Katatonia Lose Two Members

Brotherly metallers Fredrik 'North' Norrman and Mattias 'Kryptan' Norrman, who'd played guitar and bass respectively in Sweden's Katatonia, have announced their decision to depart the band.

"We respect their decision and would like to take the opportunity to collectively thank them both for all the years gone by, all the ups and downs we shared out on the road, in the studio and basically the memories and moments we shared of our 20s growing up together," Katatonia says in a statement. "Fredrik was with us for 15 years and Mattias for 10 years, and we were lucky to have the same intact lineup going since 1999, but it's true what they say -- all good things come to an end."

According to Katatonia, they've found temporary replacements for their upcoming tours "and this will not affect any of our agenda or plans for 2010." Taking over for Fredrik will be longtime guitar tech and Bloodbath guitarist Per 'Sodomizer' Eriksson and taking over for Mattias will be Niklas 'Nille' Sandin. The band plans to find permanent replacements soon.

Fredrik says that the move to leave Katatonia "is definitely the hardest decision I've ever made. It's absolutely grievous to say the words 'quit Katatonia,' even worse to make it happen. It's been 15 really good years and I would like to thank the guys in the band and all people that I've meet on the road." Mattias Normann's own statement echoed his brother's sentiments.

"This decision was probably the toughest I have ever made," he says. "The reason for this is many small factors that makes it hard for me to be away from home this forthcoming year. It's going to be a lot of touring in the future so the time for this decision had to be done now. And I will point out that there is no personal argue between us in the band, just that the time for touring isn't right for me ... This is not what I wanted, but family always comes in the first place. I really hope that one day when the time is right be able to continue the journey with the band."