Guitarist Sonia “Anubis” Nusselder has left Burning Witches

Guitarist Sonia “Anubis” Nusselder has officially left Swiss heavy/power metal act Burning Witches.

If you recall, Sonia recently teamed up with bassist/vocalist Fernanda Lira (ex-Nervosa), drummer Luana Dametto (ex-Nervosa), and guitarist Tainá Bergamaschi (ex-Hagbard) to form Crypta.

Sonia also performs in Cobra Spell.

Burning Witches released the following statement:

MANY SAW IT COMING: SONIA HAS LEFT THE BURNING WITCHES!

Yes, indeed to keep a girl band together is more difficult than we thought. Nobody wanted to sign us as a band, with the argument that woman-bands do not last. Well it seems THAT Curse is real! But we will NOT give up!

Sonia has left us for her new project. We saw this coming and we have to accept it. People change and people move on. We wish her all the best!

For us as a Band this means we have to work harder. We will continue our path and will of course look for a new Witch!

But first of all, this Friday, we will have a LIVE JAM with some amazing girls and friends. More news on Wednesday! Please stay tuned!

We will take our time to search and announce the new lead player, please understand we are as shocked as you are. We will use the Corona-times useful, to choose the right person for our lead guitarist position.

The backbone of the band will remain strong, in friendship and musically. We are already working on new songs and are TOP motivated to return on stage.

We want to thank all the fans for the amazing support and will keep you posted about our future moves! Stay positive! It sounds like a cliché but it was never more meaningful than now: WE ARE READY TO FIGHT!!!

Burning Witches guitarist Romana Kalkuhl added the following:

Beloved BURNING WITCHES fans, we are certainly sad about the decision of Sonia to leave us, but at the same time I am more encouraged and I look forward with pride to our future shows and the next challenges!

We have an outstanding team together, so you don‘t have to worry, we are gonna give our very best!

Thank you all so much for understanding and trusting us, only the one who is wholeheartedly dedicated to the band is a real WITCH!

Sonia released the following message:

Dear Witches disciples, for personal reasons and with a lot of deliberation, I have decided to fully dedicate myself to CRYPTA and COBRA SPELL and to leave BURNING WITCHES.

The last 2,5 years were FULL of amazing and priceless experiences, it made many of my dreams become reality and I always put all my passion and love for music into it. This journey also opened many doors for new challenges that I am overly anxious to pursue. Such as starting my own bands, writing my own music and push that further.

I am extremely thankful for my my dear family, friends and of course all the wonderful fans for the immense support. I deeply thank the band and the management for the fantastic concert/stage moments, traveling the world, being part of 2 fantastic BURNING WITCHES full-length albums that I will for ever look up to.

This is was a very hard decision, but sometimes you can’t pursue a bigger dream, without giving up a meaningful one in return. I will continue my musical path with full passion for music and for the fans!

I wish BURNING WITCHES all the very best of success!

As they note, Burning Witches will host a ‘live from the studio’ jam session with guests this Friday, May 29th. Stay tuned.

Related: Following the recent departure of Fernanda and Luana, Nervosa founding member and guitarist Prika Amaral announced the addition of vocalist Diva Satanica (Bloodhunter), bassist Mia Wallace (Abbath, Triumph of Death), and drummer Eleni Nota (Mask of Prospero, Croque Madame).