Former U.D.O. guitarist Kasperi Heikkinen is left U.D.O./Dirkschneider for personal reasons in 2017. He issued the following statement upon his departure:

"I want to thank everyone, especially the fans, for these great four years I was in the band. I also wish all the best for the band with their future endeavours. From now on I will focus on my other music projects and some different outlets of creativity. You will surely hear from me again when the time is right. Stay metal and tsönk all the way! Thank you everybody!"

In a recent interview with Metal Forces (found here), Udo Dirkschneider commented on Heikkinen's departute and guitarist Bill Hudson's more recent exit, stating "they were definitely not team players, and that's the reason why they are not in the band any more."

Heikkinen, now with Beast In Black, responded via Sound.fi saying "That is really sad, unnecessary and unprofessional. I wonder why Udo feels it is necessary to comment on the subject at this point, more than a year and a half after I left the band. Anyone who has read Udo's opinions about Accept's current lineup can draw their own conclusions about how seriously his comments should be taken."

Jimmy Kay from Canada's The Metal Voice recently spoke to Udo Dirkschneider about the upcoming U.D.O. album  Steelfactory and the band finding a new guitarist.

When asked about the status on finding a new guitarist to replace Bill Hudson, and what qualities they are looking for in a new guitarist, Udo reveals: "The last two guitarist I had were Kasperi Heikkinen and Bill Hudson, and both of them were not really team players. In U.D.O. I am not a solo artist, we want to work as a team and that is what we did on this new album and this is very important for us. These two guys were definitely not team players. Bill was not interested in coming up with ideas when we were recording the album. For me, I didn't want to have the same situation again and I needed more time to look for a new second guitar player. So I asked Stefan Kaufmann to fill in and help us out. We now know which guitar player it will be, but we will announce this in the middle of September 2018."

Asked about the possibility of bringing in former Accept guitarist Herman Frank, Udo states: "No, I don't want to have these old memories, I want to keep going forward. I can tell you our new U.D.O. guitarist is 26 years old and unknown and this is what I am looking for, someone more modern and someone young so they can add fresh blood into the band. Nothing against Herman, he has his style, but I want to have fresh blood into the band."

U.D.O. released Steelfactory on August 31st worldwide via AFM Records. A lyric video for the new song "Make That Move" is available for streaming below.

With Steelfactory, U.D.O return to their core competence, clearly influenced by their past shows with Dirkschneider, the songs in their rousingly simple straightness have a hymn character, as it is only known from the past.

Steelfactory has become a timeless metal album and thus the impressive statement of a master of his craft. With its earthy, punchy and handmade sound - with the participation of the Danish producer Jacob Hansen (among others Volbeat) - Steelfactory meets the nerve of the time, which may be triggered again since the successful Dirkschneider tour worldwide.

Tracklisting:

"Tongue Reaper"
"Make The Move"
"Keeper Of My Soul"
"In The Heat Of The Night"
"Raise The Game"
"Blood On Fire"
"Rising High"
"The Devil Is An Angel" (Bonus Digipak)
"Hungry And Angry"
"One Heart One Soul"
"Pictures In My Dreams" (Bonus Digipak)
"A Bite Of Evil"
"Eraser"
"Rose In The Desert"
"The Way"

"Make The Move" lyric video:

"One Heart One Soul" video:

"Rising High":

EPK:

(Photo by Michael “Maikel” Pander”)