AS I LAY DYING bassist/vocalist Ryan Neff has announced his departure from the band.
On Friday (October 18),Neff, who joined AS I LAY DYING in the spring of 2022, took to his Instagram to write: “As of today, I have made the decision to leave AS I LAY DYING. 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.
“Thank you to all the fans for your support.”
AS I LAY DYING is preparing to kick off a massive European tour, “Through Storms Ahead”, featuring support from CALIBAN, DECAPITATED and OV SULFUR, on November 15 in Würzburg, Germany.
AS I LAY DYING‘s eighth full-length studio album, “Through Storms Ahead”, will be released on November 15 via Napalm Records. The LP features the critically acclaimed new tracks “Burden”, “The Cave We Fear To Enter”, and the recently revealed “We Are The Dead” featuring guest vocalists Alex Terrible (SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL) and Tom Barber (CHELSEA GRIN, DARKO).
“Through Storms Ahead” was producted by guitarist Phil Sgrosso and Hiram Hernandez, mixed by Aaron Chaparian, mastered Ted Jensen and album art once again created by Corey Meyers.
In June 2022, drummer Jordan Mancino announced that he would sit out AS I LAY DYING‘s tour due to “a number of ongoing internal issues” that “have not yet been resolved.”
Mancino‘s announcement came less than a month after bassist/vocalist Josh Gilbert revealed that he was leaving the band. In a statement, the remaining members of AS I LAY DYING said that Gilbert “decided to exit” the group “to pursue other musical opportunities.”
Josh was the second AS I LAY DYING member to leave the band in less than a year. In August 2021, guitarist Nick Hipa confirmed his exit from AS I LAY DYING, explaining that he could no longer justify being part of “a superficial pursuit” of the “story and meaning” that the band’s 2018 reunion was built upon.
AS I LAY DYING singer Tim Lambesis was famously convicted in 2014 for his role in a murder-for-hire plot against his estranged wife.
In May 2014, Lambesis was sentenced to six years in jail after pleading guilty to paying a San Diego police officer posing as a hitman $1,000 to kill his wife. Approximately two and a half years later — on December 17, 2016 — he was discharged from a California detention facility and was transferred to the Division of Adult Parole Operations.
In June 2018, AS I LAY DYING played its first show with Lambesis in five years and released a new single. Lambesis also owned up to his crimes in a long apology on the band’s Facebook page after his release.
The return of AS I LAY DYING raised some questions, particularly since Hipa categorically denounced the band’s disgraced frontman as a “sociopathic narcissist in definite need of rehabilitation” in a social-media post back in 2014.
In September 2021, AS I LAY DYING released a new song called “Roots Below” which was originally a B-side leftover from when the sessions for “Shaped By Fire”.
