Today, Opeth and Chimiara are both without keyboardists. Opeth fired relieved Per Wilberg of his keying duties, while Chimaria keyman Chris Spicuzza left to pursue other interests. Full details on both after the jump:
First up, Opeth issued a statement announcing Per Wilberg is no longer in the band. Sounds like it wasn't a pleasant exit:
Vocalist/guitarist Mikael Akerfeldt said: "Well, it’s been somewhat of a revolving door of members during the last couple of years, and now, Per is no longer a member. Mendez, Axe and Fredrik and I came to the decision that we should find a replacement for Per right after the recordings of the new album, and this came as no surprise to Per. He had, in turn, been thinking about leaving, so you could say it was a mutual decision. There’s no bad blood, just a relationship that came to an end, and that’s that. We wish Per the best, and he did a splendid job recording keyboards for the last record, which stands as his final recording with Opeth."
The band has already found a new replacement who will be recording with Opeth on their new record. Meanwhile, Chimaria's now former keyboardist, Chris Spicuzza issued the following statement to thePRP as to why he left:
“As of early January I decided to leave Chimaira. The choice was extremely tough and stewed around in my mind for quite awhile. Many things led to this decision. The situation in Chimaira had ultimately become a negative environment that I had to get out of. Secondly, the music industry is completely fucked and honestly, I became concerned for my future. The amount of work and stress I took on got the best of me. I guess if you’re not happy or having fun, what’s the point?
As far as the new Chimaira album, I have not contributed to it. There is no doubt in my mind that Chimaira’s sound will not suffer minus my presence. The demos I heard showed great potential and I’m sure the album will melt faces. I’m proud to say I was on five Chimaira albums and wish those guys the best.
I’ve decided to shift gears from music to gaming. A group of friends and I started up a mobile gaming company. We’re about to launch our first iPhone game. It’s a location based RPG. Think of it as foursquare meets Mafia Wars but full of zombies. If you’re interested you can follow us on twitter, @irlgaming, or visit www.irlgaming.com.
I will always cherish the amazing worldwide journey Chimaira gave me. I took many things for granted that I now regret. Watching our last DVD helped me realize how fucking amazing our fans are. Thank you for being so passionate. I have a lifetime of memories thanks to you.
The dude who made noise and headbanged, Spicuzza.”
