Former Alterbeast Members Slam Guitarist Andrew Lamb
All is not well in Alterbeast.
This week, multiple former members of the band took to social media to slam the group’s guitarist and sole consistent member, Andrew Lamb. Although the accusations levied against Lamb are somewhat vague, the gist of the complaints seems to be that the guitarist has screwed his bandmates out of money due to them, and generally blames them for his own poor decisions.
Although the issues seem to go back much further than 2019, it would appear that the current conflict began to boil this past October, when Lamb launched a crowdfunding campaign to help the band get back on its feet following a series of financial setbacks while on tour, including all four members getting arrested for possession of marijuana and the trek’s ultimate cancelation when a family member fell ill.
Things came to a head this past Monday, January 6, when live guitarist Allen Burton (Symbolik) posted the following on Facebook:
“After recent events, I want to announce that I am no longer in ALTERBEAST nor do I want to be associated with it. The band is run entirely by Andrew Lamb and everyone that’s been in and out the past few years has essentially been a live or fill-in member with virtually no say in anything. Originally I was going to be doing the EU tour as a last ‘hoo-rah’ but after being personally attacked and blamed for him getting a felony in Texas (????) I’m done dealing with a baby-man who finds any way he can to blame others for his own bad decisions. Good luck burning every last bridge around you, dude.”
Less than a hour later, Michael Alvarez (Flub), who performed vocals on 2018’s Feast, chimed in with his own damning statement:
“As some of you may know, I was in the band ALTERBEAST for a couple of years. It’s been a year and a half since I quit and since my departure I had kept in good standings with my previous bandmates. I did all I could behind the scenes years before I joined the project as well as did my best to continue helping the project anyway I could after I quit.
“I can say that in light of recent events, I would like to share with you the reasoning of my departure. As many probably already know, it was because of our Guitarist Andrew Lamb. There’s a million and one details I can go into about how I spent thousands of dollars to help make shit happen, how I ended up homeless twice cause of not being paid on tours, how many sacrifices I made to help get the project out of the gutter and on the road touring, and not receiving a single penny for our album FEAST (which sold fairly well), but I’ll sum it up real quick for ya. Andrew sucks to work with and everybody whos been a part of Alterbeast could say the same.
“I spent countless hours being there for someone I saw some good in while others all around me warned me of his antics. I gave him a million and one chances, my dedication as a friend and business partner, my 1000% devotion to making the band the best it could be with all of my resources, and he took it all for granted. He took advantage of my kindness and caring nature and spat in my face while doing it. Dealing with backhanded insults and childish behavior on the daily from a guy who had way less experience in the industry than myself was appauling to say the least.
“At the time we had a successful release and tours lined up and so much opportunity for the band, so I tried to keep a happy face on and push through the hard times for the sake of the project. By the last tour in Canada I had seen a much more fucked up side of Andrew, it then became apparent to me that I no longer needed to be a part of the project. The way he treated my bandmates and others was unacceptable. All of us stayed quiet and put up with it for the sake of the band and our music careers.
“Since my departure we had remained friends and I wanted the project to succeed so I recommend several friends as replacements as well as tried to support the project. I may have been a bit bitter about how things went but I still felt there was some good and so I let the past go.
“In Todays events I witnessed another fill in member dealing with more bullshit from Andrew. I’m over it. That Gofundme was a scam and he got over on so many of his fans by having them donate then selling them said merch they had already paid for for him. He used my friends faces as poster childs to get donations. He throws blame at every one but himself. I’m over it and I’m tired of seeing this dude fuck over people.
“I no longer want my name associated with ALTERBEAST and the work I had with the band. I wouldn’t recommend anybody to ever work with Andrew Lamb. I suggest y’all stop ordering merch and hopefully STOP supporting ALTERBEAST overall. Andrew is the only one in the band and reaps all the benefits of your donations and merch sales.
“ALTERBEAST was a band i was dying to be a part of since it’s previous name. I spent so much time behind the scenes before I joined and after and I’m thankful that the project and the blood, sweat and tears that were poured into it changed my life and my career and i’m thankful for the experiences. But it only takes one asshole to ruin it for every one else.
“I’m tired of seeing this asshole fuck over my friends. Fuck Andrew Lamb!
“RIP ALTERBEAST”
On top of all of that, the band’s former live drummer, Brandon Busa, has also been levying complaints against Lamb on Facebook. Although Busa’s initial posts are all private, discussions between himself and followers in the comments section suggest that Lamb may have been unfairly holding onto the drummer’s equipment.
For his part, Lamb has not yet responded to any of these allegations. We’ll let you know when/if he does so.
