Under one year out from the release of their album The Arrow of Satan Is Drawn, Bloodbath has undergone a lineup change. Guitarist Joakim Karlsson (Craft, The Eternal Void), who joined the band in 2018, has announced he's leaving the group because "Bloodbath needs a lead guitarist." Which he says he is not.
Bloodbath will proceed with Tomas Åkvik of Lik has their live guitarist. Karlsson has not yet been officially replaced. Here's what he had to say about his departure.
"I am putting away my Bloodbath vest for good.
To be honest, I’ve never really considered myself a guitarist – at least not a particularly good one – just someone who plays guitar out of necessity because I wouldn’t be able to write my music otherwise. Bloodbath needs a lead guitarist; someone who can pull off these fast, evil solos and whatnot, and to be completely honest, that guy simply isn’t me. Bloodbath needs someone who can do it justice.
I have had pretty much only good moments with the band, and I’m glad to have been a part of it for the last year and a half, but now I’ll do other things. (I vaguely remember having a main band which hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves during the last year. I think I’ll focus on that for a while.) Alright… Later, Bloodbath fans. I hope I at least managed to trick some of you into listening to Craft.
By the way, some of you were making guesses about what songs I wrote for TAOSID. I wrote 'Wayward Samaritan' (music/lyrics), 'Only the Dead Survive' (music, together with former Craft guitarist John Doe), 'Ride the Waves of Fire' (music/lyrics) and 'Wide Eyed Abandon' (music)."
