WITHERING SURFACE Guitarist Explains Decision To Split Up

In a statement posted at the Antenna webzine, guitarist Allan Tvedebrink of the Danish metallers WITHERING SURFACE elaborated on the group's announcement last week that they were splitting up after ten years. Tvedebrink's statement reads as follows:

"As most of you might have heard, WITHERING SURFACE decided to split up after more than ten years together. It's been ten great years with both good and bad times that have tighten the band together as a little family.

"On that count, I'm afraid that I won't be able to supply you with nasty details about fights, backstabbing or mud-throwing, that might crank this feature a notch up on the interest scale for some readers.

"To most of you the break came from out of nowhere indicating that something outrageous had happened, but the truth is that this development has been in the process for way longer than anyone outside the band can ever imagine. The reason for us to keep this band going until now — and for nobody noticing — is because we are all very good friends and because we wanted to pay due respect to our music, to our latest album as well as our label, and in respect for our fans. At this point, we feel that we have done what we could for 'Force the Pace', both promotion-wise and in venues in both Denmark and around Europe, and all in all done what we could to round off WITHERING SURFAC in the best way possible.

"One of the greatest forces (both socially and creatively) in WITHERING SURFACE has always been the individuality of all the members. As I see it, that force also lead to the end of the band. Having different interests, views and intentions leads to different goals, priorities and means. As we have all grown older and developed these features and independent lifestyles, it's been tough to keep common goals and the connecting thread that we needed for WITHERING SURFACE to grow stronger.

"This left a great number of different reasons to split up the band. For my own reasons, I've missed most importantly what I've regarded as the most important goal from the beginning: 'Having fun playing music together'. For me, WITHERING SURFACE has been more about accounts, contracts, newsletters and general administration, than about music. Also, I haven't shared my views on running a band our size professionally (musically or practically) with the other members.

"We are all still good friends and we will pursue our dreams and goals in other bands, maybe even together some day."