I am unashamed to say that As I Lay Dying holds a special place in my heavy metal heart, even though many trve kvltists would put them on par with a smelly, dying salmon flip-flopping on the shore and would put me on par with the mallcore kids for listening them. The truth is, they were the single solitary band to get me into extreme metal in the first place, and for that, I am eternally grateful.
Before AILD, the only metal I was listening to was Judas Priest, The Cult, and Metallica, and I thought that all metal with that ridiculous cookie monster screaming was beyond stupid and not worth giving a shit about, let alone to be taken seriously. It wasn't until I heard "Confined" that I finally "got it" and I rocked my motherfucking goddamned ass off listening to its furious double kicks, blast beats, and of course, the screaming. I was converted, and I'm sure that I probably wouldn't be loving Nile, Emperor, and Pig Destroyer today is it wasn't for AILD to shift my taste toward that extreme direction.
It's also well known that AILD are a Christian band who have a positive message rooted in their faith. Vocalist Tim Lambesis' lyrics are downright philosophical at times without being preachy or judgmental in the slightest. Keeping on the topic of Lambesis, he has also adopted three Ethiopian children who were previously living in horrific conditions and he's been raising them with his wife Meggan for a few years now. Unfortunately, the two are now divorced, but they have joint custody of the children. As of recently, Tim looked like a prime example of an all-around good and likable dude.
Until he got arrested for allegedly hiring someone to fucking kill his ex-wife.
The hitman in question just happened to be an undercover cop (go figure) and it's looking like Lambesis is doomed. Well, I take that back. What's interesting to me is that he plead not guilty, which means that he's actually going to present a case as opposed to pleading guilty and taking a lighter sentence. Right now, the thing about this shocking turn of events that I'm most interested in is what his case is actually going to be. Sure, he seems doomed because of the circumstances of his arrest, but things have only just begun. This whole freaky situation is still shocking to me and I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that the man who got me into extreme metal in the first place is possibly not the man I thought he was.
This has just been a really weird time for metal. First Jeff Hanneman drops dead out of nowhere due to liver failure (and his band has already stated that they're going to keep touring without him), and now a Christian metal guy is on trial for trying to get his ex-wife killed. What's next for our little metallic world? Is James Hetfield going to be brought up on assault charges? Is Ozzy going to come out of the closet and divorce Sharron? Is Emmure going to rise to the position of metal's most popular band? All of this remains to be seen, but all I know is that things could indeed get weirder from here.
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