STRATOVARIUS Officially Announce New Bassist

July 8, 2005

As reported here on July 3, Finnish melodic metallers STRATOVARIUS have now officially confirmed that they have enlisted bassist Lauri Porra (SINERGY, KOTIPELTO, TUNNELVISION, WARMEN) as the replacement for longtime member Jari Kainulainen, who left the group a few weeks ago. STRATOVARIUS have issued the following statement regarding the lineup change:

"Longtime bass player Jari Kainulainen has left STRATOVARIUS. There is no drama or bad blood. Jari just doesn't have it in his heart to tour this heavily anymore.

"Jari is not dropping out of the scene, he will continue to play metal.

"The new bass player is Lauri Porra. He is 27 years old and a native of Helsinki, Finland. He has previously played with SINERGY, WARMEN and KOTIPELTO."

Commented Lauri: "I'm very honored to be invited to play with STRATOVARIUS and follow in the steps of such a great bass player as Jari. I'm really looking forward to going on the road with STRATOVARIUS, to meet some old friends, and to hopefully make lot of new ones."

Check out pictures of the new STRATOVARIUS lineup at this location.

STRATOVARIUS' new self-titled album is scheduled for release on September 5 via Sanctuary Records. A video for the album's first single, "Maniac Dance", was shot on April 15 in Helsinki by director and guitarist Timo Tolkki's old schoolmate Antti Jokinen (BEYONCÉ, WYCLEF JEAN, KORN, MISSY ELLIOT, NIGHTWISH, SHANIA TWAIN, CELINE DION).

STRATOVARIUS will be teaming up with INTO ETERNITY for a North American tour beginning in mid-September.

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