Swedish death metal veterans Grave have announced the departure of guitarist Mika Lagrén and bassist Tobias Cristiansson. Leader Ola Lindgren updates:

"The past months have been quite overwhelming in the Grave camp. Two of our long-time members Mika Lagrén and Tobias Cristiansson have jumped ship and are no longer in the band. There is no bad blood between us and we wish them all the luck in their future endeavors. However this puts an enormous strain on the band and it's hard to see what the future holds and  if there even is a future. At this moment nothing is for sure and nothing is taken for granted. A decision has been made to halt all live activities for 2024 since there really is no line up which makes necessary preparations impossible. 

The main focus for this year will be to restructure the band if possible and to hopefully write/record and release a long awaited new studio album. 
Into the darkness - Into the..."

Both Lagrén and Cristiansson joined Grave in 2010 and played on two full-length albums – 2012’s Endless Procession Of Souls and 2015’s Out Of Respect For The Dead. 

Tobias says in a statement:

“I want to inform everyone that I have left Grave. After much consideration I felt it was best for me to depart.

“I want to thank the band and the people that we have been working with over the years.

“I will however continue to play with Necrophobic, Darkened, In Aphelion and as a session player with other projects. I love to play and I love to be on stage, that´s the most rewarding thing in my life and I never want to give that up and it´s something I want to do as much as I can.

“I joined Grave in 2010 and it has been part of my life for the past 13 years. I have been fortunate to meet lots of fantastic people throughout the years and it has brought me to places around the world that I would never have had the chance to see if it wasn't for Grave, for that I am forever grateful. I want to express my deepest appreciation to every single person that have bought tickets to any of the hundreds of shows that we have done over the years.

“I hope to see you all in the future!

“Cheers!”