Internal Bleeding Announces New Drummer Following Bill Tolley’s Passing
When Internal Bleeding drummer and 14-year FDNY veteran William (“Bill”) Tolley tragically died in a freak accident fighting a fire in Queens earlier this year, the band vowed to soldier on — which is exactly what Tolley would have wanted.
The group has now named Kyle Eddy as Tolley’s permanent replacement in the band. Eddy just completed the group’s tour with Vader, so he’s a natural choice for the gig.
Here’s a statement from the band regarding Eddy’s hiring:
“Losing a beloved friend and band mate has been a traumatic event for us, and needless to say, the past few months have been a roller coaster of conflicting emotions. But, through it all, there was never a thought given to packing this band up and calling it quits. There was no doubt in our mind that Bill would want the band to continue. As a matter of fact, he spoke about it numerous times with us. In short, he always said, ‘the band needs to go on.’
We’re not quite sure how we managed, but we pulled off a full US tour with a fill-in drummer who only had a few weeks to practice and get the set down. That drummer was upstate New York native, and deathmetal veteran Kyle Eddy. He did an amazing job learning the music, getting the set down, and fit in perfectly with our personalities. We had a great time with him on tour, and it felt like he’d been in the band for years – that’s how comfortable we were with him.
Kyle is a true professional in every sense of the word. He is deeply dedicated to his craft and brings unrelenting enthusiasm and energy to the band. For those reasons — and many others — we have chosen him to become the new drummer for Internal Bleeding.
Longtime fans of the band may remember seeing a much younger Kyle bashing the skins for Internal Bleeding during our second Onward To Mecca tour. He did a superb job then, and we’re supremely confident that his skills will help propel the band to new heights. It’s always painful to move forward after a tragic loss, but it must be done. We’ve decided that Kyle should be our new drummer, and we think – scratch that – we know that Bill would be really happy about our choice. Please welcome him to the Internal Bleeding fold!”
And here’s a statement from Eddy himself:
“It’s a honor to be accepted into the Internal Bleeding family. Lookout everyone – we are driven to conquer all!”
The group have also announced that their already in pre-production on their next album, Corrupting Influence, which will mark Eddy’s recording debut with ’em. Just a day after Tolley’s death, the band released a new song, “Final Justice,” which is both our first taste of Corrupting Influence and Internal Bleeding’s last recording with Tolley. List to it here.