Cult of Luna frontman Johannes Persson made his feelings on As I Lay Dying and Tim Lambesis very clear in a new interview with The Quietus.
Without mentioning Lambesis by name, Persson expressed shock at how easily Lambesis has been able to return to his band without showing, in Persson's opinion, enough remorse. Persson also called out the other members of the band. Again, he did not mention Lambesis by name, but it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out who he's referring to:
"The background that I'm from – the musical background – was very much integrated with a lot of ethics and it was a very political scene too, which when you come from that kind of scene you think that everybody else thinks the same way in a sense.
"So, for example, when a person that just tried to [have his wife killed] – something that happened just a couple of years ago – is out touring and people are happy to have a forgive and forget attitude about it? I cannot get my head around it. I cannot. How is that not a person you now don't want anything to do with in your entire life?
"How can [journalists] write about that band? There are a thousand other bands you can write about. How can you go to their show? How can they not be constantly questioned every single day about it? I don't understand because with my background we call bullshit on people.
"However, it might not sound like it, but I'm all for second chances, as long as that person has shown deep regret and I think that some time must-have passed before you can actually see if a person is sincere enough, and most of all you see it through their actions, not through their words.
"For example, Ok, let's talk about this case right now – I'm not even going to say his name – but if you're sincerely sorry, like I said: fine. Take all your proceedings, everything from every tour and donate it to a battered women's shelter. Of course, you can take enough to make ends meet but just saying, 'I'm sorry', doesn't cut it, especially when your band called you a sociopath before.
"That's how they work. They adapt to what fits them at this moment. I'm not buying it. You donate your money – at least that's an action, that's something that shows you're going to do something that's not for yourself. This is also about those coward fucking band members who threw shit on him one second and then when their other band didn't work well [they welcomed him back] – money talks. That's how it works."
Tim Lambesis was released from prison in late 2016 after being sentenced to six years imprisonment in May 2014. He went to prison on a felony charge of solicitation of murder after attempting to hire a hitman to kill his then-wife. He served about two and a half years and was released right at the end of 2016. We covered this story exhaustively in 2013 and 2014. In 2018, As I Lay Dying made their quiet, controversial return. They released a new song and began booking tour dates with smaller bands. At the time, there was some blowback including a show cancellation. The band have since gone on to book a national tour and release a new album.
[via ThePRP]
