The Tim Lambesis-led As I Lay Dying has officially been dropped from the Welcome to Rockville lineup, replaced by the metalcore group Miss May I.
Organizers revealed the news in a social media post, noting that Miss May I will perform on Friday, May 16 — the same day AILD was originally scheduled to perform. While there was no reason listed for AILD’s removal from the lineup, organizers simply wrote, “As I Lay Dying will no longer be performing.”
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Welcome to Rockville, North America’s largest rock festival, will return to Daytona Beach, Florida from May 15 to 17 at the Daytona International Speedway. The 14th edition will feature headlining performances from Green Day, Shinedown, Linkin Park, and Korn.
This is the latest blow for Lambesis; late last year, the band’s lineup slowly dwindled down as more members quit the band. The metalcore outfit just returned to the scene a few years ago as a full band following the incarceration of Lambesis, however, one by one, all four members announced their split from the band.
Bassist/clean vocalist Ryan Neff was the first to announce his departure, and less than a week later, guitarist Ken Susi and drummer Nick Pierce followed suit. Longtime member Phil Sgrosso was the latest to quit; he had performed with the band from 2003 to 2013 and then again from 2018 to 2024.
Sgrosso noted in a statement that AILD :no longer offers a healthy and safe environment for anyone involved” and “after witnessing some concerning patterns of behavior, I’ve realized that I can no longer, in good conscience, enable further actions that could negatively affect anyone working within this space.”
After 21 years with the band, he said that “it does not sit well with me to leave or abandon what I’ve considered to be my ‘life’s work,’” however, he said “I believe that with the right adjustments and restructuring, our music can continue to thrive and explore new possibilities in a healthier environment.”
Lambesis’ other project, Austrian Death Machine, also lost a member of its group after drummer Brandon Short announced his departure, citing he quit “for the sake of my mental well-being and personal beliefs.”
Following their exits, Lambesis released a statement of his own, agreeing that “there was an unhealthy environment that made leaving for a new tour with the previous lineup unrealistic” and it became “difficult to figure out even the smallest details” within the group. However, he assured that AILD does not end here, as “I can stick strong to my vision for the future of AILD even when others think it should go another direction.”
Lambesis noted that he “fully supports” their decisions and “my door will always remain open to discussing anything directly.”
In January, Lambesis was interviewed on Justin Wenzel’s podcast, where he noted that he’s not going to share details about the band just yet.
“I do feel like my task right now is to be further down this healing path…” Lambesis said. “However awkward it is for me to share that and cry about it, there’s clearly something that’s been unaddressed for the last 12 years in my life.”
The metalcore outfit has received harsh criticism since their return to the music scene, as Lambesis served two and a half years in prison for attempting to hire a hitman to murder his now ex-wife. While AILD reformed in 2017, and have since released 2019’s Shaped By Fire and Through Storms Ahead this past week, Austrian Death Machine only made a comeback in 2023 and dropped their fourth LP Quad Brutal last year.
