Dark Tranquillity guitarist Niklas Sundin announced his departure from the band over the weekend. He has issued the following statement:

 "As some of you know, I've had a break from playing with D.T. since 2016 in order to focus on family life. With the Atoma touring cycle now completed and a new album recording about to commence, the time is right to officially announce my departure from the band.

I'm very grateful for the experiences that the past 30 years have brought. We founded D.T. as teenagers without any musical knowledge, and somehow our songs took us all across the world, helped establish a new subgenre of metal, brought us several Grammy nominations and — more importantly — had a positive and life-altering impact on people all over the globe. This is extremely humbling, and more than what most artists ever could ask for.

However, it's no secret that I always enjoyed the creative process more than the performance aspects of being in a band, and the required extensive touring held less and less appeal with every album. The band and the fans deserve members that want to be on the road as much as possible in order to keep the (forward) momentum going, and for this reason I prefer to step aside and direct my musical creativity towards other areas. I'll still be involved in the visual side of D.T. and am working on the cover illustration for the next album as we speak.

I send my warmest regards to the guys in the band, the incredible crew and of course to everyone that supported us over the past three decades. As for future musical endeavours, my electronic project Mitochondrial Sun released its debut album last month, and there are several other projects and collaborations (both metal and non-metal) in the pipeline. Onwards!"

Mitochondrial Sun signed a worldwide deal with Argonauta Records last year.

Niklas is best known as a founding member and guitarist of Dark Tranquillity, the Grammy nominated Swedish metal band that for nearly three decades has helped carving out an entire sub-genre and inspired musicians all around the globe. After 15 albums as a metal guitarist, Mitochondrial Sun is Sundin’s first public foray into different musical realms: Created with support from the Swedish Arts Council, the self-titled debut album is a diverse offering of atmospheric and darkly cinematic music where the songs differ wildly in expression and sonic aesthetics.

“I’m very pleased and excited to announce that the debut LP/CD of my Mitochondrial Sun project will be released on Argonauta Records early next year. The album has been a long time in the making, with some of the melodies and chord progressions dating back to the mid ’90’s, so it’ll be great to finally have it out in the open.“ Sundin comments.

“I first got in touch with Argonauta when creating the cover artwork for one of their bands and found them to be an enthusiastic and hungry label that’s not afraid to venture outside of the conventional borders. In other words, a perfect match for an experimental electronic album that covers a lot of ground and that’s hard to pigeonhole into any specific genre. This is my first solo venture in nearly 30 years as a musician, and even if I know that this style of music might not fit every metal fan, I think and hope that people will find it an interesting listen.”

Musically speaking, the Mitochondrial Sun album is largely instrumental and features everything from Dead Can Dance-like tribal atmospheres to futuristic sci-fi soundscapes. Among the guest musicians appearing are Dark Tranquillity’s Martin Brändström and renowned cello player Annika Blomfeldt. The album was mixed and mastered by Anders Lagerfors (who also contributed grand piano to some tracks) at Nacksving Studio in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The album is based around evolution and the passing of time. Juxtaposing electronic and decidedly synthetic elements with organic sound textures and the presence of real cello and grand piano, Mitochondrial Sun is an exploration of contrasts. Lush and cinematic passages collide with harsh distortion and massive futuristic soundscapes. Some songs have a traditional feel, invoking ghosts and patterns from our distant past, some are urban and desolate and some glance outward towards a future among the stars. In addition to being a musician, Niklas is also a prolific graphic designer. This visual emphasis is transfered over to to the Mitochondrial Sun project, where each song will be accompanied by an animated video further enhancing the experience and providing context.