OLA FRENNING DEPARTS SOILWORK
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 12:20pm by Vince Neilstein
Guitarist Ola Frenning has split from Swedish melodic death metallers Soilwork, marking the second key guitarist to leave the band in the past year and a half and leaving bassist Ola Flink and vocalist Bjorn “Speed” Strid as the only two members left from the band’s second record Chainheart Machine. Frenning had been in the band for 10 years, joining them right after the recording of Steelbath Suicide for the accompanying tour and remaining with the band for 7 albums.
Frenning’s departure marks the end of an era of sorts, as the Wichers/Frenning combo was responsible for writing the large body of Soilwork material — and, who knew, according to the Wikipedia rats who already have Frenning listed as a former member, he was actually Wichers’ uncle.
The band cited Frenning’s difficulty with the touring schedule as the reason for the split, and Frenning cited the desire to focus on production and writing, an eerily similar situation to Wichers’ departure in late 2006. What’s up with the rest of these dudes, do they stink up the bus or something? But seriously, this information is actually consistent with what Frenning told us in an interview this past November. He cited road fatigue and stress as the reason for the band’s cancellation at Download Festival in 2006, and to this journalists eyes and ears he seemed tired and worn down even at that early stage in the touring cycle. Hey, touring isn’t easy and it’s certainly not for everyone.
In any case, we wish both Ola and Soilwork luck. The band has already announced David Andersson as the replacement guitarist for the upcoming tours, and Ola has promised updates on his other work via his MySpace page. We’ll get a chance to see the new guitarist at the upcoming Scum of the Earth tour with Throwdown and Through the Eyes of the Dead.
-VN
Y’know, I’ve always liked Soilwork, and I was happy to witness their progression from the caustic early material to the melodic and grounded recent stuff. I’ve never been one of the “haters” that seem to want this band to regurgitate “Chainheart Machine” over and over. The last album didn’t completely feel like true Soilwork though, and I think that maybe it’s time to put the name to rest.
“Sworn To A Great Divide” was by no means a horrible record, but it’s growing evident that subsequent releases may only sully a legacy that the band still has intact. I guess, to me, once an act pretty much loses all its significant members it’s time for the rest of the group to start recording under a different name because it’s just not the same band. It’s guest musicians copying an act that once was. And that gets kind of sad.
I agree with devil’s second paragraph. At the same time, Soilwork has become less about guitars and more about Speed’s vocals. So maybe if the new members can keep the Soilwork sound, then the band’s name will still be meaningful.
If these guys were really swedish this dude would have been murdered, burned, and eaten. I call shananagans
Soilwork, the best band to ever have come out of the metal scene in my opinion. Bands do change over time and do tend to go to the lighter side of music, but even though soilwork changed their sound as time went on they still kept some key points of their music, which I think keeps them up there.
I have to say i didn’t much like the last album just because of the massive metal core influence.
But Bands that don’t change don’t experiment, and to me would be extremely closed minded individuals. I mean, look at Dimmu Borgir, they are awesome. but their sound has never changed, and they seem really boring now. after so many albums.