Back in 2016, Megadeth was seeking a permanent replacement to fill the hole Lamb Of God's Chris Adler left from being a studio-only guy. Megadeth's choice was a surprise to most, as it took on Soilwork drummer Dirk Verbeuren, who drummer for Soilwork between 2004 and 2016. During his time in Soilwork, he'd done other projects, but this time left the band to join Megadeth full time.
Soilwork took on 25-year-old live drummer Bastian Thusgaard, and has now officially announced him as the permanent new drummer for Soilwork! Thusgaard was a student of Verbeuren's, so it stands to reason that Bastian is ridiculously good at drums (he is).
"First and foremost, I would like to thank Björn, Sven, David, Sylvain, Markus and everyone else involved in the Soilwork team for their very warm welcome. I want to thank Dirk for his guidance, support and ability to inspire young drummers like myself, to put in the hours needed in order to make it to this level.
He is the reason that I’ve had my life’s best musical experiences during these past ten months. To the fans that I’ve already met around the world and all the wonderful people surrounding me, thank you for your great support and positive feedback. It has truly been overwhelming.
I am truly honoured to be given the opportunity to continuously work with Soilwork, a band that I grew up listening to and one of the key elements of my musical education. I am 100% committed to Soilwork and am looking forward to create music with my childhood heroes and to see what the future will bring. See you all on the road."
Soilwork adds that Thusgaard will be involved in the writing of a new album too! It's been two years since Soilwork's The Ride Majestic, and the band says it's writing, so hopfully sooner rather than later.
