Here's the official note issued by Frank Prashant Pawar(bassist) on his FaceBook page:
"My fingers are trembling as I make this announcement."
"I have always been a simpleton and music was the only thing that keeps me going. Since college I always dreamt of forming a band and tearing up the stage. Even made childish pacts with good ol friend Archan at borivali stn stating that we will form a band soon. Silly us!"
"I always wanted to be a bass guitarist out of pure love of the low frequencies. I remember those days when I didn’t even own a bass but I use to rent one at 50 rupees per day to practice and perform with new bands almost 15 years back. As fate had it I met up Bruce, Malcolm and Ulhas and we set out on a journey to form a Metal band. ATMOSFEAR was born in my house out of randon IRON MAIDEN jams and Ulhas trying to influence us with his dose of Death Metal. I heard about DEVOID from Nikhil who asked me if I wanna audition for them. It’s a well-known fact that I went for the audition purely to steal a drummer for ATMOSFEAR. But when I met Arun, Shubham and Keshav, I realized what was missing in my life."
"My journey began with our first gig at the Campus Rock Idols. I do take credit in pushing the band to enter the competition even though I had just joined and we were not prepared. After we qualified the Mumbai league I even gave up my job as my boss was not allowing me to take a leave for the finals. Since then DEVOID has took off and I am nothing but proud of what DEVOID has achieved. I can boast on my death bed that I was in a successful Metal band that came up with a successful album. I feel proud that people know me and respect me for my band. I have been with DEVOID now for 7 years and in 7 years I have come a long way with DEVOID, even the age gap was not evident between us. I made friends from the Metal fraternity amongst them bands such as ZYGNEMA, DEMONIC RESURRECTION ...heck... almost all major Metal bands in fact. I even got the opportunity to perform for SCEPTRE which was a big achievement for me. I have been associated with ATMOSFEAR and SCEPTRE as well but I was not able to dedicate my time for long to them. But I have learned a lot from guys like Bruce, Mayank, Gilroy, Teemeer and Aniket."
"Arun, Keshav, Sanju and Shubham have been more than band mates to me. They are my brothers, mentors and my biggest influence. They kept this dream alive in me that kept me going, and to this day I can fuckin proudly go on any stage and rip it off with tremendous pride."
"Unfortunately the band decided to part ways with me on the 7th of January 2012. This news hit me so bad that I might have skipped a few heart beats. I respect their decision as 4 people can’t be wrong, so here’s the announcement. ‘Frank, bass player for DEVOID is asked to leave the band’. 22nd January will see the debut of a new Bass guitarist for DEVOID."
"As much as I am upset and sad I am right now, let me assure you I hold no grudges against my band, manager and even the new bass player. Please do support my band DEVOID as it still means everything to me."
"I will need few days to get out of this depression and I am still not done crying. The only thing that keeps me going is my faithful companion and my lovely wife, Lovina. I urge all my friends to give me some space now as I am really in a fragile state of mind. I am all broken down and will need some time to bounce back. Rest assured this hasn’t killed my love for music and I will continue to practice at home."
"With this I gracefully retire from the Indian Metal but I continue my support towards it. I thank you all for being there for me and supporting my only true love, DEVOID."
In addition to this, the band have also announced Abhishek Kamdar as a new Bassist for the band who will be replacing Frank Prashant Pawar. DEVOID will be playing their fist gig with the new line-up on 22nd January 2012 at Blue Frog Metal Nights.