As I Lay Dying have lost another longtime member in drummer Jordan Mancino who has exited the band due to “internal issues”.
Taking to Instagram last week to announce that he would not be joining the band on their upcoming tour, Mancino said there have been “a number of ongoing internal issues with As I Lay Dying that need to be worked out”.
“It was my wish to avoid any further touring until these issues were resolved,” he continued. “Since they have not yet been resolved, it is with a heavy heart that I announce I will not be performing on any upcoming tour dates until further notice. Thanks to all of you for your understanding.”
In response to the statement, frontman Tim Lambesis revealed that the group will now move forward without Mancino, claiming that attempts to reconcile proved unsuccessful.
“There was a public statement recently made by Jordan Mancino regarding ‘internal issues within AILD’. We feel that it’s necessary to share a little more information with the fans on the matter in order to better understand the situation and avoid making any wrongful assumptions,” Lambesis wrote on Instagram.
“For about the past 2 years, Jordan has ex-communicated himself from the remaining members of AILD informing us that he wishes to only speak through lawyers moving forward.
“There have been numerous attempts by the remaining members to reconcile with Jordan to find common ground in how to continue AILD in a healthy and positive manner.
“In preparation for post-pandemic band activity, the remaining members felt it unfair to have our ambitions hindered by someone who refused to contribute or communicate openly. We feel this is not an efficient way for a band (or business) to operate productively.”
He continued: “We offered Jordan the chance to get together and jam old songs, or even just get into a room together to talk weeks prior to an established deadline before needing to find a fill in drummer for the upcoming tours. We had no response until we were met with legal documents that Jordan wished to move on from the band and expected a payment in return.
“The remaining members feel that we must find other solutions to keep AILD moving forward without Jordan Mancino involved. There is nothing personal with this situation in any way. We want to continue playing music and we cannot be an effective team if a member wants to limit all progress and productivity by refusing to communicate.
“The remaining members who write the songs, handle touring logistics, merchandise, etc feel confident that we can pursue our creative ambitions moving forward with greater ease knowing that all members, producers, agents, crew members, etc are enthusiastic to be involved. The driving force of AILD is still well in tact.”
Celebrating Mancino’s contributions to the band, Lambesis concluded: “Jordan has had a long career of performing AILD songs very well, and his drumming on our earlier records in particular really pushed the genre as a whole. We’ll forever be grateful for his contributions and the good times we shared.”
As I Lay Dying have announced that former Unearth drummer Nick Pierce will stand in for Mancino on the band’s ‘Two Decades of Destruction Tour’.
Mancino’s decision to leave the band comes after guitarist Nick Hipa left the Californian metalcore outfit in 2020, citing that he wanted to prioritise “a motion design career, deep focus on my family, taking care of my health, and working on other creative projects”, and bassist Josh Gilbert departed from the band in May.
As I Lay Dying reunited in 2018 following several years of inactivity after Lambesis was arrested over a plot to have his wife murdered.
He pled not guilty to a solicitation-of-murder charge, with Lambesis’ lawyer saying that his judgement was “devastatingly affected by his steroid use” when the alleged incident occurred. He was sentenced to six years in prison in May of 2014, and was released on parole in December of 2016.
In a 2018 statement, Lambesis told fans that those “who support As I Lay Dying are not supporting the person I once was.”