Bass player Markus Åkebo has left the Swedish death/black metal band ZONARIA.

Emil Nyström states about the departure: "We've had some great tours the last couple of years with Markus and we're going to miss him bad. But sometimes people need to move on and Markus needed a change in life. We wish him all the best for his future ventures. The departure will not affect our upcoming plans and tours. We've got a good friend of ours stepping in on our upcoming European tour with Nile, Meleches, Dew-Scented and Darkrise."

Zonaria's tour with NILE, MELECHESH, DEW-SCENTED and DARKRISE, dubbed Those Whom The Gods Detest - European Tour 2011, is scheduled to kick off on January 20 at Mega Club in Katowice, Poland. A list of the dates can be found on the band's MySpace page.

Zonaria's second full-length album, The Cancer Empire, was released in the US in January 2009 via Century Media Records. The CD was produced by Fredrik Nordström at Studio Fredman and was mastered by Peter In De Betou at Tailor Maid.

Formed in 2002 by guitarist, main songwriter, and vocalist Simon Berglund along with axeman Emil Nyström (both were only 15 years old at that time), Zonaria outgrew its local underground status with the debut album Infamy And The Breed (Pivotal Recordings, 2007) and gained Europe-wide attention through tours with IMPALED NAZARENE, MARDUK, PAIN and VADER. With influences ranging from HYPOCRISY to DIMMU BORGIR to ARCH ENEMY, ZONARIA's misanthropic mix of brutal riffs, melodic harmonies, maniacal drumming, and ominous synth lines was well received within the metal community and the band succeeded in shaping its own, unique sound.