Pestilence Announce Replacement Bassist After Joost van der Graaf Quit to Spend More Time with Family
Being in a band is a huge commitment, so it’s only natural that sometimes people drop off from the touring and the albums to return to family life. Such was the case with Dutch death metal outfit Pestilence, whose bassist Joost van der Graaf announced that he was leaving the life to spend more time with his loved ones.
In a post on his Instagram page from back in June 26, van der Graaf expressed his love and admiration for his now former bandmates while giving a bit of advice to his replacement.
“After 3,5 years of great times on the road and in the studio it is now time for me to leave this party. Pestilence is one of my alltime favourite metalbands and it was an honor to be a part of this. I’ll be playing my last shows in September and it sure feels weird…. I will miss this… to the next bassplayer of this legendary machine I would like to say this:
“Consider yourself lucky because you’re about to work with some great people and have a great time! Thank you Michiel, Rutger and Patrick for the energy, inspiration and good laughs.
“Special thanks to all of you Pestilence fans for the constant support and appreciation.
“I am looking forward to spending more time with my family.”
His post also requested that people reach out to the band to try out as his replacement. Fast forward to today, and we now know who’s taking van der Graaf’s spot. Moving forward, Pestilence’s bass duties will be handled by Roel Käller, of Mayan.
Käller’s selection was made official in a post on the band’s social media accounts, stating that he “proved to be more than capable” of filling the role.
“Roel Käller will be taking over the bass duties from Joost van der Graaf. We did a practice with him and he proved to be more than capable to fill in the spot. Further, he is the nicest guy, well spoken, loves the same music styles and passed conservatory. I’d like to thank all the bass player participants for their interest, time and effort.”
Likewise, Käller said he was excited to get the nod and wanted to let fans know that he was one of them for so many years prior to joining the band.
“Hi everyone! I’ve known Pestilence since my teenage years, so joining these guys is something I wouldn’t have dreamed of back then! I feel honored to be taking part of this awesome band’s legacy! The guys in the band have welcomed me in the nicest way, and the musical chemistry already feels great! I can’t wait to get on stage with them and meet you all!”
Pestilence are reportedly working on a new album titled Portals at the moment. There’s no new news about when that album will come out, whether it’s later this year or next year, but once we know more, we’ll be sure to pass that information along.
