Danish melodic death metallers COMPOS MENTIS check in with the following update:

"Compos Mentis is still alive.

It has been a while since our last update, and it is time for you to know what is going on in the CM camp. Shortly after the release of Our Kingdom Of Decay, half of the members lost the drive and decided to pull out of the band. One of the reasons was the fact that we were all getting increasingly busy with work, families, and other bands (Ken for his part plays in CROCELL and ILLDISPOSED while Rune plays the bass in KISS ME SCARLETT).

What was probably equally important, however, was that our own expectations for Our Kingdom Of Decay were not exactly fulfilled when it came out. We had been working intensely on that album for a long time and put a lot of energy and money into it, and we were all quite worn out when the album was finally released. We were, and still are, really proud of that album but we did not put the necessary effort into promoting it and the release left us in some kind of void.

Therefore the last two years have been rather dull and non-productive for Compos Mentis. And last summer it peaked when Ken, Claus and Rune took the final decision of parting ways with the band. Somewhat depressing, but we're all still best friends nonetheless.

Right now the status is that we are not searching for replacements, and we are most likely not releasing anything within the next year. But since last summer the rest of us - the three original and founding members - have been trying out different ideas in the rehearsal room. Maybe we will try to find back to the roots or maybe we will redefine the sound of Compos Mentis. Whatever the case, we do have a handful of good ol' CM-songs lying around that we will make available in some form and format at some point.

We are not quite sure what the future brings, but we do know that Compos Mentis is still alive!

To keep you busy in the meantime (oh yeah, and to celebrate our 16th anniversary this January!) we have made 'Fragments of a Withered Dream' available for free, here. There you can also download our very first release, Quadrology Of Sorrow, from 2001, for free.

Furthermore all CD's and merchandise from the webshop is currently sold for only 5 € - so now would be a good time to get the t-shirt you always wanted anyway..."