VISIONS OF ATLANTIS Rejoined by Guitarist WERNER FIEDLER

December 1, 2007

Thomas Caser, drummer for the Austrian symphonic metal band VISIONS OF ATLANTIS has issued the following statement regarding the recent announcement that the group's Minnesota-based vocalist, Melissa Ferlaak, and her boyfriend, guitarist Wolfgang "Wops" Koch, were leaving the band:

"In the past seven years, I have dedicated ALL my energy into VISIONS OF ATLANTIS. I have been responsible to bring the band up from scratch — got all the record deals, shows, tours, did ALL the work there is besides the music and put all my personal interests aside so I can focus on the band. For this time I also put my professional career behind in order to focus on the band... I have seen people join and leave the band, understood all of their personal/musical views and have never had any hard feelings about them. But if you commit to something where other people are involved with, may it be bandmates, fans, record label, then you also have some sort of responsibility towards them. That's my (our) point and that is why we are upset with this situation. Or should we be happy??? I cannot go out and say, 'All the best to you, and thanks for leaving us before such an important tour.' This was crucial for VISIONS OF ATLANTIS, we could have hit a bigger audience, the tour we have always dreamed about... If it was 'only' Wolfgang leaving, we could live well with the situation, but it is our singer — our 'face' — who has left. And she left because he left, that's a fact. Fearing that the musical direction could become more 'Cast Away'-orientated.

"KAMELOT tour is cancelled [for VISIONS OF ATLANTIS], they are already looking for a replacement. So to all who have been looking forward to see VISIONS OF ATLANTIS live — please don't blame it on VISIONS OF ATLANTIS. VISIONS OF ATLANTIS will continue and we hope that you all stay with us!

"BUT we have some good news for you — our friend Werner Fiedler [guitar] is back in the band! He was mainly responsible for the songwriting of the first two records and we are happy that he's back!!!"

VISIONS OF ATLANTIS's latest album, "Trinity", was released in May via Napalm Records. The CD was recorded at Dreamscape Studios and was mastered at Finnvox Studios in Helsinki, Finland. The CD's cover artwork was created by Anthony Clarkson, who has previously worked with BLIND GUARDIAN, HYPOCRISY and EXODUS, among others.

Watch fan-filmed video footage of VISIONS OF ATLANTIS' September 28, 2007 performance at The Clubhouse in Tempe, Arizona:

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).