Writing the Album
Annatar at Phantasium:
Hi all,
I, Wietse Braam, would like to write you a letter about me leaving Annatar. I have been a part of Annatar for 11 years. And after long and careful consideration I have made the decision to leave Annatar. This decision was really hard to make, and probably even harder since I was one of the co-founders of Annatar.
What started as a fun gathering just to jam a little, grew out to be a big part of my life over the past years. We hit the stage for way over 100 times, did support acts for well known bands, and performed on festivals like Vlietpop and Westerpop, playing for crowds as big as 3000 people. Lots and lots of memories: Late hours in studios, winning band battles, a band van catching fire, camping during a mini Belgium tour, a photo-shoot in an abandoned factory, hours and hours of rehearsing and meeting loads of people. So much has happened in these past 11 years.
Last 1-1,5 years some things changed for me. The connection between the music Annatar was making and my own musical interests started fading. It is not the music that I would like to create or to play on a stage anymore.
Then came the moment that i had to make a difficult decision; continue and struggle on, not being 100% satisfied, not being able to give it my full 100%? Or stop. I have decided, that it is in the best interest of myself and the other band members to leave Annatar. This gives them the opportunity to find someone that can give them 100% of his or her energy, while I can concentrate on something new.
So I have! I started a new band called: Gilraen.
Currently we are in the early phases of writing songs; we already have a lot of ideas for new material. For now it looks like the music will sound like a mix between the old Annatar, Dimmu Borgir and the old Tristania albums. Although it will sound different as we prefer a male singer, but we do not exclude the opportunity of a good female singer.
Current people involved in Gilraen are: Wietse Braam (ex-Annatar) on Synthesizers, Michel van Beekum(Snow) on bass-guitar, Alex van den Heuvel(ex-Annatar, Metatron) will be grunting and Kees Huiszoon (ex-Transentience) will be holding the drum sticks. We are still looking for guitarists and a singer.
If you want to stay informed on our progress, add us as a friend on hyves, facebook, myspace or twitter. URL's can be found at the end of this message. You can also check: www.gilraen.com.
Well, not much more to say but: Thank you for the support all these years. And I hope to have the honor of playing music for you all again soon!
Best regards,
Wietse Braam
website: http://www.gilraen.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gilraen.band
Twitter: http://twitter.com/gilraenband
Hyves: http://gilraenband.hyves.nl/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/gilraenband
In the last few months we've been keeping you up to date regularly on the writing and recording process of a real Annatar album. In April 2010 we already released the EP "Reflection" as a preview of what is to come. Therefore the news we're bringing may come as a surprise for many of you, but to us it feels like the logical thing to do. So, to kick this message off with the bad news: After 11 awesome years it's time for something new. Annatar quits.
Annatar has been through several line-up changes in the past few years. New bandmembers bring along new musical influences, resulting in a sound that differs a lot from the old and familiar Annatar sound. And little is left of the original Annatar line-up, so we feel we've become a wholly different band.
This also brings us to the good news. Those of you who were at our gig in Musicon with Ex Libris and Tycus on Saturday December 11th have already heard and had a taste of what's to come: A few of us will go on as a new band, and the writing of new songs for an upcoming album will continue! We'll head into the studio during spring 2011, and after the summer we'll emerge with an awesome full-length album!
Of course this doesn't mean the story ends here and now. Not quietly with just a little news item on our website. Like you're used to with Annatar, we always put some effort in goodbyes and this time we'll make no exception. We're planning a smashing farewell concert in January!
Be sure to keep a close eye on our website during the next few weeks for more news and a date, and make sure to write it on your calendar with a big waterproof marker because this will be your final chance to witness Annatar live on stage, and it will be something special!
- Annatar