that we thank each and every person for auditioning. Mike would be honoured at the amount of respect and admiration you expressed to us through contacting us."

EVILE are set to kick off a headlining European tour in January. The "Infecting Nations" tour will start with a run of UK shows, before the band heads off to mainland Europe. Joining EVILE on the tour will be American thrashers WARBRINGER and Israel's THE FADING.

The full "Infecting Nations" tour dates are as follows:

14.01.10 Cardiff, UK - Barfly
15.01.10 Wrexham, UK - Central Station
16.01.10 York, UK - Fibbers
17.01.10 Glasgow, UK - Cathouse
18.01.10 Newcastle, UK - University
20.01.10 Manchester, UK - Academy 3
21.01.10 Nottingham, UK - Rock City
22.01.10 Leeds, UK - Rios
23.01.10 Bristol, UK - Thekla
24.01.10 London, UK - The Underworld
25.01.10 Wolverhampton, UK - Civic Hall
27.01.10 Tilburg, Holland - O13
28.01.10 Kerkrade, Holland - Rocktempel
29.01.10 Aarau, Switzerland - KIFF
30.01.10 Prague, Czech Republic - Exit Chmelnice
31.01.10 Saarbrucken, Germany - Garage
01.02.10 Munich, Germany - Backstage
02.02.10 Milan, Italy - Zoe Club
04.02.10 Barcelona, Spain - Be Cool
05.02.10 Madrid, Spain - Ritmo & Compas
06.02.10 Lisbon, Portugal - Cine Teatro Corroios
07.02.10 Irun, Spain - Tunk
09.02.10 Luynes, France - Korigan
10.02.10 Paris, France - Glaz'Art
11.02.10 Braunschweig, Germany - B58
12.02.10 Osnabruck, Germany - Bastard Club
13.02.10 Chemnitz, Germany - Talschock
14.02.10 Vosselaar, Belgium - Biebob
16.02.10 Dudingen, Switzerland - Bad Bonn
17.02.10 Wangen, Germany - Jugendhaus
18.02.10 Nurnberg, Germany - Z-Bau
19.02.10 Copenhagen, Denmark - The Rock
20.02.10 Essen, Germany - Turock


View the official tour flyer at http://earacherecords.com/myspace/InfectingNations2010.jpg

For more EVILE news and information, head to http://www.myspace.com/evileuk

Source:	earache.com
Band profile:	Evile