Defenders Of The Faith, le forum Metal

"I figured there would be a lot of questions circulating about 'me out of BLOODBATH' so I just would like to make a few comments before the rumours kicks in.

I received an email from Blakkheim today where I saw that my services as a member of BLOODBATH were no longer required.

"I must admit I didn't see that one coming!! But... I can totally see what the other guys are thinking about. (Tried to do the same to the EDGE OF SANITY guys in '97... but that one backfired pretty badly... ha, ha!!)

"Blakkheim and Jonas are touring musicians, living off their metal and I would just be 'in their way' with the constant, 'Sorry I can't go on tour because bla bla bla,' that's cool.

"Concerning the musical differences, I am a bit confused. As far as I can remember, I haven't even discussed the direction of my future BLOODBATH tracks. The announcement says that I tried to get BLOODBATH in a 'Moontower'/'Crimson' direction... That is not right... I have toyed with the idea to make a new album, using my own name, and revisit the style of those albums... Oh yes... What is a bit funny is that I actually wanted to write a bit more brutal songs for BLOODBATH the next time. I got inspired by working with the COLDWORKER album and the urge to write some complex, fast fucken brutal death came creeping back. (I have not always written 'TRL' death metal, you know... INFESTDEAD and some of the early EDGE OF SANITY material is kind of brutal, isn't it???)

"Anyway. I just wanted to clarify that I was NOT trying to pussify BLOODBATH and therefore got kicked out... Where this rumour came from and how the guys (without asking) just decided that I was on a different level musically... remains a mystery.

"I wish the guys all the best and hope they ask nice if they can play my songs live for you guys."

Bloodbath avait un nouveau chanteur (dont il ne peut pas dévoiler le nom), et que de toute façon il n'avait jamais considéré ce projet (Bloodbath) comme sérieux, juste quelque chose pour le fun. Il a par ailleurs indiqué que les autres membres du groupe voulaient passer au niveau supérieur concernant l'activité du groupe, ce que Mikael n'a pas réellement envie, lui étant déjà pas mal occupé

After parting ways with Mikael Akerfeldt in 2012, Bloodbath is finally now gearing up to record a new album.

The band's Facebook profile was updated with this puzzle asking fans to figure out who the new vocalist will be:

"UGHH! HEEEY! I SAID HEY! We got 10 songs down and we start recording drums next month!!! Still curious who's gonna sing on this one? Well, we'll leave you with these disasters to see if any of you smart-azzez can figure it out:

"Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors is found dead in his bathtub in Paris, France.

"A cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, in the Indian state of Odisha, kills 10,000.

"A fire at a 22-story hotel in Seoul, South Korea kills 158 people.

"A stairway crush as crowds leave the Rangers vs. Celtic football match in Glasgow, results in 66 deaths.

"A fire in a mental hospital at Burghölzli, Switzerland, kills 28 people.

"A landslide at Chungar, Peru crashes into Lake Yanahuani, killing 200.

"An earthquake lasting 20 seconds destroys most of Bingöl, Turkey – more than 1,000 are killed, 10,000 made homeless.

"An air crash at Rijeka Airport, Yugoslavia kills 78 people, mostly British tourists.

"The new singer for Bloodbath is born. Oh dear."

After previously revealing the beard of the band's still-unnamed new vocalist replacing former member Mikael Akerfeldt, Bloodbath has now issued the following teaser statement and image:

"We start recording drums in... 4 days! Meanwhile, the new singer calls in from his abode to make a it very clear that he accepts no 'smartphone metal' on this album! So it shall be done!"

Swedish death metal outfit Bloodbath will launch their new album in November.

Grand Morbid Funeral is the band’s first album since the departure of Opeth frontman Mikael Akerfeldt – and Metal Hammer will exclusively reveal the group’s new singer on September 16.

The album will be released on November 17 via Peaceville Records.

It’s their fourth full-length studio album and comes on the back of 2008’s The Fathomless Mastery and guitarist Anders ‘Blakkheim’ Nystrom says fans can expect “destructive, raw, heavy, organic and sludgy death metal.”

He says: “We’re proud of all these different styled releases and we loved doing each and every one of them, but the objective was never to settle with a certain style, so our time has come to shift once more.

“It was already decided right after the last album that the next record would not become The Fathomless Mastery part two, but in certain aspects it would actually become its antithesis.

“So prepare for an ultimate blueprint of destructive, raw, heavy, organic, and sludgy death metal.”

The band are due to appear at several festivals in 2015, including Inferno in Norway and the Maryland Deathfest in the US.

The album's tracklist will be issued closer to launch.

After months of speculation, wild guessing and scurrilous rumour, Bloodbath – Sweden’s horror-gorged death metal supergroup featuring Katatonia’s Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström, as well as past member Per Eriksson and Opeth’s Martin Axenrot –can exclusively reveal here the successor to former frontmen Peter Tägtren and Mikael Åkerfeldt. The new frontman for Bloodbath will be…

NICK HOLMES!!!

The Paradise Lost singer might be known these days for his sonorous tonnes, but Bloodbath’s forthcoming album, Grand Morbid Funeral released by Peaceville Records on November 17, will see the return of the ravenous and cavernous growl that marked Paradise Lost’s debut album, Lost Paradise, so expect an outpouring of sonic dread, blood-soaked riffs and monstrous grooves, dragged even deeper into the lair of the awesome by the guest appearances of Chris Reifert and Eric Cutler from supreme US filthmongers, Autopsy.

"Ever since I got into Lost Paradise back in 1990," says Jonas Renkse, "Nick Holmes has been one of my favourite growling vocalists out there. He was always audible and articulate but still deep and definitely morbid. It is a great pleasure to work with him some 25 years later after I was introduced to his thunderous roar!"

Adds Anders 'Blakkheim' Nyström: "Little did I expect to be working with the voice behind the death metal classic 'Lost Paradise', or the genre defining 'Gothic' and yet here we are decades later, fullfiling another death metal dream. With his sinister and ominous vocal delivery, it's an absolute pleasure to make Old Nick the bell-ringer in Bloodbath's grand morbid funeral!"

Death metal fans, your prayers have been answered. Hail Nick Holmes and raise your bloodied fists to the godless skies!