As a result, the recording sessions for Obscura's as-yet-untitled fourth album have been postponed until the end of 2014.

The audition process to replace both musicians will start soon.

Hannes says leaving the band was a difficult choice to make, but also "a big relief":

"For the last two records I contributed a large amount of music, including most of the arrangement work. However this was causing problems, because the band was set up as a collective of songwriters, and so the new record should have been a collective work. In general, I also prefer working with other people rather than just doing it on my own. However, my musical vision was going into the direction of songs like Aevum or Septuagint, maybe in terms of complexity even further. Steffen's ideas are musically rather in the vein of the 'Comogenesis' album. But I wanted to explore a way different side of Obscura. The catchy Anticosmic Overload side just doesn't really hook me emotionally."

Hannes says he now records the songs he wrote with his new band Alkaloid.