Insomnium will play their remaining concerts with two guest drummers while Markus Hirvonen takes a break from touring for the birth of his first child.
The band announced it on 6 November. Atte Pesonen of Omnium Gatherum covers the Finnish dates that are left, and Waltteri Vayrynen of Opeth takes the North American run.
Hirvonen wrote the announcement himself, from a maternity ward in Finland. "As our firstborn is about to enter this world I'm stepping aside from the drum duties of our magnificent band," he said, adding that he was "honored and thrilled to be passing the torch first to Atte for the few remaining Finnish shows and Waltteri for the upcoming North American run." He closed on the two of them: "There are simply no better drummers nor nicer guys in the world than Atte and Waltteri!"
Hirvonen has been behind the kit since 1997 and is the only member of the band who has never been replaced. Vayrynen joined Opeth in 2022 and has worked across the extreme and progressive ends of the music; Pesonen is a known quantity in Finnish melodic death metal. The arrangement is temporary, and no date has been given for Hirvonen coming back.