DELAIN — the Dutch gothic rock/metal project founded by ex-WITHIN TEMPTATION keyboardist Martijn Westerholt (brother of WITHIN TEMPTATION's Robert Westerholt) — has issued the following update:

"We are sad to announce that Ronald [Landa, guitar] has decided to part ways with DELAIN.

"Ronald has been of great value to the band. We would like to thank him for his everlasting devotion for DELAIN! We will never forget all the great moments we have shared together and wish him the very best for the future!

"Ronald will still play our shows in Zwolle and Birmingham and besides that there is a big chance he will appear on stage now and then at one of our future shows. We hope to be able to announce his successor very soon and keep you updated on that!"

Commented Ronald: "Being a part of DELAIN has always been a tremendous privilege and honor for me. It was so awesome to play live and record albums for you [the fans], guys. You have been so great to us, and to me, and I want to thank you so much for that. However, the time has come to step away from the band, and to pursue a different dream.

"My musical taste has always been very wide, and I wanted to play in a band that plays a different kind of music for a long time. I could never do this because being in a band like DELAIN requires you to put all of your time and effort into that band. But the desire to play music with different people in different genres doesn't let go. Therefore I decided to continue my role in DELAIN as a dedicated fan and friend.

"I will follow DELAIN very closely, and do everything I can to still be of value to the band. Besides that, I hope that you'll check out what I'm doing once in a while, and that you will like my new musical endeavours.

"I want to thank Charly, Martijn, Rob and Sander so much for the fun we had, the great moments we shared, the hard times we conquered, and the beautiful music we played. I also want to thank all our fans so very much! You guys make it worthwhile!

"Thank you for coming to so many shows, and for making me feel good! I love you all!"

DELAIN bassist Rob van der Loo will sit out the band's European tour with SONATA ARCTICA due to other personal commitments. He will be temporarily replaced by Roel Vink. Rob will still play the tour's Dutch dates.

For a list of shows, go to this location.

"Stay Forever", the new video from DELAIN, can be viewed below. The song comes off the band's second album, "April Rain", which entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 96. The CD was released in North America on June 30 via Sensory Records (with U.S. distribution through Ryko and Canadian distribution through Sonic Unyon). The North American version of the album features a bonus track — "Come Closer" — which was previously only available on the limited-edition digipack version of the LP.

"April Rain" benefits from the return of NIGHTWISH bassist/vocalist Marco Hietala who sings male vocals on two tracks, as well as world-renowned cellist Maria Ahn.

DELAIN has been confirmed as one of the headliners of the Femme Metal Festival, set to take place November 7-8, 2009 at The Asylum (Saturday) in Birmingham and The Peel (Sunday) in London, United Kingdom.



(Thanks: Markus Rutten / www.sounds2move.de)