Former Dragonforce Bassist Frédéric Leclercq Joins Kreator

Last month, longtime Dragonforce bassist Frédéric Leclercq announced that he was leaving the band under somewhat mysterious, but exciting-sounding, circumstances. Insisting that there was “no bad blood” between him and the band, Leclercq revealed that “I had an amazing opportunity that will be announced soon.”

Well, it’s soon now, and Leclercq has announced this indeed-amazing opportunity: he’s the new bassist for Teutonic thrash legends Kreator. Leclercq replaces Christian “Speesy” Giesler, who has been with Kreator since 1995’s Cause for Conflict.

Kreator frontman Mille Petrozza made the announcement on social media, although he didn’t specify why Giesler was no longer part of the group:

“Firstly, we would like to say thank you to Speesy for his time in Kreator over the last 25 years – we have accomplished so much, and I sincerely wish him the best in his future! A new chapter for KREATOR beckons; Bienvenue Frédéric Leclercq! Fred represents a new focus and hunger within Kreator and we’re extremely excited to have him a part of the KREATOR family – not only is he an exceptional musician but a great human being which made the decision to have him join the band very easy! We begin in Chile and continue on to some explosive years ahead!”

Although Dragonforce haven’t always been greeted with warmth by the “tr00” community, you can’t argue that Leclercq doesn’t have chops. What I’m saying is: he’s a strong addition to Kreator, so don’t flip out if you hate “Fire and Flames” or whatever.

Kreator will co-headline a tour of the UK and Europe with Lamb of God starting in March. Get tickets here.