Greek melodic black metal act Rotting Christ have parted ways with bassist Vagelis Karzis. Karzis had been a member of the band since 2012, joining amidst the departure of Andreas Lagios.
The announcement was made Monday (20th) on the band’s Facebook page, stating that Karzis’ departure was amicable:
“Dear ROTTING CHRIST’s friends around,we would like to anounce that our 6 last years bass player Vangelis part ways with our band in a really friendly and comprehensible way.We would like to thank him for his true dedication and proffesionalism all those years and we are whising him the best with what he is doing with his current band Full House B.C.
Our more than 30 years trip into our precious scene going on and on…untill the end! See you in one of our forthcoming battles this year!”
Karzis made his own statement on Instagram, saying
“Last night was my last show with Rotting Christ! 7 amazing years, more than 400 shows round the globe and a ton of experience!”
He continued to thank Sakis and Themis Tolis, as well as the fans:
“I wanna take a minute to thank @sakis.tolis and Themis tolis! We did right guys! It was a privilege playing for Rotting Christ fans! It was a hell of a ride! Non Serviam! I will announce my next step, by the end of this week!”
The announcement of Karzis’ departure comes just days before the band was slated to kick off a run of South American tour dates and European summer festival dates. In addition to those dates, the band also announced in April that they would be embarking on a fall European headlining tour with
Moonspell. A replacement bassist for these dates has not been announced yet.
Rotting Christ released their 13th full-length album, The Heretics, this past February. The album is the follow-up to their 2016 full-length Rituals and 2018 greatest hits album, Their Greatest Spells.
