Drummer Mike Smith has reportedly parted ways with US death metallers Suffocation. He posted the following message on his website: "There are not many things related to the Suffocation brand I can honestly say brings me sadness. Except, the lack of pride that exists within those who have the 'right' to claim the name as their own. This battle has been one that to any focused being, should make obvious sense but has evaded some for 2 decades. Within any foundation the weakest link will always cause all structure to crumble."

"The one fact that keeps me at peace is the fact that anyone who has ever seen or spoken to me regarding Suffocation and the industry as a whole, has always left with an understanding of the level of focus and pride that I personally hold for myself, the brand that is Suffocation and the genre we influence and helped create."

According to Blabbermouth, the band has then confirmed his departure in an interview for a [url= http://www.hitkiller.com/oficialnoe-zayavlenie-suffocation-o-raspade-gruppy-rechi-ne-idet.html]Russian webzine[/url] stating: "We want to keep this respectful, so without going into much detail, Mike and the rest of us had serious differences of opinions. Mike did formally resign from the band, and he has since been replaced by Dave Culross who had played and recorded on Despise The Sun. For all the people who think the band is splitting up, it's not, except for the one change we already mentioned above. As far as our next move, the new CD is in the pre-production stage and it kills! We would say some of the best material to date. The band right now as a whole can't wait to get this out to our fans."

However, neither the band nor the management/label have released an official statement confirming this even though Mike Smith has been replaced by Dave Culross in the band's most recent shows and is now featured in the band's Facebook page as their current drummer.

Source:	metalinsider.net
Band profile:	Suffocation