VREID Parts Ways With Guitarist, Announces Replacement

January 5, 2010

Norwegian band VREID has issued the following update:

"In late December we got the news from [guitarist] Ese that he could not continue to play with VREID. This was, of course, very sad news, as Ese has been a member of VREID since the beginning in 2004. We respect his decision, and want to thank him for all his great work during the five years, four album and almost 200 shows for the VREID brigade.

"After the news from Ese, we immediately had a band meeting to look into the situation. 2009 was a demanding and hard working year for VREID, and it doesn’t seem as 2010 will be in any different. We will do a lot of shows, and we will spend a lot of time recording our fifth album. This meant that we had to start looking for a new guitarist.

"Our first choice was a choice without discussions. We asked Stian Bakketeig (a.k.a. Strom) to join us. To our delight, he was ready for the task, and is now officially the new VREID guitarist.

"We have known Strom since the early 1990s, and he joined our previous band ULCUS back in 1996, later on we played with him for several years in WINDIR. Strom was our number one choice as he is the best guitar player we know, the social connection is perfect, and we have a strong history together.

"We will use the first two months of 2010 working on new material and rehearsing our live set with Strom. We have made a list of songs that we will rehearse to play live. This list consist of songs we haven't played in a long while and also songs we have never played live before. We will do our first live shows with Strom in March, and give you more info about this soon."

Ese had the following to say regarding his decision to leave VREID: "I have decided to quit as guitarist in VREID, and chosen to do so of personal reasons. I have had a blast these years, both in the studio and on the road. It has been exciting to see and be a part of VREID growing into something to be proud of. I look forward to see VREID continuing to do so, and wish my comrades all the best."

Strom stated about his addition to VREID, "When I was asked to be a part of VREID, the decision was easy. I know these guys both personally and as skilled musicians, and to be a part of this great band is to me an honour. I'm proud to join forces with VREID."

VREID's fourth album, "Milorg", was released in North America on October 27, 2009 via Indie Recordings (with distribution and marketing duties handled by The End Records).

An e-card for "Milorg" is available at this location. The e-card features audio samples of all the cuts that appear on the CD.

"Milorg" was released in Norway on January 5, 2009 via Indie Recordings (January 19 in the rest of Europe). The cover artwork was designed by PC Groove.

VREID is the Norwegian band formed by former WINDIR members Hváll (bass),Steingrim (drums) and Sture (vocals, guitar).

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