Steven Worley (formerly of Internal Bleeding) has been arrested

Vocalist Steven Worley, who joined the band in 2019, quietly parted ties with the death metal group Internal Bleeding this past spring, as per lambgoat. Although Worley’s reasons for leaving were not made public, it appears likely that recent legal issues were the cause. Worley was specifically detained on May 9 in Cherokee County, Georgia, on misdemeanour charges of harassing communications. Worley, 40, is set to appear in court on November 10 for an arraignment hearing after being freed on a $1,000 bail. Theo Vlahos, Worley’s replacement, was formally added to Internal Bleeding‘s roster in June.

According to the accusation of the Solicitor General of Cherokee County, “on or about May 5, 2026, [Worley] did unlawfully then and there commit the offense of harassing communications did contact [name redacted] repeatedly, for the purpose of harassing said person, by contacting said person by calls, text messages, and emails after the victim sent a cease-and-desist notice through certified mail.”

Guitarist Chris Pervelis played with the doom metal group Autumn Reign in the early 1990s. Over the course of Autumn Reign‘s career, the band’s sound grew heavier until it resembled death metal. Pervelis started looking for players to start a new band after this one broke up. The first lineup of Internal Bleeding included drummer Bill Tolley, bassist Tom Slobowski, vocalist Brian Richards, and guitarists Pervelis and Anthony Miola. Eric Wigger, the vocalist for Autumn Reign, and bassist John Colucco replaced Richards and Slobowski, who left the group that same year. Their first self-titled demo tape was recorded by this group.

Wallace Milton took Wigger’s place shortly after, and Brian Hobbie took Colucco’s place. “Invocation of Evil”, the band’s second demo tape, was recorded with these members. Tolley temporarily filled in as the band’s vocalist after Milton left in order to record their 1994 EP “Perpetual Degradation”. The band’s next vocalist was Frank Rini, who recorded their debut album “Voracious Contempt”, which Pavement Records distributed nationally in 1995. “The Extinction of Benevolence”, the band’s second album, was released in 1997. Around this time, Pavement Records started having financial problems, which resulted in minimal promotion for the record and infrequent touring by Internal Bleeding. After that, Ryan Schimmenti took Rini’s place in the group.