It’s official, Soilwork is one third Night Flight Orchestra now. After the news last week about Peter Wichers parting ways with Soilwork yet again, the new guitarist has officially been announced, and it is none other than David Andersson. Other than Björn “Speed” Strid’s collaboration with Andersson in the classic rock project Night Flight Orchestra, the Soilwork singer shared some insight on the decision to bring Andersson in full time:

“He’s a blast to be around and a kick ass guitarist. Plus, we’ve known him for so many years, from all the touring together, we just know he’s a perfect fit for us.”

Andersson had filled in for Wichers on many live occasions throughout the last couple of years, and all Soilwork members agree that it is more like the completion of a transition rather than a brisk decision.

Last Friday, an interview with Dirk Verbeuren was released on MetalSucks in which the Soilwork drummer clarifies some more things about Wichers and the band parting ways for the second time around. Being asked straightforward about the real reasons behind Wichers’ decision, he states:

“It was mutual. Peter couldn’t be a part of our 2011 U.S. run with Symphony X. That was maybe six or seven months after The Panic Broadcast came out. We were on a roll then, but out of solidarity and respect for our bandmate and friend, and because we really felt like we had the ultimate line-up, we cancelled that tour. The whole idea back then was that Peter would tour with us again soon. But then the summer festivals came along, and he progressively said “no” to those too. We couldn’t just keep cancelling stuff, so we hired David Andersson who had filled in for us before. After that, touring kind of came to a grinding halt. The rest of us didn’t know what to do. It was just kind of rough to be in this position all of a sudden, with a great album and no tours to support it and a shaky line-up. Less than a year earlier, we were all stoked about our future together, you know? We talked and tried to figure things out, and in the end, long story short, Peter couldn’t commit to what the rest of us feel is mandatory for Soilwork. Here’s the thing: whether we like it or not, we have to tour. There’s just no two ways about it. Playing shows, a lot of shows, is vital if we wanna have the slightest chance to survive as a band. That’s why moving on was really our only option.”

On being asked what Wichers had meant when he talked about “creative differences” being a reason for his decision to leave the band, Verbeuren confessed he was confused about that as well:

I don’t know, man. My take on it is… I guess that’s another way to say “artistic disagreements”. But honestly, we never had issues with making music or playing together. We’re all pretty free to play what we want in this band. There’s no musical dictatorship type of bullshit happening, we’re not that kind of band. We always respected Peter’s creative input and he respected ours. The Panic Broadcast felt to us like one of the best things we’d ever done, you know? We still feel that now, and I’m pretty sure Peter feels that, too. So, I don’t know exactly what he meant by that. I’d have to guess that some resentment may’ve built up. If I were to describe it, I’d probably have used the word “personal” rather than “creative”.

He also commented on Andersson coming in as their new guitarist and seems as stoked about it as the band’s vocalist is:

“We’ve had David play with us enough times to where it feels right. He’s been around, he’s done his time with us filling in for five or six years on and off. He’s earned it, if you will, and we’re stoked to have him in the band! He can write a killer tune, too.”

The fact of the matter is that this is not the first transition Soilwork has had to go through lineup-wise, nor do they seem all too shocked about it. They are currently working on their next album The Living Infinite, and Verbeuren knows to fuel our excitement about that despite everything else that is going on with the band at the moment:

“Lemme tell you this: The Living Infinite is gonna kick as much ass as any Soilwork record you like. It’s gonna be intense and it’s gonna be metal as fuck!”

[picture via]