Tim Lambesis

Timothy Peter Lambesis (born November 21, 1980) is an American musician and producer, best known as the founding member, lead vocalist, and the sole continuous member of the metalcore band As I Lay Dying.

He also has a solo/side thrash metal project in tribute to actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian Death Machine, in which he performed all the instruments.

He also formed a death metal band called Pyrithion and was the former guitar player for Society's Finest and Point of Recognition.

Lambesis left in 2000 to join Society's Finest, but only for a brief time, as they did not have plans to tour.

Lambesis returned to California to restart Life Once Lost, but with a whole new lineup.

The band discovered A Life Once Lost, which caused the band to change their name to As I Lay Dying.

Lambesis hired Jordan Mancino, former drummer of Edge of Mortality, and Evan White.

In 2001, Lambesis and Mancino joined Point of Recognition and recorded on the album Day of Defeat in 2002.

The two quit soon after to further pursue As I Lay Dying.

Over the years, the band went through many lineup changes.

Lambesis and Mancino were the only remaining original members and constant members until 2003, when 19-year-old guitarist Phil Sgrosso joined the band.

The next year, in 2004, the band hired Nick Hipa as the band's lead guitarist.

Hipa was playing previously with Evelynn, a band that was signed to Pluto Records, As I Lay Dying's former label.

Bassist Clint Norris was, most likely, the band's most consistent bassist until his departure in 2007 and the introduction of Josh Gilbert.

The five of them recorded and released An Ocean Between Us, including "Nothing Left", which was Grammy-nominated for "Best Metal Performance".

In 2008, Lambesis and Destroy the Runner vocalist Chad Ackerman formed Austrian Death Machine, a parody metal band based around Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The two recorded two releases, Total Brutal and A Very Brutal Christmas the same year.

The next year saw the release of Double Brutal.

Lambesis was a judge for the 8th and 10th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

The band wrote and recorded The Powerless Rise, which was released in 2010 to much critical acclaim.

In 2011, Austrian Death Machine released Jingle All the Way.

Lambesis would release three albums over the next three years; Awakened with As I Lay Dying (2012), The Burden of Sorrow by Pyrithion, a side project with members of Allegaeon and The Famine (2013), and Triple Brutal with Austrian Death Machine (2014).

Lambesis was arrested in 2013 after attempting to hire an undercover police officer to murder his wife.

He pled guilty in 2014 and was sentenced to serve six years in prison.

In 2014, all of Lambesis' projects went on hiatus, due to his criminal acts.

Lambesis was released on parole in December 2016.

Since his release, he has reunited the band As I Lay Dying with his former members and released an album, Shaped by Fire.

Lambesis grew up in Southern California and was voted "Most Like Jesus" by classmates when he attended Santa Fe Christian School in Solana Beach, California as a teen.

He attended Liberty University for a time and majored in religious studies.

Lambesis started his musical career while he was still in high school, playing bass in the first few bands he was in.

He and Matt Carlson (drums) formed the band Against the Mark, where Lambesis would become the band's vocalist.

The two would get a full band together, including bassist Jon Jameson.

The band changed their name to Life Once Lost, but only for a short time, until they entered an indefinite hiatus.

In 2017, Lambesis resurrected As I Lay Dying, initially rumoured with all new members.

After consolidation with the old members, the band reunited in form of the old lineup.

On June 7, 2018, the band released a new single, "My Own Grave".

On April 12, 2019, As I Lay Dying released another single, "Redefined", and on September 20, 2019, the band released their seventh studio album, Shaped by Fire.

Lambesis is a bodybuilder and started his own YouTube fitness channel.

He is also heavily tattooed.

His tattoos include a "rocking Jesus," and cyborg Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Koi fish swimming upstream, which represents a quest for meaning and fulfillment, Hebrew writing, a cross, Jesus Christ in clouds, and his largest (completely covering his back), a samurai fighting a tiger, which represents the battle between reason and instinct.