04/04/2012 20:17

Grand Magus

Grand Magus announce new drummer

Sebastian "Seb" Sippola has left the band in the run-up to the recordings of 'The Hunt'. Job an family preclude him from getting on with his drummer-activitys at Grand Magus. Above all he can't go on tour anymore because of temporally reasons. Sebastian did his last shows with Magus on the recent UK tour with Amon Amarth, and he played like a monster. He leaves the band in close friendship.

The new man behind the drums is Ludwig "Ludde" Witt (Spiritual Beggas, Firebird, Shining).

Sebastian comment to the entrance of Ludwig: "It took a load off my mind that Ludwig was chosen because he is a friend of mine. By the way, honestly and objective: In my opinion Ludwig is the best replacement for me because he already knows JB and Fox and he exactly knows which demands the drumming at Grand Magus will make on him. They will be a great team and I'm really looking forward to see them live - though I have no idea, how my reaction will be in this situation." But Sebastian won't chuck the sticks away: he'll keep on playing drums as "leisure activity".

Guitarist and vocalist JB states: "When Sebastian told us that he wanted to concentrate on his family and thus leave the band, it was a tough blow. How to move forward? I knew only one possible drummer who had the combination of old school rock drumming and metal chops like Sebastian and that's Ludwig Witt who I knew through my tenure in Spiritual Beggars. Me and Ludwig have stayed in touch after I left Beggars and I knew he was busy with other bands so I couldn't really hope that he would be available. But like it was destined to happen Ludwig agreed to do the album and join the band. It's weird, because just like it felt completely natural when Sebastian joined, it feels like Ludwig totally belongs in Magus! Ludwig is an awesome drummer and we are super excited to have him on board. We'll pound out the metal together starting end of May. Prepare for the HUNT!!!!!!!"

Ludwig commented: "Hi everybody, I'm very happy to announce that I Ludwig Witt am the new drummer of Grand Magus. I've known JB for over ten years and I've been a fan of GM since day one so it's great to be on board. At the moment I'm learning all the classic GM songs and I get a huge buzz from playing along to songs like 'Kingslayer' and 'Like the Oar Strikes the Water' so I can't wait to get out and play the stuff live together with the new stuff from our new album the hunt. See you on the road."

'The Hunt' will be released May 25, 2012 via Nuclear Blast.

(source: Grand Magus)