Melissa: "This is the hardest decision I have ever had to make because it's not something I necessarily want to do, but it is something I feel I have to do. I have decided to leave VISIONS OF ATLANTIS. There are a few reasons why, but primarily it has to do with where my priorities are at the present time. This doesn't mean that I will stop making metal, but my preferences, needs, desires have shifted now. And honestly, I don't want to write music with a group that Wolfgang isn't a part of.

"I want to also apologize for those who were excited for the KAMELOT tour. But it sounds like the guys are going to find another singer to fill the slot. I feel most bad about this because I was looking forward to meeting so many of you and seeing our friends/fans again.

"I want to thank everyone for supporting VISIONS OF ATLANTIS over the last few years and thank the guys for everything! It's been a blast! To all the friends/fans, it has been great getting to know you. Thanks for everything!!"

Wolfgang: "After months of thinking about the pros and cons, I finally have decided to leave VISIONS OF ATLANTIS. I wanna express that I leave VISIONS OF ATLANTIS without any hard feelings or any fights involved; it's a personal decision, not really dealing with the relation to anybody else in the group. I know I owe VISIONS OF ATLANTIS a lot; it has given me great tours, a great possibility, perfect support from Napalm, I saw places I'd never seen in my life and I've played crowds bigger than any crowd I'll ever play again. And I've met a ton of great people, and had a blast drinking with the guys. I especially feel bad for Mario [Plank, male vocalist], who was already eager to start the songwriting for the next album, and has been my main partner for what turned out to be my songs on 'Trinity'. Needless to mention all the improvements he brought for the Harbi tracks.

"I don't feel creative in a VISIONS OF ATLANTIS context anymore. All the stuff I've written since 'Trinity' doesn't fit to VISIONS OF ATLANTIS at all, as naturally, I cannot go less heavy than let's say 'Wing Shaped Heart' and I've found myself happier with heavier music. And I know that there's a certain limit to where you can push VISIONS OF ATLANTIS music without being too far off from what was created by the previous line-ups. I analyzed 'Cast Away' pretty well, and tried to discover the core of the music, without the production and arrangements AND add my own style to forge my 'Trinity' songs, which turned out well, and I'm still happy with them. But on the other hand, I cannot stand behind certain other parts of the VISIONS OF ATLANTIS legacy or present with all I got, and with the labelling it brought with it. I guess even if we had written a death metal album, everybody still would label VISIONS OF ATLANTIS a 'version II' of some Finnish band I
highly dislike, just because of the music composed on the first album and the promotion done on the second one. 'Trinity' has no influence except our own, and certainly is no 'version II' of something, but too many people are either deaf or still associate the current lineup with previous VISIONS OF ATLANTIS recordings automatically, therefore I think that VISIONS OF ATLANTIS might never get the attention/credibility it earned with great parts of 'Trinity'.

"So yeah, good luck to the guys and thanks to everybody cool I've met or the VISIONS OF ATLANTIS fans around the globe I've met."