Vitriol‘s lineup volatility has continued, and like the last time, has once played out in dramatic fashion. According to guitarist Keith Merrow, who joined the band this past March, he and recently recruited bassist Brett Leier and drummer Andy Vincenzetti have all exited the band’s current tour. What’s more, in staged this mass exodus, they effectively abandoned the band’s founder, frontman/guitarist Kyle Rasmussen at a gas station in Vermont. Merrow took to his social media this morning, November 24th, to state the following:
“HE FUCKED AROUND AND FOUND OUT.
I’LL BE HOME FOR THANKSGIVING, BABY.
SORRY VITRIOL FANS. WE HAD TO ABANDON HIM AT A GAS STATION IN VERMONT.
MYSELF, ANDY, BRETT, AND MATT WILL NOT TAKE KYLE‘S COWARDLY AND WEAK OUTBURSTS OF MISPLACED ANGER.
WE GAVE EVERYTHING WE HAD, AND NOW HAVE NOW LEFT YOU WITH NOTHING. MASS EXODUS.
THIS WAS THE DARKEST DAY OF MY MUSIC CAREER TO DATE”
A personal statement from Vincenzetti shared on his Instagram today, November 24th, read:
“Onwards and Upwards,
Played some sick deathmetal and got to meet even sicker people.
Thanks for all the messages, I’ll answer all of yall as soon as I can, just focused on driving back safe to Portland from New York, much love!”
All three of the musicians mentioned above had joined the band this year. Interestingly, this isn’t the first mid-tour departure to be experienced by the technical death metal outfit. In September of 2024, then bassist/vocalist Adam Roethlisberger quit the band. In the wake of that departure, Rasmussen shouldered some of the responsibility for that exit, stating:
“After a very rocky start to the tour, Adam felt it was the time to call it a day. It was the straw upon the camel’s back of a long and difficult working relationship with myself (Kyle). I can be a difficult person to work with.”
As of press time, Rasmussen has yet to publicly respond to this latest round of exits. Vitriol themselves were out on their first-ever North American headlining tour with Weeping opening. Merrow issued that band an apology on social media for today’s developments, stating, “Safe travels guys, I really enjoyed the hangs. Really sorry.”
The following dates for that run remained:
11/25 Montreal, QC – Foufone’s Cabaret
11/26 Toronto, ON – The Baby G
11/28 Detroit, MI – Sanctuary
11/29 Columbus, OH – Spacebar
11/30 Chicago, IL – Reggies
12/02 Denver, CO – The Roxy
12/04 Boise, ID – Shredder
12/05 Seattle, WA – Substation
12/06 Portland, OR – Twilight
