Candiria

In case there was any doubt, drummer Kenneth Schalk has confirmed his departure from Candiria earlier this year. Speaking with fans on the forum of Candiria's website, Schalk chronicled the past year and a half of his life with the following:

"I didn't leave the band for God if that's what you think. I left the band because my personal life was suffering in many ways because of my commitment to the band.

February 2005: My feelings for leaving the band started here when Eric left. At that point a piece of our foundation had been taken away. Can a building be its strongest with an incomplete foundation?

March 2005 - October 2005: Many things like a ridiculously mind and heart draining lawsuit and trial, along with not touring or even writing music put me in a state where I didn't even consider us a band.

June - October 2005: Before we went to England, we experienced a rollercoaster of tour potential bullshit that made me think how horrible our manager and record label were and my views of our business became tainted. At this point I really wanted to end the band or leave. With the 2 weeks in england which finally happened afterall, we had a chance to revive our energy but it didn't work for me.

Nov 2005: After that tour, we had to drop one of the guitarists we were working with and try again to come up with another plan to keep this band alive.

Dec 2005: So we figured let's write a record. Carley recruits John to help Carley write.

Jan 2006: We put together John and Carley's music into an album. In the process, my girlfriend (and someday my wife) tells me she can't live this way anymore and I have to decide what I feel is right.

February 2006: Candiria - pretty much burnt out in my opinion and probably will not be too active much longer in my life. My girlfriend - someone I want to be with the rest of my life. So I made the obvious choice and gave up Candiria to salvage a relationship that is priceless to me. I can always keep making music but when you love someone unconditionally, you can't let that get away.

March 2006: I'm in California and my mind is swirling with so many personal toughts that I'm the most stressed and tense I've ever felt in my life. I reach a state of personal confusion.

May 2006: Waiting for my girlfriend's car to get fixed, I look up to the sky and call out to God and start the road to healing.

August 2006: Staying focused with God, evolving again as a human and embracing the experience I am a part of. I truly am back on a path in life. Putting my spiritual health first again takes out my decisions of selfishness like greed or desire or lust. Naturally I'm not perfect so I expect to keep making mistakes until I can either fully cleanse myself or die as best a human as I could be on this earth-inside and outside."