CloisteredFlame
HA! I live in her CLOSET!
Yeah, that's something that's often baffled me when Kalafina-only fans insinuate that the FBM (who were involved in recording, and performing, for almost the entire decade, original and variation instrumentals of all the iconic songs often from their initial composition or early lives) are "not all that" and easily replaceable, without admitting (or understanding) that the "sound" could never be exactly the same, because you've changed virtually all the musicians, who have played these songs maybe hundreds of times, together!
The people they are working with now are definitely all experienced pros and can play the songs, but their choices are different (in solos and so on) and the feel will be different. I am personally picky about the instrumental solos since they're often iconic and changes have to land: Korenaga annoys at times, but when he locks in he complements beautifully; Junior may not have the usual J-bassist, high-speed, improvisation capacity, but he's solid; Akagi is irreplaceable; and so on.
Band selection is down to the producer/bandmaster. FBM are Kajiura's team, and definitely Takebe (or any other music director) would have their go-to musicians. Konno is there with his strings team not as part of FBM.
One interesting thing is that Kalafina have had to use Akagi's solos on playback, and I believe she's the only musician who has that honor because her instrument, and solos, are so unique and musical, that they form part of the story of the songs so aren't just replaceable (like with that Cello "thing" they did in the 2025 concert)..