The wildly controversial metalcore band is losing a guitarist, bassist, and drummer years after the frontman was convicted of a murder-for-hire plot
Tim Lambesis, frontman of metalcore band As I Lay Dying, somehow managed to get his band back on the road even after he pleaded guilty in 2014 to soliciting an undercover police officer to murder his then-wife. He spent nearly three years in prison before his 2016 release and began performing again in 2018. But now, his band appears to be… dying, with three members announcing their departures in messages that offered dark hints of new developments.
Guitarist Ken Susi, drummer Nick Pierce, and bassist Ryan Neff — all of whom were recent additions to the band — separately said they were leaving in social media posts. Neff seemingly left first, writing last Friday: “This choice comes after much reflection, and I believe it is the right step for my personal and professional journey. I am grateful for the experiences and connections I’ve made during my time with the band.”
“I jumped into the AILD camp with full knowledge of the heightened dramatic history,” Susi wrote in their own post, “but had a drive to just play great music with great friends. Unfortunately, my personal morals have recently been tested to a breaking point, and it’s now the saddest ending to what could have been the greatest second chance for this band.”
“This is far from the ending I anticipated,” wrote Pierce, whose Instagram bio suggested he had only been “filling in” on drums for the band. “I feel I need to distance myself from the band in an effort to retain my personal health and integrity.”
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The band has a new studio album due in November but has reportedly been canceling tour dates after a tour manager also resigned. In 2018, Lambesis said in a YouTube post that the return of the band was meant to be “something positive” after his conviction: “There was such an unbelievable sense of relief after my sentencing of, like, ‘defense’ is no longer in my vocabulary. I don’t defend what I did, because there’s no defense for it. I’m not gonna try to defend what I did, because it’s ridiculous. All I can do is make amends where possible, express my remorse and just put my energy into something positive.”