“I did not make the decision to leave my life’s work”
Former Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler has issued a statement about his departure from the metal band. Read it in full below.
In July, Lamb of God had announced Adler was out of the band, and would be replaced by touring drummer Art Cruz. Adler was one of the founding members of the Richmond, Virginia group, which began under the name Burn the Priest in 1994.
Adler – who recently returned to the stage drumming for the band Hail! – broke his silence on the split in a Facebook post on October 24.
“Allow me to start with a relative concept of understanding,” the post began. “We all gave our lives to this, 26 years is not flippant. Each one of us sacrificed and lost much on a personal level to live the dream we had when we were kids. I will always love each member of the band for believing in me and agreeing to take on the world.”
Adler implied that it was not his choice to leave Lamb of God: “We managed to find some love in the machine, but in turn it took things that cannot be recovered. I did not leave the dream. I did not make the decision to leave my life’s work. The truth is that, I am unwilling to paint by numbers.”
“There is an ambiguous concept in our world of ‘selling out’,” Adler continued. “I cannot define that outside of my personal understanding, but know that being trapped in a ‘creative’ formula and/or playing the same song 10,000 times did not bolster my love of playing. I’ve never been one to ‘phone it in’. I’d rather mow the grass.”
Adler also debunked rumours that his exit from Lamb of God was due to health reasons. In 2017, he was involved in a motorcycle accident, and had to sit out live shows for a period of time as he underwent physical and occupational therapy.
“Many have asked about a motorbike accident I had in Thailand in 2017,” he wrote. “It’s true that it was not pretty, but I’ve been well since August of 2018. Thank you for your concerns.”
In his statement, Adler also expressed his gratitude for being able to achieve his “childhood dream”, and promised his fans he wasn’t going anywhere: “I can assure you that you will hear from me again. I was given a gift and hope to continue to share it.” He also light-heartedly professed his goal to win another Grammy: “I have two Grammys that sit on my mother’s mantlepiece. I think she deserves three so this party isn’t over.” Read Adler’s full statement here:
I feel it is time to address the many questions being asked about my departure from Lamb Of God.Allow me to start with…
Posted by Chris Adler on Wednesday, October 23, 2019
In 2018, Adler founded the talent management agency Kintsugi Management. Last week, he returned to the stage as the drummer for Hail!, a supergroup featuring current and former members of Megadeth, Machine Head, Exodus and Violence. The four-piece performed live in Dubai on October 18. Watch fan-shot footage of their gig below.
