DEVOLVED Parts Ways With Guitarist

John Sankey, drummer and founding member of Australian/Los Angeles tech-metal masters DEVOLVED, has issued the following statement in regards to the band's current status:

"After the recording of the last DEVOLVED album, 'Oblivion', guitarist Brett Noordin took some time off back in our homeland of Australia and will not be returning to Los Angeles to continue as part of DEVOLVED. It is an amicable decision and I wish Brett all the best with any future musical endeavors. His involvement with the band and dedication over the years is greatly valued. I have since been working on brand new DEVOLVED material with guitarist Mark Hawkins from Florida-based band ROBOTS PULLING LEVERS. Mark is an exceptional guitar player who definitely enables us to take the band's sound far beyond anything we have done before. He and I already have a number of new tracks completed which are easily the most intense and technically proficient DEVOLVED material to date.

"My vision for the next album is to make it as brutal as possible and return to a more death metal-orientated sound.

"The songwriting process for DEVOLVED has always been based around drum patterns, which I write first, then we build guitars and vocals around the drum arrangement.

"I had a lot of drum parts written for the 'Oblivion' sessions that were not used because I felt they were too extreme to fit with the concept and style of that album.

"We really wanted to expand the band's sound on 'Oblivion' and experiment with new ideas, which we hadn't yet incorporated on our previous CDs.

"I'm extremely proud of 'Oblivion' it is a very diverse album while still being very dark and heavy but this time around I want to focus more on making a far more brutal and in-your-face album, and working with Mark has definitely allowed me to do that!

"There are no plans as of yet for when the next album will be recorded or released, but we intend to have all the songs written and finalized over the coming months.

"Right now I am also very busy writing and recording material with two other Los Angeles-based bands I play in, THRONE OF ASHES and KAVAN. I'll also be out on the road again in the USA during October and November drumming with Texas band PINHED, as well as working on material for a few other projects I am involved in."

John Sankey is the founding member of DEVOLVED and was also the original drummer for DIVINE HERESY but was forced to leave the position due to visa issues. He and DIVINE HERESY guitarist Dino Cazares co-wrote tracks on the band's debut album, "Bleed The Fifth". Sankey also collaborated with Cazares on the song "Designing The Enemy", which appears on the latest FEAR FACTORY release, "Mechanize", and the song "No Mas Control", recorded with ILL NIO vocalist Cristian Machado for the "Roadrunner All-Stars" album.