Former Morbid Angel drummer Pete Sandoval has announced that he is no longer a member of I Am Morbid and will not take part in the band’s upcoming European tour.
The news comes only days after I Am Morbid were confirmed as headliners of the 2026 “Morbidfest” tour with Atheist and Cancer, which runs from November 21 to December 13. On the tour, the band will play songs from Morbid Angel‘s first four albums, Altars Of Madness, Blessed Are The Sick, Covenant and Domination, all of which feature Sandoval on drums.
In a post on Instagram, Sandoval wrote:
“Hey friends , I will not be part of this upcoming tour, and I am no longer part of I Am Morbid.”
“During my last tour with the band, I went through a lot. I became very sick with the flu and I wasn’t physically at my best, but that is not the reason for my decision.”
“The truth is that, for some time now, I haven’t been feeling the same connection with these songs anymore. I Am Morbid has focused on the material from Altars of Madness through Domination. I am very proud of those records and everything I created and contributed to during those years, but my history with Morbid Angel continued far beyond Domination. There is a much larger part of my musical legacy that I haven’t been able to represent with I Am Morbid.”
“I feel that I’ve given the fans everything I could through I Am Morbid over these past years, and now I need to take a break from this chapter and move forward.”
“I have a lot of respect for Richie [Brown, guitars] and Bill [Hudson, guitars] and their work, and I’m grateful for the time we spent playing together—especially on that last tour, when I was going through such a difficult time physically and wasn’t at my best.”
“Most importantly, thank you to everyone who has been messaging me, sending me love, and telling me you’re looking forward to seeing me in Europe. I don’t want anyone to misunderstand the upcoming tour or expect me to be there when I won’t be.”
“You will see me again—just under different circumstances.”
“For now, this is all I want to say. Thank you for all the years of support, love and respect.”
In a second statement, Sandoval explained that he had planned to leave after his previous tour with the band, but later thought about returning for the European dates:
“Before my last tour with I Am Morbid, I had already made it clear that I intended for it to be my last and that I needed a break. As many of you know, that tour became extremely difficult for me physically, and when I came home, my priority was recovering.”
“But after receiving so many messages from fans who were hoping to see me in Europe, I actually began reconsidering. I was planning to start rehearsing again and see how I felt over the next couple of months. If I felt I could perform at the level you deserve, I was going to reach out to the guys and tell them I was willing to do this tour for you.
“Before I had the opportunity to do that, I was informed that another drummer had already been hired for the tour.”
“So I want you to know that I did think about coming back for these shows because of you, the fans. It simply didn’t work out that way.”
I Am Morbid have not yet named the drummer who will play on the tour.
Sandoval joined Morbid Angel in 1988 and remained in the band until 2013. As well as the four albums featured in I Am Morbid‘s set, he played on Formulas Fatal To The Flesh, Gateways To Annihilation and Heretic. He joined I Am Morbid, led by former Morbid Angel singer and bassist David Vincent, in 2022.
Vincent sang on Morbid Angel‘s first four albums before leaving in 1996. He returned to the band in 2004 and left again in 2015.
I Am Morbid “Morbidfest” 2026 tour dates with Atheist and Cancer:
- Nov 21 – Iduna, Drachten, Netherlands
- Nov 22 – Bibelot, Dordrecht, Netherlands
- Nov 23 – DVG, Kortrijk, Belgium
- Nov 24 – Musik Brauerei, Berlin, Germany
- Nov 25 – Pumpehuset, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Nov 28 – Collosseum, Košice, Slovakia
- Nov 29 – Barrák, Ostrava, Czech Republic
- Dec 1 – Dynamo, Zürich, Switzerland
- Dec 2 – Z-Bau, Nuremberg, Germany
- Dec 3 – Hellraiser, Leipzig, Germany
- Dec 4 – Futurum, Prague, Czech Republic
- Dec 6 – Joy Station, Sofia, Bulgaria
- Dec 7 – Quantic, Bucharest, Romania
- Dec 8 – Form Space, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- Dec 10 – Boogaloo, Zagreb, Croatia
- Dec 11 – Revolver, San Donà di Piave, Italy
- Dec 12 – Legend, Milan, Italy
- Dec 13 – La Machine du Moulin Rouge, Paris, France
