BraveWords.com has received the following press release:

OBSCURA bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling, who played on Dutch death metallers PESTILENCE's fourth album Spheres (1993), will rejoin Pestilence after a break of 15 years.

Thesseling, known for his six-string fretless signature, joined the German progressive death metal band Obscura in late 2007 and recorded their second full-length album, Cosmogenesis, released in February this year.

"After such a long period of time it's great to be part of Pestilence again. I'm convinced that this cooperation will result in brilliant technical death metal. In order to avoid misunderstandings I want to emphasize that I will continue to work with my German colleagues of Obscura as well", says Jeroen in a statement on his website.

Pestilence frontman Patrick Mameli states: "I'm very happy to welcome Jeroen once more to the Pestilence camp. Also a big thanks goes out to Tony Choy, who succesfully participated on the Resurrection album and tour. We all wish him the best of luck in the future!!! Tony is just too busy that we had to find a suitable replacement. I'm convinced that Jeroen, just likeTony on Resurrection, will put his signature on this new Pestilence album, that fans really don't have to compare these two great bass players with each other. Both have a great style.

Also, I would like to stress that, by no means, this collaboration with Jeroen, will result in a Spheres part 2, since this is not our goal. Our goal is to create the most brutal and technical Pestilence album ever. I'm currently composing new songs with the 8 string Ibanez, which will give Pestilence a new dimension in our own style. Keywords: Low, chuncky and a-tonal morbidity!!! So be ready to be blown away!!!"

A recent update from Patrick Mameli reads:

"Well, the touring, the festivals and the travelling, it all has come to an end for us. I think we covered pretty much all the countries in ..Europe.. we really wanted to go to!

Also, I want to give props and a big thank you, to the guys in the band, Choy, Wildoer and Uterwijk for their input and strength to finish this tour. Also a warm shout goes out to all the fans that have attended our show(s). We really appreciate this!! Now we will have a nice and long break to regroup and I have already started working on new material for the upcoming new Pestilence album. It’s so exciting to compose new songs using the RG2228GK ( 8-string ) provided by Hoshino/Ibanez.

Again, I will try to push the limit to new musical heights. The new material will be nothing like you’ve ever heard before from Pestilence yet I will be trying hard to maintain the Pestilence style to a maximum. By now everybody should be used to the fact that no Pestilence album sounds alike. This new material will be out of this world!!! So hang in there, and for now, Peace."