Former Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler has opened up about his departure from the band. He revealed details about health issues and tensions that led to his exit in an interview with Blabbermouth.
Adler addressed questions about what led to his departure from the metal band. He discussed both his medical condition and internal band dynamics.
“People are interested in, ‘What the fuck happened?’ There was an incident in 2018 when I had a motorcycle accident on an island outside of Thailand that really messed up my shoulder, but that was resolved quickly,” Adler said. “I had a great surgeon who works for the Indianapolis Colts, who got me up and running.”
The drummer then revealed a more serious underlying health issue that had been developing for years.
“Right at the same time, it was around 2003, I started noticing something with my right foot doing weird things when I didn’t want it to be doing weird things,” he continued. “It wasn’t too often, and it didn’t mess up anything for a long time. Slowly, it got worse. By around 2016, I was touring with Lamb and Megadeth, and it was making a difference in the show in that there were points where I felt like I couldn’t control it. They put me through a battery of tests, and I was diagnosed with a thing called musician’s dystonia.”
Adler also discussed the strained relationships within the band. He explained how his involvement with Megadeth created additional tension.
“Like I said, we were dysfunctional,” he said. “We weren’t always best friends. It was strained. Whoever was not in the room was getting picked on. I was the guy out of the room.”
He explained how his decision to join Megadeth further complicated matters within Lamb of God.
“I think one of the things that, from my perspective, and I don’t mean to speak for anybody, I think when I took the Megadeth gig, that really strained things even further,” Adler said. “Nobody said, ‘We don’t want you to do it,’ or ‘You’re cheating on us.’ That was still the vibe, then when Megadeth won a Grammy, that pushed it further. I won a [Juno, the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy] with the other band that I joined, Protest The Hero, a couple of years prior.”
The situation ultimately reached a breaking point when Adler attempted to find a solution for his medical condition.
“It just snapped, and that was it,” he said. “I went to them and said, ‘This doesn’t happen all the time. It happens on these particular songs. Can we work around it? We have a pretty large body of work.’ Nobody wanted to do that. There wasn’t anything I could do about it.”
Adler’s departure from Lamb of God marked the end of a significant chapter in metal history. He had been instrumental in shaping the band’s sound since its formation.
Wikipedia documented that Chris Adler co-founded Lamb of God in 1994 alongside his brother Willie Adler. This made his exit particularly painful after 25 years with the band. The drummer had been a driving force behind the band’s evolution from their early days as Burn the Priest to becoming one of the most influential metal acts of the 2000s.
The circumstances surrounding his departure became even more controversial. Ultimate Guitar reported that Adler was fired from the band via email in 2019. This method of dismissal shocked both the drummer and fans, especially considering his founding member status and decades of contribution to the band’s success.
AXS TV noted that Adler described the firing as “devastating.” He emphasized that he did not make the decision to leave what he called his “life’s work.” The drummer had already been replaced by Art Cruz, who had been filling in during tours when Adler’s condition prevented him from performing.
Since his departure, Adler has focused on recovery and new musical ventures. He formed a band called Firstborne. His story highlights the complex intersection of health challenges, band dynamics, and the business side of music. It demonstrates how even founding members can find themselves on the outside of the bands they helped create.
The interview sheds light on the complex circumstances surrounding Adler’s departure from the band he co-founded.
