Finnish metal band Evil Drive have announced a lineup change. 

The band's statement reads as follows:

"Hey folks, we have some news for you. We all together as the band Evil Drive had to separate from our longtime comrade and guitarist Niko Huusari. This difficult decision is based on personal reasons of Niko and we please you to respect that this is a matter between the band and Niko. Even though bands and musicians are part of the public in general there are some things which have to stay private. We thank Niko for everything he did for the band and wish him all the best for his future with his other activities. At the same time we are glad to announce our new guitarist Juha-Pekka ‘J-P’ Pusa. J-P lives in Karhula and he has a long experience of playing and performing with different bands and projects. 

Guitarist Ville Wiren comments:  "Now with J-P's guitar skills, the band will lay the stages in ashes with us for the upcoming shows, which he has already proved at our rehearsals. He's also a skillful song writer and we can't wait to write and finish our new material with him in near future."

Evil Drive's latest release, The Land Of The Dead album, was released in January through Mighty Music. Videos were released for the singles “The Land Of The Dead" and "War". The band has have begun working on their next album in Äänilaitos studio. The first single "Anti Genocide" and new video will be released in September. Full album release date is still tentative but we the band has high hopes for a winter release.