The implosion of technical death metal outfit Vitriol has escalated into a public war of words, with founder Kyle Rasmussen releasing a lengthy video statement detailing allegations of drug use, physical altercations, and police involvement following his abandonment by bandmates mid-tour.
In a livestreamed video posted yesterday, November 24, Rasmussen offered his version of events after guitarist Keith Merrow, bassist Brett Leier, and drummer Andy Vincenzetti quit the band en masse, allegedly leaving the frontman stranded at a gas station.
Rasmussen’s account paints a chaotic picture of the hours leading up to the split, claiming the band had been awake for nearly 30 hours due to heavy intoxication from “nose beers” (c***ine). According to the vocalist, the tension boiled over when Merrow confronted him in the band’s RV while they approached the Canadian border.
“Keith came into the bedroom… I think what’s going on is he’s very intoxicated and he thought I was belittling him or trying to make him feel small or cowardly, which is not my intention,” Rasmussen stated (as transcribed by Lambgoat). “I said, ‘Keith, you really got to get out of my space.’… That’s when I got very upset, and I screamed, and I said, ‘How dare you? How f**king dare you try to ruin this by goading me, by egging me on to do something that you’ve seen me do?’”
Rasmussen admitted to screaming at Merrow but denied physical violence. However, he alleges that Merrow escalated the situation significantly.
“That’s when Keith went full… That’s when the situation went nuclear,” Rasmussen claimed. “He told me to get out of the f**king RV and that he was going to stab me in the f**king neck. When I didn’t get out of the RV, he pushed my girlfriend to the side… He pushed her out of the way to grab me by the jacket and try to pull me out of the vehicle.”
The frontman further claimed that the band involved a state trooper to eject him, his girlfriend Maggie, and their dog Ghost from the vehicle. Contrary to Merrow‘s earlier claim that they were in Vermont, Rasmussen stated they were abandoned at a closed ice cream shop in New York with no money, as Merrow was in charge of the band’s finances.
“They didn’t just put me in the situation. They put a loving, caring woman who was looking for a new purpose… You took her and you left her alone in the snow with no reason to believe that we’d be able to find our way out of that situation. You did that to a dog,” Rasmussen said.
Admitting to his own “anger problems” and ongoing therapy, Rasmussen characterized the event as a “drugged-out temper tantrum” by his former bandmates. He also announced a GoFundMe campaign to help transport himself and his equipment back to Oregon.
“I’m not asking for sympathy. If you want to be team Vitriol alum, fine. Kyle‘s a giant a**hole. It’s not untrue. I am a giant a**hole, but I’m not a giant a**hole in the way that people assume,” he concluded.
Following Rasmussen‘s detailed video, Keith Merrow issued a terse rebuttal on social media later that evening. Dismissing the frontman’s 40-minute explanation as “psychotic,” Merrow doubled down on the decision to leave.
“Me, Brett and Andy left Vitriol because Kyle s**ks. That’s it,” Merrow wrote. “It doesn’t require an absolute 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? It’s the same s**t as every other victim of abuse.”
Merrow also confirmed that he, Leier, and Vincenzetti intend to continue making music together under a new name.
“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 future of Vitriol remains uncertain, with Rasmussen hinting at a hiatus while he assesses the damage to the band’s reputation and lineup.
Photo credit: Peter Beste
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