Yesterday, a story surfaced about As I Lay Dying singer Tim Lambesis getting arrested in alleged murder-for-hire plot. While we wait for his arraignment tomorrow. The band members have broken their silence on the issue:
To our fans,
As we post this, the legal process is taking its course and we have no more information than you do. There are many unanswered questions, and the situation will become clearer in the coming days and weeks. We’ll keep you informed as best we can.
Our thoughts right now are with Tim, his family, and with everyone else affected by this terrible situation – and with our fans, whom we love and draw strength from.
Thank you for understanding, and as always, for your support of As I Lay Dying.
- Jordan, Nick, Phil, and Josh
On the other hand Meggan Lambesis, the wife of Tim Lambesis, said in the court papers obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday that she worried about his ability to care for their three adopted children, but she gave no indication she felt in danger. In addition Meggan blurted out that Tim had become “obsessed with bodybuilding” and was distracted while with the children, often texting or talking on the phone. She noted he had fallen asleep while watching them at the beach or near the pool and said they need a “stable parent” to help them adjust to their new life and country.
The couple adopted 3 children — ages 4, 8 and 10 — from Ethiopia. Tim Lambesis continued to visit them for about 10 hours a week when he was not on tour, according to court documents.
As I Lay Dying vocalist Tim Lambesis was apparently arrested in Oceanside, California, May 7, accused of hiring a hitman to have his estranged wife killed, police said.
Lambesis was taken into custody after caught soliciting help from the detective who supposed to carry out the murder, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. Police had previously learned Lambesis was seeking someone who could commit the slaying, the department said.
There is no official comment from the band in reference to the arrest.
Follow: Tim Lambesis (timlambesis) on Twitter
Update 05/09/13 at 12:59 AM – Manila Time
The San Diego Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Jan Caldwell has issued a statement to Artisan News Service regarding Lambesis’ arrest, stating that authorities have been investigating Lambesis since May 2.
“Information came to us late last week — last Thursday, to be specific — that Lambesis was soliciting another individual to kill his estranged wife, who also resides in the area. Our detectives, our fugitive task force and the sheriff’s special investigations division immediately initiated an investigation into this allegation. We worked around the clock through the weekend and that culminated this afternoon when Lambesis solicited an undercover detective to kill his wife.”
“The next step will be Lambesis’ initial appearance in court, and that is where the charges are read, and if there’s a bail to be set. And they will go from there and start setting different court dates. The investigation at our end is still ongoing, and I can’t go into detail on that. And, thankfully, no one was hurt. But I believe that the captain who commented earlier said that we averted a tragedy today.”
Tim is being held at the Vista Detention Center in Vista, CA see screenshot here. If he is found guilty, the punishment for first degree murder in the state of California is three to nine years imprisonment.
Former Periphery drummer Travis Orbin has joined Darkest Hour. The band released the following statement to confirm this fusion:
It is with extreme excitement for the days ahead that Washington D.C. Melodic Death Metal veterans DARKEST HOUR proudly announce the addition of drummer Travis Orbin. Travis brings his unique perspective and talents to the table as a seasoned touring musician (Periphery, Sky Eats Airplane) and as a noted session drummer.
“The chemistry has developed into something special, unique, and new. It’s hard to deny this feeling when you’ve been releasing albums for as long as we have and we couldn’t be more ready to unleash this new sound of ours on your senses,” says guitarist Mike Schleibaum.
Jeff Hanneman, one of the founding guitarists of the seminal thrash metal band Slayer, died Thursday in Southern California of liver failure. The band announced the following statement on their website:
Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11AM this morning near his Southern California home. Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure. He is survived by his wife Kathy, his sister Kathy and his brothers Michael and Larry, and will be sorely missed.
He wrote some of most powerful riffs that defined the band’s career, including “Angel of Death,” “South of Heaven,” “Raining Blood” and “War Ensemble.” Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King perfected a fiery twin-lead guitar style that propelled Slayer to the forefront of the thrash metal movement of the early 1980s, where they were crowned as one of the genre’s “Big Four,” along with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax.
Our Brother Jeff Hanneman, May He Rest In Peace (1964 – 2013)
Jeff’s passing is a big loss to the metal world.
Florida metallers TRIVIUM have completed recording their sixth album for a late summer release via Roadrunner Records. The CD is being produced by DISTURBED/DEVICE frontman David Draiman at a studio in Austin, Texas.
In a recent interview with PitCam.TV, TRIVIUM frontman Matt Heafy stated about the songwriting sessions for the band’s next CD: “I can tell you we do have a title, we do have songtitles, we do have 20 to 25 songs demoed, we do have an artist. Everything is set up — all the visuals and everything — but it’s all secret. Hopefully it comes out the third quarter of next year. We’re recording in January, February and March in Austin, Texas; that’s all I can say [about] that. It’s gonna be great; it’s gonna be really, really great. It’s too difficult to describe in metal adjectives, like ‘heavy,’ ‘brutal,’ melodic,’ all this stuff, like every band does. Also, the classic phrase: ‘our best album ever.’ I can say that with ‘In Waves’, it was finally an album that all the fans of the previous four… We’ve got very divided fans: ‘I just like ‘Ember’.’ ‘I just like ‘Crusade’.’ ‘I just like ‘Ascendancy’.’ ‘I just like ‘Shogun’.’ Everyone could agree on ‘In Waves’. And simultaneously, everywhere in the world, ‘In Waves’ received the biggest reaction. With the next record, people can expect the best parts of everything we’ve ever done across all five records on one.”
TRIVIUM’s latest album, “In Waves”, sold 22,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 13 on The Billboard 200 chart — the highest U.S. chart entry of the band’s career. The group’s previous CD, “Shogun”, opened with just under 24,000 units back in October 2008 to debut at No. 23. The effort followed up “The Crusade”, which registered a first-week tally of 31,000 copies in October 2006 to enter the chart at No. 25.
Norway’s IN VAIN will release its third attack of progressive extreme metal, “Ænigma”, on March 8 in Norway, March 15 in Germany and Austria and March 11 in the rest of Europe through Indie Recordings. The band’s most extreme work to date, it was mixed and produced by the legendary Jens Bogren (OPETH, SOILWORK, BORKNAGAR) at Fascination Street in Örebro, Sweden. The cover artwork was designed by Robert Høyem.
A six-minute YouTube clip containing audio samples of all the tracks on the album is available below.
According to a press release, “Ænigma” contains “eight songs of IN VAIN‘s unique trademark sound and as usual, IN VAIN has brought some guests along, and ‘Ænigma’ sees appearances by Lazare and Cornelius from SOLEFALD.”
Commented IN VAIN‘s Johnar Håland: “We had a solid impression of the productions coming out of the Fascination Street Studio, and believed Jens was the right guy to give the music the crystal clear and powerful sound that it demands. Jens did not cut any corners and delivered a production par excellente.”
The second in a series of video clips featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the “Ænigma” recording sessions can be seen below. Also available is a stream of the album’s new single, “Against The Grain”.
France’s CROWN will release its new album, “Psychurgy”, on April 22 via Candlelight Records.
Check out the CD cover artwork below.
CROWN is two men and a machine who tune their neutron guitars to the Richter scale, and deliver the sound of a molten universe collapsing. Touching on early ISIS, GODFLESH, FLOOR and even KILLING JOKE,CROWN explore the depths of slow tempos on their début album, “The One”, and their split EP with ST VALLEY through sheer exuberant heaviness.
The duo’s depth-charging guitars and buried melodic tendencies snake around hissing electronics, a tribal / military percussive thwack, and the splashing cymbals of a minimal-yet-completely-effective drum-machine. Their sound is further emboldened by a massive bestial roar, heavy and oppressive, leading to an abyss of nothingness…. Welcome to the dark, spiralling, and obscure experiments of CROWN.
Even though singer Maynard James Keenan told a Chilean radio station earlier in the week that TOOL will not be releasing a new album in 2013, the band’s drummer Danny Carey is hopeful that TOOL‘s next CD could still arrive in the next few months. “Sometime this year … that’s all I can say,” Carey told New Zealand’s The Rock FM regarding a possible release date for the record. “The sooner the better for us. We’re working every day but you can never predict it, honestly. We’re really excited about it, so I hope all the fans will be too.”
Carey also revealed that TOOL has amassed a significant amount of live material for possible future release on CD or DVD. “We have tons of stuff recorded,” he said. “I hope we do make that happen one of these days. We have lots of video stuff too, we could do a DVD or two whenever we get around to it. We’re kind of trying to focus on the new thing now, so we’ll go back at some point and do it.”
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“In Due Time”, the new single from Massachusetts metallers KILLSWITCH ENGAGE — singer Jesse Leach, guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, bassist Mike D’Antonio, guitarist Joel Stroetzel and drummer Justin Foley — can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The song comes off the band’s forthcoming album, “Disarm The Descent”, which will be released on April 2 via Roadrunner Records. The follow-up to KILLSWITCH ENGAGE‘s 2009′s self-titled release is the band’s first album with original singer Leach at the vocal helm since 2002′s now-classic, genre-defining “Alive or Just Breathing”. Leach returned to the band in January 2012 after a decade-long absence. The artwork for the new CD was created by D’Antonio.
“In Due Time” will be made available digitally on February 5. Album pre-orders will kick off in early February, as well, with more details forthcoming.
“Disarm The Descent” was selected by Alternative Press magazine for its “Most Anticipated Albums of 2013″ issue, and the band was profiled in Guitar World as one to watch in 2013. Clearly, buzz from fans and the metal and hard rock community regarding new KILLSWITCH ENGAGE remains deafening.
“It is with a grateful spirit that we prepare for this record’s release,” Leach said. “From the music, to the lyrics, to the artwork, we are all proud of what we have accomplished. To me, this is by far my best vocal performance, much thanks to Adam‘s guidance and faith in my abilities. I am very grateful to be where I am in life, back in an amazing band with a record we are all excited for the world to hear. Thanks to all the fans for their warm welcome back and their undying love for KILLSWITCH ENGAGE.”
2012 marked a busy year for KILLSWITCH ENGAGE. [More]
“Skinandteethandnails”, the new album from the French hardcore outfit VERA CRUZ, is available for streaming in its entirety below. The band’s Season Of Mist debut features eleven tracks of pulse-pounding, relentless hardcore and metal will be out in North America on January 22.
VERA CRUZ embraces the fine art of serious ass-kicking with “Skinandteethandnails”. Balancing melodic hardcore with rock influences, the band displays astonishing mastery for such a young act. The effort captures the explosive energy that the band unleashes during their live shows.
States the band: “There’s an overall theme about this album and the way it has been thought and composed. There’s a sort of ‘Holy Grail’ we always try to reach in every song but like the latter, whatever is Holy doesn’t lie in front of your eyes for everyone to see, but is rather a kind of quest to find it. We would like people to be able to find what they’ve been seeking with our music. It’s for everyone to decipher it and find what’s under the surface.”
“Skinandteethandnails” will be available on CD digipak and digitally.
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