OLA FRENNING DEPARTS SOILWORK

Guitarist Ola Frenning has split from Swedish melodic death metallers Soilwork, marking the second key guitarist to leave the band in the past year and a half and leaving bassist Ola Flink and vocalist Bjorn “Speed” Strid as the only two members left from the band’s second record Chainheart Machine. Frenning had been in the band for 10 years, joining them right after the recording of Steelbath Suicide for the accompanying tour and remaining with the band for 7 albums.

Frenning’s departure marks the end of an era of sorts, as the Wichers/Frenning combo was responsible for writing the large body of Soilwork material — and, who knew, according to the Wikipedia rats who already have Frenning listed as a former member, he was actually Wichers’ uncle.

The band cited Frenning’s difficulty with the touring schedule as the reason for the split, and Frenning cited the desire to focus on production and writing, an eerily similar situation to Wichers’ departure in late 2006. What’s up with the rest of these dudes, do they stink up the bus or something? But seriously, this information is actually consistent with what Frenning told us in an interview this past November. He cited road fatigue and stress as the reason for the band’s cancellation at Download Festival in 2006, and to this journalists eyes and ears he seemed tired and worn down even at that early stage in the touring cycle. Hey, touring isn’t easy and it’s certainly not for everyone.

In any case, we wish both Ola and Soilwork luck. The band has already announced David Andersson as the replacement guitarist for the upcoming tours, and Ola has promised updates on his other work via his MySpace page. We’ll get a chance to see the new guitarist at the upcoming Scum of the Earth tour with Throwdown and Through the Eyes of the Dead.

-VN