Chimaira cancelled a lengthy UK tour they were due to play last October.
Jim LaMarca left Chimaira last Novemeber.
Rob Arnold joined Six Feet Under in February.
Matt DeVries joined Six Feet Under for touring duties earlier this month.
Today, Chris Spicuzza announced his departure from Chimaira.
Regardless how Mark Hunter and Co intends to dress this up, this looks like a band in ruins.
Spicuzza's explanation went like this:
As of early January I decided to leave Chimaira. The choice was extremely tough and stewed around in my mind for quite awhile. Many things led to this decision. The situation in Chimaira had ultimately become a negative environment that I had to get out of. Secondly, the music industry is completely fucked and honestly, I became concerned for my future. The amount of work and stress I took on got the best of me. I guess if you’re not happy or having fun, what’s the point?
As far as the new Chimaira album, I have not contributed to it. There is no doubt in my mind that Chimaira’s sound will not suffer minus my presence. The demos I heard showed great potential and I’m sure the album will melt faces. I’m proud to say I was on five Chimaira albums and wish those guys the best.
I’ve decided to shift gears from music to gaming. A group of friends and I started up a mobile gaming company. We’re about to launch our first iPhone game. It’s a location based RPG. Think of it as foursquare meets Mafia Wars but full of zombies. If you’re interested you can follow us on twitter, @irlgaming, or visit www.irlgaming.com.
I will always cherish the amazing worldwide journey Chimaira gave me. I took many things for granted that I now regret. Watching our last DVD helped me realize how fucking amazing our fans are. Thank you for being so passionate. I have a lifetime of memories thanks to you.
The dude who made noise and headbanged, Spicuzza.”
Although he didn’t see himself as an integral part of the Chimaira process, his electronics and samples added another dimension to the Chimaira sound and lets not forget those backing screams.
So lets be honest here, I’m a massive Chimaira fan, even when Andols left the band and they brought Kevin Talley in, I had an irrational dislike for the band, it was as if the family had split up. When Andols came back things looked rosy again and although many will say Resurrection and The Infection were merely shadows of their past successes, as long as this band was making music, they were still together and they were still playing live.
This sudden departure only seems to weaken the foundations of the Ohio band even more, which can only lead me to think that there will be nothing for Arnold and DeVries to come back to but if Mark Hunter wants this band to survive, there is no doubt that he WILL persuade the SFU recruits back to the Chimaira camp.
Here's what the vocalist had to say:
“all hail spicuzza good to see the love you guys express for him.
the feelings are mutual. as we know this news sucks… hopefully this cheers you up a little
there are definitely samples, keys, electronics, and all sorts of other wizardry on this record. we’ve spent the past 12 years creating the atmospheric side of chimaira, and we can’t imagine listening to us without those cool bits either. each album brought new noises and a vibe to accompany that particular record. nothing has changed in that regard. this has always been an evolution. while it may seem like the end of days, we see this as another chapter. chimairachris, and although he is gone, his spirit, class, and the foundation he helped lay, will always remain. developed our sound together with you know us. we don’t drive our cars looking through the rearview mirror. never have, never will. keep the glasses half full, amigos. it makes for a much more interesting ride….and we’re just getting started.
btw…yes, rob is still in chimaira.
six feet under is a side project. maynard james keenan sings for 3 bands. rob plays guitar for 3.
it’s all gravy.
thanks for your continuous support”
What lies in store for the band? Well i do believe things will pick up again, after all four of the core members are still writing and making music together.
Sure, we'll miss Chris but I don’t think the band is going to breakdown without him. There is the question of a new bassist coming to the fold, but right now, i dont care who is taken on board, I just want to see this band active again. Rob Arnold has a serious amount of passion for Chimaira, you only have to watch The Dehumanizing Process or Coming Alive for an example of this. Matt DeVries is only playing with SFU for touring purposes, he will not be fit to extend his creative edge to the band, so Chimaira is still his own personal musical output and of course you have Hunter and Herrick as Chimaira devotees, with the band being their main form of expression on the music world.
Chimaira recently signed a new distribution deal through eOne music; the new album has been recorded and will be released in August this year. So fear not, Chimaira will be back, it might take a while but this is merely another bump on the poorly tarmaced road that is Chimaira's existence.
Check out some new music from the band below.
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