Tim Lambesis

Tim Lambesis
Background information
Birth name	Timothy Peter Lambesis
Born	(1980-11-21) November 21, 1980
Genres	Metalcore, thrash metal, melodic death metal, death metal
Occupation(s)	Vocalist, songwriter, record producer, manager
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass, drums, keyboards
Years active	2000–present
Associated acts	As I Lay Dying, Point of Recognition, Austrian Death Machine, Society's Finest, The Devil Wears Prada, Bleeding Through, War of Ages, Winter Solstice, Pyrithion, Zao

Tim Lambesis (born November 21, 1980) is an American extreme metal musician and producer, best known as the founding member and lead vocalist of American metalcore band As I Lay Dying.^[1] He also had a solo/side thrash metal project in tribute to actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian Death Machine, in which he performed all the instruments. He also formed a death metal band called Pyrithion and played guitar for Society's Finest and Point of Recognition.

Lambesis was a judge for the 8th and 10th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.^[2]

Lambesis was arrested on May 7, 2013, after attempting to have an undercover police officer murder his wife. After being freed on bail, he pled guilty on February 25, 2014. He is currently serving a six-year sentence in prison.

Personal life

Lambesis grew up in Southern California and was voted "Most Like Jesus" by classmates when he attended Santa Fe Christian School in Solana Beach, CA as a teen.^[3] He attended Liberty University for a time and majored in Religious Studies.^[4][5][6]

Lambesis is a bodybuilder^[4][7][8] and started his own YouTube fitness channel.^[9] He is also heavily tattooed. His tattoos include a "rocking Jesus," and cyborg Arnold Schwarzenegger,^[10] a Koi fish swimming upstream, which represents a quest for meaning and fulfillment, Hebrew writing, a cross, Jesus Christ in clouds, and his largest (completely covering his back), a samurai fighting a tiger, which represents the battle between reason and instinct.^[11]

Lambesis married Meggan Murphy in June 2004.^[5] They have two daughters and a son all adopted from Ethiopia.^[12][13]

Lambesis has previously stated on multiple occasions that he is a Christian.^[7][14] During an August 2010 radio interview on The Full Armor of God Broadcast, Lambesis said "I can only really write about what I'm passionate about in life, so naturally my faith, my belief in the teachings of Jesus and his resurrection come across in our lyrics."^[15] He was described as a "follower of Jesus" once more.^[16]

Starting in 2012, Lambesis has made several statements indicating a change in his religious beliefs: in a post on his personal Tumblr page explaining some of the lyrics from the AILD album Awakened (released September 2012), Lambesis stated that his studies of theology had led him to the conclusion that "tradition and truth are often at odds with each other". While he noted that he "didn't hate all religious belief" and was "still inspired by the words of [Jesus]", he was finding it "very difficult for to outline exactly who it is that’s worth siding with", and was increasingly regarding "the god of tradition and ritual that I grew up with as less and less of a probable truth". He also quoted the book Pagan Christianity by George Barna and Frank Viola, noting that both "Protestant and Catholic denominations have poisonous roots".^[17]

In August 2012, Lambesis sent an email to his wife, Meggan Murphy Lambesis, while on tour with AILD in which he stated he no longer loved her, had engaged in an extramarital affair, and "no longer believed in God".^[18][19] They separated the same month.^[20] She filed papers in San Diego Superior Court one month later in September 2012 seeking a dissolution of their marriage, according to an online court database.^[21] In divorce papers, Meggan stated that Lambesis was obsessed with bodybuilding, spending "endless hours at the gym", and was wasting "thousands of dollars on tattoos". She also alleged that he had become "dangerously distracted" while watching their children, including falling asleep while they played in their pool, and had taken two last-minute trips to Florida to see an extramarital girlfriend.^[22][23] When not on tour, Lambesis lived in Del Mar, California.^[24][25] Meggan and their children live in Encinitas.^[5][26]

2013 solicitation of murder arrest

On May 7, 2013, Lambesis was arrested in Oceanside, California, for attempting to hire a hitman to murder his estranged wife Meggan Murphy Lambesis,^[27][28][29] and, according to the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, was charged with soliciting “an undercover detective to kill his wife.”^[5][30] Lambesis approached someone at a gym and asked if he knew anyone who would kill his wife.^[31] Lambesis met with the undercover agent posing as a hitman, code name "Red", according to Deputy District Attorney Claudia Grasso.^[31] "Red" asked Lambesis if he wanted his wife of eight years gone, and Lambesis replied, "Yes, that's what I want."^[31] He then gave [the] undercover agent an envelope containing US$1,000 for expenses, pictures of his wife, her address, the code to get through a gate, and the date on which to kill her.^[31][32] Lambesis had directed the detective he believed to be a hitman to kill his wife while he was with his children so he would have an alibi.^[33] He agreed to pay $20,000 for the hit.^[32]

On May 9, 2013, Lambesis pled not guilty to a felony charge of solicitation of murder and was ordered held on $3 million bail despite prosecutors deeming Lambesis a "flight risk" and "danger to the public".^[31][33] Lambesis's bandmates, representatives from management and Metal Blade Records, and band attorney Ian Friedman were in attendance at his arraignment.^[33] According to the District Attorney of the case, an audio recording of the transaction between Lambesis and the undercover detective exists and will reportedly be used at the trial.^[33] A readiness conference was set for June 10, 2013, and a preliminary court date was scheduled for July 10, 2013.^[31][33] During the month of his initial arrest, Lambesis pleaded "not guilty" and his lawyer stated: "His thought processes were devastatingly affected by his steroid use."^[34] A new bail hearing was held for Lambesis on May 17, 2013, at which defense attorney Tom Warwick had bail reduced from $3 million to $2 million, which could not be posted by Lambesis at the time.^[35] Lambesis allegedly suffered from steroid withdrawal in jail^[35] and was released on bail on May 30.^[36][37][38] Lambesis was ordered to wear a GPS monitor, was subject to strict travel restrictions, and was unable to see or communicate with his wife and three children.^[39] As a result, As I Lay Dying's mid-2013 tour with Killswitch Engage was cancelled.^[40]

On February 25, 2014, Lambesis changed his plea from "not guilty" to "guilty"^[34][41][42] and was sentenced to six years in prison on May 16, 2014 and credited with 48 days for time served.^[43]

While on house-arrest, Lambesis made a lengthy post on his personal blog in which he stated that (due to the ongoing criminal case) he was unable to "explain more about my case or to explicitly state what my current worldview is", but noted that "after my incarceration, I found myself re-evaluating topics that I had previously sworn I would never waste my time looking at again." Lambesis stated that "I grew up in a Christian home and held that belief myself for many years. In the process of sincerely trying to defend that belief in a scholarly way and shortly after finishing my degree, I felt that it was unreasonable to call myself a Christian in light of the evidence. Many AILD fans picked up on the not-so-subtle hints at my worldview change in a couple songs on Awakened. It was never really hidden."^[44] On June 2014, Lambesis came out as an atheist, claiming that he, along with other members of the band, just kept pretending to be Christian just to sell records,^[45] a claim called slanderous and defamatory by another member of the band.^[46] He even recalls feeling awkward when asked for their testimonies and when fans ask to pray with them.^[45] According to Lambesis, his renunciation of Christianity made it easier to have an affair.^[47] However, since his arrest the band has released a statement that Lambesis "has spent much of the last year re-evaluating what originally convinced him to abandon belief in God. After much brokenness and repentance he sees things differently, considers himself a follower of Jesus, someone submitted to the will of God, or whatever you want to call it," adding, "That’s for him to talk about when he’s comfortable and only time will tell if he is sincere."^[48]

In 2016, after two to three years in prison, Lambesis filed a lawsuit against two Southern California detention centers for denying his request for narcotics that would keep him in shape.^[49]

Discography

Lambesis performing with AILD

Performance

Lead vocals

With As I Lay Dying

• Beneath the Encasing of Ashes (2001)
• Frail Words Collapse (2003)
• Shadows Are Security (2005)
• A Long March: The First Recordings (compilation, 2006)
• An Ocean Between Us (2007)
• The Powerless Rise (2010)
• Decas (compilation, 2011)
• Awakened (2012)

With Pyrithion

• The Burden of Sorrow (EP, 2013)

Guitars

With Point of Recognition

• Day of Defeat (2002)

All instruments

With Austrian Death Machine

• Total Brutal (2008)
• A Very Brutal Christmas (EP, 2008)
• Double Brutal (2009)
• Jingle All the Way (EP, 2011)
• Triple Brutal (2014)

Guest vocals

With Sworn Enemy

• The Beginning of the End – "After the Fall", 2006

With Winter Solstice

• The Fall of Rome – "To the Nines", 2005

With Bleeding Through

• Declaration – "Declaration", 2008

With Evergreen Terrace

• Almost Home – "God Rocky, Is This Your Face?", 2009

With Impending Doom

• There Will Be Violence – "Orphans", 2010

With War of Ages

• Eternal – "Desire, 2010"

With The Devil Wears Prada

• Dead Throne – "Constance", 2011

With Jamey Jasta

• Jasta – "With a Resounding Voice", 2011

Records produced

• As I Lay Dying – Beneath the Encasing of Ashes
• Destruction of a Rose – Suspended in Time
• Sworn Enemy – The Beginning of the End
• Sworn Enemy – Maniacal
• Sworn Enemy – Total World Domination
• Zao – Awake?
• Impending Doom – The Serpent Servant
• Impending Doom – There Will Be Violence
• Chelsea Grin – Desolation of Eden
• War of Ages – Arise and Conquer
• War of Ages – Eternal
• Molotov Solution – The Harbinger
• Sea of Treachery - Wonderland
• Carnifex – Until I Feel Nothing

References

External links

• Tim Lambesis' blog
• "As I Lay Dying's Tim Lambesis Speaks On His Arrest And Current Mindstate In New Update". theprp.com.