Death Metal Frontman Disputes Details After All 3 Bandmates Quit Mid-Tour

Vitriol frontman Kyle Rasmussen is speaking out after the other three members of the band posted on social media that they decided to leave the band by abandoning him at a gas station as they headed home mid-tour from their current run.

In a since-expired post frm guitarist Keith Merrow's Instagram Stories earlier in the week, he revealed that he, drummer Andy Vincenzetti and bassist Brett Leier had left the singer behind after tiring of his behavior. "Myself, Andy, Brett and Matt will not take Kyle's cowardly and weak outbursts of misplaced anger," Merrow stated. "We gave everything we had, and now we have now left you with nothing. Mass exodus. This was the darkest day of my music career to date."

This marks the second time in two years that Vitriol have faced mid-tour defections, as founding bassist and co-vocalist Adam Roethlisberger followed an early year departure of bassist Daniel Martinez in 2024 in the midst of a summer tour run, leaving the band to finish out dates as a two-piece.

What Kyle Rasmussen Said About Vitriol's Latest Departures

In a lengthy 40 minute-plus video posted to Vitriol's socials, Rasmussen disputed the claims levied by the outgoing band members about him and confirms that the current Vitriol tour will be "discontinuing" as a result of the recent split.

"It was important to me to see how Keith, Brett, and Andy decided to handle this in the following day. Unfortunately, they chose to double down, and they are sharing information with people I care about that simply is just not true. Some of it's an exaggeration, some of it's outright fallacious," says the singer near the top of the video (as transcribed by Lambgoat).

Within the chat he reveals that what eventually led to the dispute came after an intoxicated period for each of the band members as they prepared to reach the Canadian border. Rasmussen says he was getting some rest in a private bedroom when Merrow engaged him in conversation about concern over what might be found in the RV at the border. From Rasmussen's perspective, the conversation escalated until he felt that Merrow was goading him into the heated response he gave.

"I didn't threaten him physically. I didn't touch him. He leaves. I try to go back to sleep," says Rasmussen. "At this stage I'm not thinking that the situation is that dire." But while he admits that he "blew a lid" at Merrow, he didn't think anything was significantly wrong until he was told that the other band members were packing up their things.

Rasmussen says he was then confronted by other band members saying that he couldn't talk to them like that and when he questioned Merrow entering his private space and being hostile, the dispute "went nuclear."

Rasmussen claims that Merrow used some colorful language, threatened physical violence and pushed his girlfriend to the side as he attempted to physically remove Rasmussen from their traveling vehicle. Eventually police were called, but Rasmussen says that he and his girlfriend and their dog decided not to put up a fight over the vehicle given the state of the situation.

"From the outside, if I saw this, I would have to assume that this was just a pressure cooker of animosity that exploded into this extreme It was an extreme action. It was a drugged-out temper tantrum. That's the truth," added Rasmussen. "Was I the catalyst for it? Was my rage? Was the intensity of my rage the match? Of course. And that's on me. But I've been doing this for a long time. I've been belittled on tour. I've been yelled at. I've had shit thrown at me. I've had people swing on me. I've had people name call me. I don't even name call. I just am brutal with what I think is the truth. It's not always… It's rarely the right thing to do. But the behavior that followed freed me from any sense of loss."

Rasmussen says that he received great compassion from the police officer who witnessed the band leaving the musician behind. The officer made sure they could get to a hotel. A local ice cream shop store owner also let them leave their gear and luggage in his shop. In the interim, he's launched a GoFundMe to help he, his girlfriend and their dog get home to Portland, Oregon from New York.

As for the future of the band, he shares, "The most important thing in my life is this message that I'm communicating with Vitriol, and I'm always going to find a way to do that. I've always been a fighter. I've always said, I'm just going to keep going until I find the right guys. At this point, I never I've never anticipated something that's disastrous, this catastrophic, losing all three members at the same time is something that is very difficult to bounce back from. I don't know for sure what's happening, but I have to assume that Vitriol is going to take a nice break for the foreseeable future until I figure out what the next move is."

What the Other Vitriol Members Have Shared

In a posting to his Instagram stories after news of the split broke, Keith Merrow shared, "Me, Brett and Andy left Vitriol because Kyle sucks. That's it. It doesn't require an absolutely psychotic 2 part video series to explain. He irrationally screamed at the whole crew at the top of his lungs on multiple occasions. We simply won't tolerate it, just like all the other 19 people who left this failed band."

"What more needs to be said?," Merrow concluded. "It's the same shit as every other victim of his abuse."

READ MORE: Co-Founder Quits Death Metal Band Mid-Tour

In a separate posting, he added, "The silver lining in this situation is that I met Brett and Andy. We're continuing together as a band under a different name because we love each other. The Amazing Bambino Crew will be joining us as sound engineers."