Hannes Grossmann and Christian Muenzner leave OBSCURA

[Thorerges]

That being said, I never really bothered with Cosmogenesis. So I might agree with Hannes on this - sounding like Necrophagist isn't very interesting unless you are necrophagist.

 

[chopeth]

Oh Hell I wish so bad too. I remember talking with them in 2009, right after they debuted new material on 7s; it sounded so promising. And now it's 2014...

One good find from this news was that there are tab books for Obscura. I was in the dark .

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/general-music-discussion/216825-obscura-omnivium-tab-book.html

 

[Christian Muenzner]

Ok...hands up anyone that at least for a split second thought that Steffen Kummerer is more asshole than Corey Taylor

Jokes aside...when you're a founding member and had spit blood to take your band out of a garage it's good to have personality and know where you want your band to go.
No one better than Steffen knows where he wants Obscura to be, rither for bad or for worse.
Steffen is a great musician, skilled and talented, often overshadowed by the amazingness of Christian, still...a bad ass musician.
I have no fear for Obscura and hope for Alkaloid.
It just sucks.

On a side note...I must say that I appreciated Hannes' speech more than Christian's one.
He was totally honest, saying that they had arguments on the musical direction and that he had a new band.
Christian beat more around the bush, which...is sure in his shy character but...not 100% sincere.
I must say I never felt sympathy for Hannes and a lot of respect for Christian.
Seeing Christian in Alkaloid after his speech leaves me sour, as a fan I feel a little played around.

Also...wtf Linus, how can he sleep with both girls at the same time? How long can it last?

In any case best of luck to all the parts involved

I do not want to get into too much detail on those issues on guitar forums cause otherwise I would spend most of my next days writing I guess, but reading your post I feel I need to clarify some things. My statement was 100% honest and the real reasons.

When there are plans for a new Obscura record, there are suddenly lots of tours lined up immideately, and show offers come in by the minute. Cause of my dystonia issues we had to turn down many of them, which did not make me feel comfortable. Alkaloid is a different thing. For now the plan is to make a great record, everything else we will see after that. I do not know if there will be tour offers, I do not know how well my hands hold up in a year from now. Hannes asked me if I would like to join sine he likes my playing in writing style and he would just like to have some of that on the new songs, and we've been playing together for more than 10 years. It is not yet connected with the same kind of pressure as Obscura is, I do not have to know yet that I can play 35 shows in a row from February on with my dystonia issues (which make most people quit music completely by the way). So far there are no offers and it is all about making a good album, if they come, time will show if I can do it or not. The band does not operate full time. A band like Obscura does. What things look like in a year I can't tell.
I am really sorry that it makes you feel fooled as a fan. All I can say is that having to work around dystonia issues is extremely difficult as professional musician and you have to make a lot of adaptions in your lifestyle to be able to keep playing. I made lots of compromises by playing tours I should never have played after my diagnosis, just to not dissapoint the fans and not have my bandmates go in debt because of it. I'm still walking the fine line of on the one hand continuing my career and releasing as much music as I can as long as I can still play and to focus on the re-training and theray on the other hand. I know that that way I can't please all the fans, but you should not be angry with me because of that.

 

[Floppystrings]

Hannes Grossmann leaving to joining Necrophagist to record that new album and tour?

 

[OmegaSlayer]

I do not want to get into too much detail on those issues on guitar forums cause otherwise I would spend most of my next days writing I guess, but reading your post I feel I need to clarify some things. My statement was 100% honest and the real reasons.

When there are plans for a new Obscura record, there are suddenly lots of tours lined up immideately, and show offers come in by the minute. Cause of my dystonia issues we had to turn down many of them, which did not make me feel comfortable. Alkaloid is a different thing. For now the plan is to make a great record, everything else we will see after that. I do not know if there will be tour offers, I do not know how well my hands hold up in a year from now. Hannes asked me if I would like to join sine he likes my playing in writing style and he would just like to have some of that on the new songs, and we've been playing together for more than 10 years. It is not yet connected with the same kind of pressure as Obscura is, I do not have to know yet that I can play 35 shows in a row from February on with my dystonia issues (which make most people quit music completely by the way). So far there are no offers and it is all about making a good album, if they come, time will show if I can do it or not. The band does not operate full time. A band like Obscura does. What things look like in a year I can't tell.
I am really sorry that it makes you feel fooled as a fan. All I can say is that having to work around dystonia issues is extremely difficult as professional musician and you have to make a lot of adaptions in your lifestyle to be able to keep playing. I made lots of compromises by playing tours I should never have played after my diagnosis, just to not dissapoint the fans and not have my bandmates go in debt because of it. I'm still walking the fine line of on the one hand continuing my career and releasing as much music as I can as long as I can still play and to focus on the re-training and theray on the other hand. I know that that way I can't please all the fans, but you should not be angry with me because of that.

I apologize if I sounded like a dick.
Your health comes first and foremost.
I'm not saying you told lies, only that the picture wasn't 100% clear.
We know about your unfortunate hand problem, and it makes everyone sad.

Keep in mind that I'm a HUGE fan of yours and that the fanboysm extended to you as individual because you honestly look to me as a humble and kind person.
I just thought that clearly mentioning Alkaloid, and what Alkaloid is and how it will work with serenity would have made things less shady, because...you know...you're a metalhead too that surely wondered about split and such like everyone of us do.
I see your uneasiness in some Obscura situation, you spoke about the touring now, but I remember how much upset you were about the tab book not being perfect, I can see how things stressed you.
As you explained here, thanks for doing that by the way, Alkaloid won't keep you in the pressure for your recovery, which I wish will happen soon.
You're a moster player and a good example to me any way even on human level.
Thanks for taking your time to reply, I guess it's not easy and will be a stress for days, but REALLY, thanks for keeping in touch with the people that love what you do.

Best wishes for you health and any future endeavour

And...I'm no angry with you at all *bro hugs*

 

[Christian Muenzner]

You did not sound like a dick at all, I understood your points and just saw how some of the things I said maybe came of misunderstanding and left a few things open, so I felt the need to clarify this. You are right that there were also some other issues in Obscura that I did not like that much, such as the 2nd tabbook situation for example that did not go in line with how I would like to have those things handled, but not to the point that I would leave the band because of that, and I also think those things have no place in an official statement.
I'm glad I could clarify what might not have been so clear in my statement and I thank you for your nice words and support, I truly appreciate it!

 

[Goro923]

^^Thanks for chiming in, Chris! And good luck with Alkaloid; I, for one, am excited to hear whatever you guys cook up

 

[Emperor Guillotine]

Saw the news on Facebook this morning right after I woke up.
Bummed my whole day out and I've just been trying not to think about it. But.....I'm probably going to shed a mantear later.

Reading through this thread, I must say that posts #18-#20 on here summed up my thoughts. (A small part of what OmegaSlayer said I agree with but...thank you to Christian for refuting it and clarifying.)

-------------------------------------------------------

P.S. - love your stuff, Christian! Didn't know you were a forum member, my friend!

 

[BIG ND SWEATY]

while it sucks that they left Obscura im already excited to hear material from Alkaloid

 

[Gothic Headhunter]

Best of luck with Alkaloid and with your recovery, Christian. Looking forward to seeing you make some sick new music, if even it isn't with Obscura.

 

[Stuck_in_a_dream]

Definitely not good news, Obscura has been a godsend in my music world, and without Christian and Hannes it wouldn't be the same, not even close. But... I have been there when I heard about Nevermore splitting up, different people, different reasons, but without that happening, we wouldn't have Conquering Dystopia. So now I feel less angry, shocked, and more accepting.

I am sure Alkaloid's music will be very interesting, besides, I don't think Steffen is just gonna sit on his hands, so I look forward to the new Obscura as well.

I hope Christian gets better now he doesn't have to do the endless touring, and maybe that will open the door to more cooperation & side projects.

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

maybe Steffen will write more Thulcandra.

 

[Thorerges]

Now I am interested to hear what Alkaloid sounds like.

 

[Thorerges]

Hannes Grossmann leaving to joining Necrophagist to record that new album and tour?

Hannes is not interested in recording only, he is a songwriter - Necrophagist hasn't given him that freedom. So he is never re-joining that band.

 

[Dr Zoidberg]

I was listening to Cosmogenesis when I saw this thread - this is sad news indeed. Obscura was the band that really got me into death metal, and is still one of my favorite bands to date. Alkaloid sounds exciting, though - it's interesting that Linus is listed as a member as well, despite the fact that he seems to still be in Obscura. I suppose that makes some sense if Alkaloid will primarily be a studio band, as Christian indicated. I wish the members of Alkaloid the best, and will be following their work intently!

As for Obscura, I think Steffen's a very talented musician and songwriter in his own right, and hope he'll find more talented band members to continue on with. I like both styles of writing, so I'm interested to see the visions of each band unfold.

 

[Mwoit]

I'm saddened that they both left Obscura but I'm glad they're still making music. It's too much talent to waste!

 

[Pat_tct]

Indeed sad that they split up.
I love Christians playing as well as Hannes' drumming. And I am glad that they still play music together. I think they just work well in terms of writing.

 

[Chewy5150]

Quite sad stuff Super glad I got to open for Obscura with such an awesome lineup of musicians that they had twice haha. I'm excited to hear what Obscura and Alkaloid sound like especially seeing that Morean is singing and playing in Alkaloid (the dude is awesome in Dark Fortess and Noneuclid!) PUMPED.

 

[Necropitated]

Hey guys, here's my audition video for Obscura. Wish me luck ;-)

 

[Goro923]

^^Great job dude! Good luck to ya