Arthur von Nagel - bassist, lyricist and vocalist of Cormorant has left the band to pursue a career in video games. Arthur, who is also one of the founding members of the extreme progressive metal band, detailed his reasons for leaving in a lengthy post which read:

"It is with great deference and gratitude to our fans and supporters that I announce my departure from Cormorant. After the overwhelming reception for Dwellings and national tours with longtime personal heroes, I feel fortunate to end this chapter of my life on a high note. Nick, Brennan, and Matt will continue to write and perform as Cormorant with my full support. The albums we created together were very personal to all of us, and I know the music they are composing now is of the same passion and honesty. I cherish our time working together, and I wish them the best.

I am taking a break from music to pursue my career in video games?another lifelong passion. Since May of this year, I have been at Telltale Games, hard at work on The Walking Dead episodic adventure series. Contributing to the game's development has afforded me artistic fulfillment I never thought possible professionally. Thanks to the many colleagues I count as friends and projects I care deeply about, I look forward to going to work every morning for the first time in my life."...more at this location.

---

While the rest of band continues to look for a replacement, they explained that they are already working on a new album and follow up to Dwellings which was released in 2011. A release has been tentatively set for next year.

The band wrote: "As for the future of Cormorant, we're pleased to announce that we've been diligently working on new material and currently have 5 songs in various stages of completion. These new tunes are a further progression from the music on Dwellings, with more pronounced doom and black metal influences. We're looking forward to recording new material sometime in 2013. As for replacing Arthur, our focus is entirely on writing new music right now. Obviously a replacement will be announced in the coming months, but for now, we feel strong and confident as a trio and are enjoying writing some of the best music we've ever written.

Cormorant has always been (and will always be) a collective effort between the musicians involved. The band started as a 3-piece, then evolved to a 4-piece, and now it's time for the third incarnation. Will Cormorant sound different now that our former vocalist/bassist/lyricist is no longer involved? Unquestionably. But our music has always been based on consistent progression, and the future will be no different. Dwellings sounds vastly different than Metazoa, which in turn sounds entirely different than The Last Tree. Our forthcoming work will reflect this progression, and we're very excited about the prospect of experimenting with new vocal approaches, bass stylings and lyrical content."

Source:	facebook.com
Band profile:	Cormorant