Frank Mullen to Do “One Last Tour” with Suffocation This Year Before Retiring for Good

Think of his patented, fluttery hand chop as a wave farewell.

In 2012, Frank Mullen broke hearts when he announced that while he would still be recording vocals for Suffocation, he would no longer be able to tour with them full-time. Naturally, the band was able to find top-notch stand-ins for Mullen, like John Gallagher from Dying Fetus, but still. For some of us, at least, Suffocation without Mullen’s hand chops and inimitable between-song banter just isn’t quite Suffocation.

Alas, alack! We are now going from some Mullen to no Mullen in Suffocation.

The news comes via a Facebook video in which Mullen is hanging out with former WWE wrestler Lisa Marie Varon (a.k.a. Victoria, a.k.a. Tara), who he apparently knows through his sister, who is a relationship coach. After Lisa Marie expresses sadness that this is Mullen’s last year in Suffocation, the frontman promises “new beginnings” and says he’s going to be a full-time actor. He doesn’t appear to be kidding; over the course of the past six years, he’s been in a buncha horror movies. I’ve never heard of any of them, but I guess they’re proving to be more profitable than they appear.

You can watch the video below. It’s worth it purely to hear Mullen’s poetic pronunciation of the word “sister.” Someone PLEASE get this guy a role in the Sopranos prequel.

In case anyone felt that the message of Mullen’s video was ambiguous, he later added a post announcing that he “will be doing one last tour later this year, promising to “let [fans] know once the details are finalized.”

Mullen turned forty-eight in January, so his decision to hang up his hellacious gurgle is understandable. Oppressively depressing, but understandable.

It’s not clear if Mullen will still appear on Suffocation albums or not, but I think it’s safe to assume that last year’s …Of the Dark Light was his studio swan song with the group.

Okay I’m gonna go cry into my coffee now. Buh-bye.

[via Lambgoat]