Late last week, Sodom singer/bassist/founding member Tom Angelripper announced that he parted ways with longtime members Bernd “Bernemann” Kost and Markus “Makka” Freiwald in order to “start all over again with fresh and hungry musicians.”

Bernemann and Makka have both decided to share an update via Facebook, about their side of the story to their recent departure, stating they were terminated via messaging application WhatsApp.

Read the statement below:

“Sodom break up!

Tom has already pointed it out in his statement that in fact we have slightly drifted apart from each other. Indeed our conceptions of respect and workload diverged even further. Also tour offers neglected by Tom disappointed us.

After its overwhelming reactions we were totally looking forward to creating a successor to “Decision Day” and have already recorded lots of song ideas. Unfortunately Tom did not share our enthusiasm, he terminated his cooperation with us via WhatsApp even without listening to any of the new material.

Of course it is not easy for us to leave Sodom – the band that have become such a huge part of our lives and that we totally identify with. But, we will not stop doing what we love – together we will found a new band and we will see a way forward.

Within our hearts we will remain Sodom even if Tom is not with us any longer.

…And now a few words to you. Words from musicians to their friends and families. Since we have already received tons of nice and encouraging words from all of you we want to take the opportunity to say thank you to each one of you.

Everybody who saw us during the past couple of years also saw that we were 100% into what we were doing and that our behaviour had always been as authentic as your reactions had been genuine and filled with affection. Your feedback throughout all those years and your uplifting words now make us feel proud.

This is all we can ask for – thank you so much!

Bernemann & Makka”