DARKSIDE Split With Guitarist, Exchange Verbal Jabs

Austrian death metallers DARKSIDE have parted ways with bass player and founding member Peter Böhm shortly after the group's return from their European tour with MORTICIAN and CARNAL FORGE. Peter reportedly left the band because he felt DARKSIDE were “trapped in a musical one-way street and at a dead-end image wise,” according to DARKSIDE's official web site. “Furthermore [Peter] feels he has nothing more to offer to the band, musically speaking.”

Meanwhile, singer and remaining founding member Wolfgang Süssenbeck has issued a statement of his own. According to Wolfgang, “[This] is the first time in the history of DARKSIDE that somebody leaves the band unforced. Well, after all I am not surprised that it went this way, as Peter was responsible for a lot of intrigues inside the band over the past few years, which in 1996 and 1997 led to my temporary elimination from the band, as well as to the definitive departures of Robert, our former drummer, in 1998 and finally the forced farewell to Peter Durst, formerly singer and guitarist in DARKSIDE, in late 2000. Even our new drummer Bernd experienced his behavior when his project ICE EDGES was abused by Peter Böhm to bring up against each other the rest of the members of DARKSIDE.

“What is really sad is the coward behavior and the way in which Peter announced his decision to us. I personally did not see him since the end of the tour. On the other hand, I do not wonder that much, cause acting straight and showing spine was never one of Peter's strongest virtues. He has been forming a new band lately together with the two former DARKSIDE members Peter Durst and Robert Grögler under the moniker of DESPERADO INC. When I asked him about this project, his lapidar comment was: 'Well, you know, I just wanted to give them back some sense into their lives...but this is going to remain a project for the studio, we will never ever play live, cause you know, with those people it doesn't make sense...'

“This is a perfect example of how Peter is behaving towards all people he is involved with. He just picks people up or drops them according to their importance to his actual endeavors. Also it perfectly shows the role, in which Peter sees himself: the unselfish, goodhearted nice guy with the healing hands, who gives support and sense to everybody, regardless of his own misery. But don't you never turn your back...

“I already got notice of several bad rumors going around about DARKSIDE and the remaining members of the band. That's why I immediately took some legal actions to protect the future plans of the band. A package with the already existing demos and lyrics for the next DARKSIDE album has been brought to a lawyers office to secure the composers rights for guitar, keyboards and lyrics, because at this point of time nobody knows what Peter is planning to do next.

“He has cut his hair (similar to the singer of NICKELBACK) changed his style of clothing and is now trying to be the serious guy...

“He asked me to stop all concert booking until September 2002 on one of the last days of the tour, which was of course unacceptable for me, cause DARKSIDE is having a new album out, which needs to be promoted and of course this would also mean a big disappointment for our label in their efforts to push the release. His reason for this was that he would be too much involved in producing bands during the next months.

“Peter has his own studio, but he uses the contacts gained through DARKSIDE to produce the bands in the Exponent Studio, a contact he would have never gained without DARKSIDE. To be honest, I don't understand, why he is doing that...well, I think I know the reasons, but...this pretty much reminds me of the situation in 1997, when I was told on the phone that I wasn't in the band anymore while I was staying in Prague - just to give him time enough to steal all my contacts and addresses, which were situated at our drummer's house, from where I used to do promotional work for the band. After that he started to call up a series of persons, amongst them some of my personal friends, to talk sh.t about me, that I would have stolen money from the band, that I would be a liar and blaming things on me that he had done himself.

“Peter is quite unhonest to a lot of people in his surroundings at this point of time, some will realize, some won't...I only do hope, he does not behave the same way while treating the bands that trust him, as he did with ALL members of DARKSIDE, those of the present and those of the past. A lot of times he acted in certain ways towards people involved with the band and afterwards would not be able to take over the responsibility for his actions simply just because he was afraid of the consequences...this happened during the auditions for a singer that we held last year - he had already made up his mind, but he would not tell the people...those 2 guys will now finally know how it went and not blame it on me anymore.

“I also need to refer to the cancelled tour of DARKSIDE and NO RETURN last November. Three weeks before the tour, after some arguments on a former of his girlfriends, he told me that he would quit, so I had to cancel everything in last minute. 10 days later he came up with an excuse proponing me that I should blame it on the drummer. I would like to once again apologize to all the people involved in that sad accident.

“This is a sad day for me. Somebody I considered to be a real friend is talking sh.t about me and tries to destroy everything that I was working for the last 9 years. I risked my existence more than once for this band, renounced on family life and invested incredible amounts of money in the progress of DARKSIDE by paying tour supports, caravans, gasoline and even food for the whole band on several tours through Europe in the past few years from my own pocket and I´m not going to look at like somebody is trying to take this all away from me. I hear bad stories about me, my family, my friends, all invented by somebody I trusted...! - What makes me feel a bit of relieve is that now there will be nobody anymore constricting me to lie to other people and hopefully nobody will intrigue anymore within the band and their members!!!

“I am angry, furious and I have tears in my eyes...

“But I will not surrender!

“DON'T HUNT WHAT YOU CAN'T KILL!

“I already said much more then I ever wanted to reveal on this topic, so now here once and for all I close this topic and will not answer any more question about this person. As if he was dead...”