Well this sucks. Half of legendary Swedish death metal band Grave has quit and all the band's live shows have been put on hold. Bassist Tobias Cristiansson and guitarist Mika Lagrén have departed Grave on good terms, leaving frontman Ola Lindgren and drummer Tomas Lagrén as the only members of the group.
Lindgren states that Grave will attempt to reconfigure themselves throughout 2024 and potentially work on their first new record since 2015. Here's hoping this all works out, as seeing a massive band like Grave go under would be severely disappointing.
"The past months have been quite overwhelming in the Grave camp. Two of our long-time members Mika Lagrén and Tobias Cristiansson have jumped ship and are no longer in the band. There is no bad blood between us and we wish them all the luck in their future endeavors.
"However this puts an enormous strain on the band and it's hard to see what the future holds and if there even is a future. At this moment nothing is for sure and nothing is taken for granted.
"A decision has been made to halt all live activities for 2024 since there really is no line up which makes necessary preparations impossible.
"The main focus for this year will be to restructure the band if possible and to hopefully write/record and release a long awaited new studio album.
"Into the darkness – Into the…
/Ola"
Maryland Deathfest has also issued a statement regarding Grave's situation (as they were supposed to headline the festival), adding: "We recently had the news dropped on us that Grave are cancelling all live shows in 2024. If you'd like to read the statement that was sent to us, please see below. Needless to say, this situation is beyond our control.
"Soilent Green have confirmed to play on Saturday, May 25th at MDF XIX.
"Severe Torture are now joining the post-MDF shows with Bloodbath, Primordial, and Archgoat in Chicago, Seattle, Mesa, and Los Angeles. For what it's worth, Bloodbath, Primordial, and Severe Torture already have their US visas secured, and based on the timeline of approvals that we've been seeing recently, Archgoat is one of the next in line for approval."
