Insomnium Address Guitarist Jani Liimatainen’s Absence
In a recent post on social media, melodic death metal band Insomnium addressed a seemingly strange situation where long-time guitarist and vocalist Jani Liimatainen had been missing from the band. As in he hadn’t been heard from “for a long time.” And how they’re forced to move on without him as a four-piece.
According to the statement, Liimatainen apparently ghosted his bandmates. Despite attempts to reach him, Insomnium as a band said Liimatainen was nowhere to be found. A quick look at his social media accounts shows that the dude’s been inactive for at least a couple months.
Rather than paraphrase what they said, here’s the band’s explanation for how things went down below.
“Many of you have been asking where Jani Liimatainen is and why there has been no update about his status in the band. The answer is weirdly simple: For a long time we didn’t know where he was and we could not reach him by any means.
“The reason why we did not address this situation publicly was that we hadn’t given up hope yet. Obviously, Jani has been a close friend and much-valued member of this band for years. We wanted to allow him to either solve the situation or at least provide a statement to his fans.
“Sadly it is now evident that Jani and the rest of Insomnium have different priorities. We have hence agreed to go separate ways and Insomnium will continue as a 4-piece unit from here on.
“This will not affect any of the forthcoming live shows: Ville Friman will be joining for the Finnish shows, Brandon Ellis (The Black Dahlia Murder) and Nick Cordle (Omnium Gatherum) have agreed to fill in the second guitar during the forthcoming North American tour.
“We wish Jani all the best in the future and want to thank him for the past years spent with Insomnium.”
While it’s great that the band will be able to continue without Jani thanks to Friman, Ellis, and Cordle stepping up for Insomnium’s upcoming live shows, it bears repeating that this is such a weird story to come out of seemingly nowhere.
As mentioned in their statement, Insomnium will be hitting the U.S. this spring with Omnium Gatherum and Wilderun. You can check out the full list of dates below.
INSOMNIUM
With OMNIUM GATHERUM & WILDERUN
Apr-11 Cambridge, MA – The Middle East
Apr-12 Montreal, QC – Théâtre Beanfield
Apr-13 Ottawa, ON – The Brass Monkey
Apr-14 Toronto, ON – The Opera House
Apr-15 Detroit, MI – The Magic Stick
Apr-16 Chicago, IL – House Of Blues
Apr-18 Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room
Apr-19 Englewood, CO – Gothic Theatre
Apr-20 Salt Lake City, UT – Metro Music Hall
Apr-22 Calgary, AB – Dickens
Apr-23 Edmonton, AB – The Starlite Room
Apr-25 Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre
Apr-26 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
Apr-27 Seattle, WA – El Corazon
Apr-29 San Francisco, CA – August Hall
Apr-30 Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco
May-01 Mesa, AZ – The Nile Theater
May-03 Austin, TX – Come and Take It Live
May-04 Dallas, TX – The Factory In Deep Ellum
May-06 Winter Park, FL – The Conduit
May-07 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
May-08 Charlotte, NC – The Underground
May-09 Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage
May-10 Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
May-11 New York, NY – Gramercy Theatre
