LEGION OF THE DAMNED have announced that their guitarist Richard Ebisch has decided to leave the band for health reasons.

Ebisch states: "I am very grateful for having achieved so much with Legion Of The Damned, but after having played in bands for so many years and having toured numerous times I decided to leave the band after careful deliberation. Because of health issues it was no longer possible for me to continue at this pace. I would like to say thank you to the fans and the Legion Of The Damned guys and wish them, and their new guitarist, all the best for the future."

Vocalist Maurice Swinkels comments on the departure: "We recently successfully ended Sweden Rock Cruise and have a lot of other great festivals planned ahead such as Graspop, Nummirock in Finland, Metalcamp, Bang your head and With Full force; we didn't really notice anything or felt like this is going to end somewhere for Richard. During Kettersach Festival last weekend Richard announced that he would still do Paaspop this upcoming weekend, but call it an end after that, it will be a great loss for us, but we accept his decision of course"

Swinkels further comments: "Even though this came out of blue for us, we have no intention on cancel any of the planned festivals, who is going to replace Richard Ebisch is still a question unanswered, but hopefully we will have this answered as soon as possible as well, one thing is for sure, after Paaspop finnish metalfest Nummirock is next in line and we will be there stronger than ever!"

Bassist Harold Gielen adds: "It's really sad that Richard decided to leave the band, but it's his decision to end his carrier as a musician and we have to accept it as it is. I am really happy to be part of the Legion family, and shared the stage with Richard for five years. I have to thank him as well for all the fun and musical influences we shared. Richard is a great guitar player with his own style, and I wish him all the best with his future plans."

Drummer Erik Fleuren says: "Band members leaving the band was always something that happened in other bands, not with Legion Of The damned, we are like brothers, shared joy and happiness as well as disappointment and sadness together. It was always the four of us, but that’s also part of being in a band- that it might end somewhere or that someone leaves at a certain point, we have to accept it. We will miss Richard and I wish him all the best in the future."