Kevin Foley aka Creaure

Kevin Foley aka Creature leaves Abbath (who head out on tour in March)... UPDATE: Guitarist leaves too

Kevin Foley aka Creaure

Well, that was fast. Before even heading out on their first tour, the post-Immortal project Abbath has lost its drummer. Kevin Foley (aka Creature), of the French death/grind act Benighted (and also a contributor to the varied likes of Sepultura, Decapitated, Sabaton, Disavowed and Mumakil), is leaving the band for ubiquitous “personal reasons.”

The assumption here is that this won’t have an effect on the huge Decibel Tour (dates below), which joins Abbath up with High on Fire, Skeletonwitch and Tribulation and kicks off in March, but this isn’t exactly the greatest news after Immortal fell apart due to conflict between Abbath and his bandmates. All we can do is hope this really isn’t a big deal and that somebody equally crazy is brought in. In Foley’s own words:

As a few of you might already know, I’ve been busy this year playing with the Norwegian band Abbath as a mysterious character called ‘Creature’ (sorry to disappoint you if you thought it was the amazing Baard Koldstad). For some personal reasons, I’ve decided to leave the band.

Still, it’s been a great experience and an honour to play all the band’s shows so far and record the upcoming album in Sweden with Daniel Bergstrand. I’m really happy with the result. I love the songs, the sound and I’m proud of my drumming on this one. Thanks to everyone who has been involved in this project!

As for the near future, I will be touring for the last time ever with my brothers from Benighted in January and February, opening for The Black Dahlia Murder all over Europe. It will be the best way possible to close a 10 amazing years long chapter of my life. These guys are my absolute best friends and I have no doubt that we’ll have a lot of fun on this tour!

After that, it will be time for me to move on, look for new projects and do my best to keep making a living out of music. I’m looking forward to 2016!

In the meantime, we eagerly await Abbath’s self-titled debut, out January 22 via Season of Mist. He’s already released “Count the Dead” and “Winter Bane,” rippers both, and you can stream them along with all tour dates, below.

UPDATE: Well, the losses would seem to be continuing, unfortunately. Session and live guitarist Per Valla is also saying goodbye to Abbath, citing similar personal reasons. Valla released a statement:

After having played as session guitarist with Abbath since May this year, I have recently decided that it is time for me to leave the band for personal reasons. I thank the guys for bringing me along on such an awesome ride, and for all the new friends I made in the process. I wish the guys the best of luck in the future.

So now Abbath finds himself down two band members. We’ll see how this plays out.

Abbath/High On Fire/Skeletonwitch/Tribulation — 2016 Tour Dates
March 17 Baltimore, MD Baltimore Soundstage
March 18 Charlotte, NC Amos’ Southend
March 19 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade
March 20 Ybor City, FL The Ritz Ybor
March 22 Dallas, TX Gas Monkey Live!
March 23 Austin, TX Emo’s
March 25 Scottsdale, AZ Live Wire
March 26 San Diego, CA The Observatory North Park
March 27 Santa Ana, CA The Observatory
March 28 Los Angeles, CA The Regent Theater DTLA
March 29 San Francisco, CA The Regency Ballroom
March 31 Portland, OR Roseland Theatre
April 1 Seattle, WA El Corazon
April 2 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom
April 5 Denver, CO Gothic Theatre
April 6 Lawrence, KS Granada Theater
April 7 Minneapolis, MN Mill City Night
April 8 Chicago, IL – Metro
April 9 Cleveland, OH Agora Ballroom
April 10 Toronto, ON The Opera House
April 12 New York, NY Webster Hall
April 14 Boston, MA Royale
April 15 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer

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