While band members exiting a group to pursue new music endeavors is commonplace across all genres, fans of the California metalcore band As I Lay Dying were given the shocking news that not one, but four of the members had left in little over a week.
Ryan Neff, the bassist and co-clean vocalist for the group since 2022, announced his departure from the group on October 18th, citing only his “personal and professional journey” as the reason for the surprise exit from the band.
A surprise loss of a member can bring a band closer together, but this seemingly wasn’t the case for As I Lay Dying, as two more members quit on the same day. Guitarist Ken Susi and drummer Nick Pierce. Susi stated that his “personal morals” were “tested to a breaking point” in an October 24th Instagram post, with Pierce adding a similar statement shortly after, “in an effort to retain my personal health and integrity.”
Guitarist Phil Sgrosso, who was the only remaining classic member of the group, was the last to leave, writing that “As I Lay Dying no longer offers a healthy or safe environment for anyone involved — whether creatively, personally, or professionally.”
These departures meant that vocalist Tim Lambesis is now the sole member of the group, and if that wasn’t bad enough – the band’s tour manager has also quit, effectively scrapping all planned tour dates for the upcoming album, Through Storms Ahead, set to begin in Europe alongside fellow acts Decapitated, Caliban, and Ov Sulfur. The album was due for release on November 15th – that is, if it gets released at all.
So why is everyone leaving As I Lay Dying like it’s a sinking ship? It looks like it’s much bigger – and much darker – than simple bandmate in-fighting.
Why is everyone leaving As I Lay Dying?
Although Ryan Neff, Ken Susi, and Nick Pierce didn’t go into specific details about why they felt pushed out of As I Lay Dying, merely stating that they were “sorting through details” in a joint Instagram post addressing the fallout from the next few days.
However, all this talk of morality and integrity could point to sole remaining member Tim Lambesis’s troubled legal history. Lambesis previously served two years in prison for murder-for-hire, having paid an undercover hitman $1,ooo to kill his estranged wife. While this would certainly fall under an issue of morality Lambesis resumed musician duties in 2018, shortly after his release from prison, having served two years of a six year sentence. His now-former bandmates — aside from Sgrosso — joined the group in 2022, and had knowledge of his previous conviction.
Sgrosso’s full comment, however, seems to point toward Lambesis as the root of the band’s collapse, adding that “After witnessing some concerning patterns of behavior, I’ve realized that I can no longer, in good conscience, enable further actions that could negatively affect anyone working within this space.”
This would be certainly consistent with Lambesis’ personal history of violence and cruelty, especially as Sgrosso went on to emphasise his solidarity with his fellow departing bandmates – not mentioning Tim at all.
“I also want to share my full support for Ryan, Ken, and Nick, who made the choice to step away recently. I’m grateful for our accomplishments and friendship over the past 3 years.”