Fleshgod Apocalypse has announced bassist and vocalist Paolo Rossi has departed from the lineup permanently. A founding member of the band, Rossi has been in the band since 2007, but has been on hiatus since 2023. Rossi has decided to pursue a career job outside of music, after it sounds like he exhausted every possibility to try to stay in the music business full time. The spilt is amicable and doesn’t sound like a surprise to the band, according to their statement on social media. Fleshgod Apocalypse will move forward as a five-piece, with vocalist Francesco Paoli moving to playing bass alongside his vocal duties, and Veronica Bordacchini covering all clean vocals. The band is currently on tour in Europe. Read the statement below.
“We’d never thought this moment would come but, after twenty years of friendship and collaboration, Paolo decided to change his life’s path and take a step back from the band.
“The pandemic turned out being an extremely tough challenge for everyone, especially musicians. After trying everything possible to cling to the music business without ‘shortcuts’, Paolo found another job that, although outside our field, was a great opportunity for him and granted stability during those turbulent times.
“When life started getting back to normal, allowing us to play live shows again, we encountered many difficulties in making his new commitments coexist with our touring schedule.
“Paolo tried really hard for over a year to make it happen, even involving temporary replacements like Ludovico Cioffi (Delain), who we thank a lot for his help, but unfortunately these were not the necessary conditions to make it all work.
“Therefore, he took the tough decision to step down from his role in Fleshgod Apocalypse. He will always remain part of our family. Moving forward, the band will remain a five piece unit, with Francesco taking on bass duties and Veronica now handling all clean vocals. We support his decision and we invite you all to join us in wishing him and his family all the best.
“As a last gift to our fans, we decided to portrait this transition with a piece of art, through the capable hands of visionary Italian photographer Francesco Esposito, who created the masterpiece you can see here.
“Paolo will always be with us, we wouldn’t be where we stand today without his contribution. Thank you all for your constant love and support, see you on the road.”