Back in 2013, the metal community was rocked by news that Tim Lambesis the frontman of the Grammy-nominated As I Lay Dying was arrested by police in a murder for hire plot that targeted his estranged wife Meggan. In a state of disbelief, many fans refused to believe the headlines. Yet, in one of the most shocking moments in metal history, Lambesis pleaded guilty in a Californian Court under the weight of overwhelming evidence.
The backlash on the rest of the band was brutal and lasting. Forming their own band under a new moniker in an attempt to distance themselves from Lambesis’scrime, they quickly discovered that they were never to be free. Forever chained to what Lambesis had done. No matter their achievements, no matter the interview, the focus would always come back to Lambesis in one way or another. A focus that only seemed to intensify in the years that followed Lambesis’s release in December of 2016.
Then, breaking the silence on the 7th of June 2018, we received the first stirrings from a beast we all thought dead. Without warning and without explanation As I Lay Dying post a new video with a thumb nail that simply displays a microphone. Leaving the community dumbfounded the band post on twitter, “It’s difficult to encapsulate all of the topics we want to address with a written statement. We understand there are many questions and we plan to address them this week.”
Then, true to their word the band post a video which manages to do something that the surviving members of the band had been trying to do from the beginning of the ordeal. They finally get to tell their side of the story. Free from outside influence Nick Hipa, Josh Gilbert, Jordan Mancino and Phil Sgrosso sit around a table with Tim and publicly discuss the impact of Tim’s crime for the first time.
No Matter how you feel on the subject, for better or worse, As I Lay Dying is back.