Vitriol singer reveals story of drugs, police and violence that led to him being abandoned at gas station by band

Vitriol singer Kyle Rasmussen has shared a lengthy statement on why his former bandmates quit mid-tour and abandoned him at a gas station.

Two days ago (November 25), Rasmussen’s former bandmates claimed they deserted the singer over his “cowardly and weak outbursts of misplaced anger”. The sudden split follows former drummer Matt Kilner’s departure from Vitriol this summer, along with bassist, co-vocalist and co-founder Adam Roethlisberger departing mid-tour in September 2024.

In a video over 40 minutes long (as per Lambgoat), the death metal singer has disputed his former bandmates’ claims. He called their statements “not true”, adding: “some of it’s an exaggeration, some of it’s outright fallacious”.

He went on to allege that the band collectively got high on cocaine in New York, with the band becoming paranoid as they approached the Canadian border as they had weed stored in their vehicle. Rasmussen claimed that former guitarist Keith Merrow threatened him with physical violence, and apparently pushed Rasmussen’s girlfriend during the fight. Police were eventually called to quell what Rasmussen called a “drugged-out temper tantrum”.

“Was I the catalyst for it? Was my rage? Was the intensity of my rage the match? Of course. And that’s on me,” he stated in the video. “But I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’ve been belittled on tour. I’ve been yelled at. I’ve had shit thrown at me. I’ve had people swing on me. I’ve had people name call me. I don’t even name call. I just am brutal with what I think is the truth”.

Since the incident, Rasmussen launched a GoFundMe to pay for funds travelling home to Portland, Oregon. Rasmussen has received nearly $11,000 as of today (November 27), which has allowed them to buy a used car to go home. In the video, the singer has also said he is “communicating with Vitriol”, adding: “I’m just going to keep going until I find the right guys”.

“At this point, I never I’ve never anticipated something that’s disastrous, this catastrophic, losing all three members at the same time is something that is very difficult to bounce back from. I don’t know for sure what’s happening, but I have to assume that Vitriol is going to take a nice break for the foreseeable future until I figure out what the next move is.”

However, on Instagram Stories, Merrow rejected Rasmussen’s claims. “Me, Brett and Andy left Vitriol because Kyle sucks. That’s it,” he wrote. “It doesn’t require an absolutely psychotic two 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.”

Merrow added that he planned to form a band with the other former members of Vitriol, bassist Brett Leier and drummer Andy Vincenzetti: “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 amazing bambino crew will be joining us as sound engineers.”

Vitriol’s last show was on November 21 in Queens, New York, and they were due to wrap up with a hometown gig in Portland on December 6. A European tour was also confirmed to start early next year.

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