Soilwork Parts Ways With Guitarist Ola Frenning

This statement comes from their Myspace blog:

"Swedish metallers Soilwork, who recently completed the Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage U.S. tour in support of their new album Sworn to a Great Divide, have decided to part ways with guitarist Ola Frenning.

It was felt that Ola resisted the demands of the road and found it difficult to come to terms with the amount of touring scheduled.

Sworn To A Great Divide is Soilwork's fastest seller and the live demand for the band is growing. They intend to play everywhere and fulfill the album's potential.

Vocalist Björn "Speed" Strid says: "It was a very difficult decision to make because Ola has been our friend and bandmate for a very long time."

The decision will not affect any of Soilwork's plans. Guitarist David Andersson will fill in on their upcoming Finnish/Baltic tour as well as the "Scum Of The Earth" U.S. tour with Throwdown. The band will then tour Australia, Japan and Southeast Asia before returning to Europe for festivals and a headlining U.S. tour in the fall.

Ola Frenning comments: "After 10 years, seven albums and several world wide tours, we've realized that we have developed in different directions and have a different set of values, profession wise. The disagreements have reached their peak and it has become an untenable situation. The band's solution is that I part ways with them so that I won't be in the way for the future plans of Soilwork. However, since I'm not gonna be on the road (at least for a while), I will now be able to continue with my songwriting and producing at another level. For further information, visit www.myspace.com/olafrenning. The page will be updated in the near future. Cheers to ya all... And thanks for making these 10 years with the band memorable.""

So is this the end of the mighty Soilwork? I doubt it. It may be the second departure in as many albums, but there are many bands who have constant line up changes that survive. If anything, the departure of Peter Wicher was a more significant shift for the band, since he was pretty much their backbone being the main songwriter.

I personally want to wish Ola the best of luck in the future, and I'm really looking forward to hearing what he does next!