Evergrey have finally made their "big changes" announcement. The full statement goes as follows:

"As promised here is the first part of news regarding Evergrey as a band. At first it might seem devastating and frightening as it did to us when making this decision. People change, evolve and grow, sometimes in different ways and in different directions. This happens to everyone and it has certainly happened to Evergrey as a band throughout the years.

Me and Rikard Zander (keyboards) have together with guitarist Henrik Danhage and drummer Jonas Ekdahl made the mutual decision that it was best for us all that they leave Evergrey. They wanted to and we wanted them to. The last tours, recordings and just hanging with each other has not been as fun and giving as earlier and before it would go too far, resulting in a collision in between friends, which could ruin everything we have built up during the years, we decided to call it quits. It's sometimes both smart and foreseeing to end situations before they get out of hand and create something that is totally unnecessary and irreparable. To be in a band must be experienced as fun, giving and fulfilling. There is so much time during a life as a touring musician that is boring that if you don't even enjoy yourself while playing then it's better to do something else.

Henrik and Jonas also got DeathDestruction that also has evolved and became more and more serious during the years and now they even recorded a debut album and naturally it felt fresh and reviving for them to enter something new and unexplored as opposed to Evergrey where they more or less experienced the same things over and over.

It is very important for us to tell you that we are still great friends and most likely always will be since we have shared 10 years of our lives and dedicated it to the progress and evolvement of Evergrey. The friendship is what we value the most and nothing could be more important than that, at least for the four of us.

So please take some time to digest and understand. That is what we have done and I am glad to say that all of us are happier than in a long time. This is something I think you can feel when watching the video version of the statement.

But that is not the end of it. Jari Kainulainen (bass) also decided to leave the band, and the reason was that he would rather play with a band called Killing Machine as they could offer him a salary we couldn't and that was the sole reason of his decision. We were really sad to see Jari leave as he is a tremendous bass-player and person.

I know what you all are thinking... Enough with depressing news. So to something brighter: with all these new situations we were facing, me and Rikard had to sit down to think. First thought was of course "Fuck this... let's get a day job" but after a couple of weeks of contemplating and silence we realized something:

Should we quit what we are doing, something that we still love as much as ten years ago, if not more, because of someone else disappearing, I mean it's not like it's the first time it happens and it never made Evergrey stagnate or lose its edge, quite the contrary. So should we continue to make the music that we and you enjoy deeply? As you understand we have chosen to continue.

We have a full album written and half-way recorded. Last recording/mixing day will be June 30th. And a release before or at the latest on the 14th of October is set. We will soon (as we use to) start feeding you snippets.

We also have a European Tour coming up - starting next Sunday in Hamburg. And to be able to do that tour we must have new members, and we do! So please be open-minded and welcome:

Marcus Jidell (ex-Royal Hunt) on guitars;

Johan Niemann (ex-Therion, Mind's Eye) on bass;

Hannes Van Dahl on drums.

So be sure to bring your cd's of the above mentioned bands to the shows to have them signed. These are the guys we have been working hard with to rehearse the old songs and writing the new ones. And today was our last rehearsal for the tour and I must say it sounds great in a way I didn't expect after such a short time. There is not a chance in hell you will be disappointed in the performance of these guys. So that's why we do this tour... to bring and present the new guys to you and also at the same time get the chance to play the cities we didn't do on the November tour of course.

As with any change, when you give it time you realize that it's turned out for the better. So far in this ever-lasting changing of members in Evergrey, it's always turned out great and brought fresh blood and motivation into the band, and the level of wanting to prove ourselves as a band is higher than ever before. We do have some other great news that surely will bring this band to another level but as of yet we are restricted to speak about it.

So don't give up on us, you never have, and we love you for it!"

Source:	evergrey.net
Band profile:	Evergrey