Whitechapel: drummer Alex Rüdinger announces his departure

Author Jad - 9.12.2021

Whitechapel drummer from very recently (September 3, 2021), Alex Rüdinger, has announced his departure from critically acclaimed deathcore outfit Whitechapel. While just being announced yesterday, December 7th, he has also revealed that he actually resigned from the band some time ago now. His current plans including handling the live drumming for Light The Torch on their upcoming tour with Killswitch Engage and August Burns Red.

Whitechapel‘s first show since Covid began is right around the corner. Since I won’t be there, it’s probably time to make this known: A while back, I resigned from Whitechapel. I offered to keep this under wraps until sometime after the album was released. Despite the fact that I’m no longer with them, I’m immensely proud of the new album, and I didn’t want anything to distract from the music / release itself.

There were certainly reasons for this decision, but I’ve always felt that it’s incredibly unprofessional for an artist to divulge all of their issues publicly. All I’m going to say is: A number of things didn’t seem right to me, both professionally and personally, so I decided to move on.

Additionally / for the record: Despite their semi-recent post, I was never a full-time member of the band. I’m sorry to disappoint anyone, but that announcement was made prematurely. It was discussed, but significant details were never addressed. I was never asked to sign anything, nor did I have any knowledge on the inner workings of the business itself. I was treated and compensated as a hired-gun the entire time, including the writing and recording of “Kin”.

At any rate – to any W.C. fans, fret not. They were a band long before I came into the picture, & I’ve no doubts that they’ll find a suitable replacement & keep truckin’ right along. I’m still incredibly thankful that I got the opportunity to play and write with them, and I wish them well.

I’m not entirely sure what’s next for me. In the immediate, I’ll be playing with Light The Torch on the upcoming U.S. tour supporting Killswitch Engage and August Burns Red. I’ve worked with Light The Torch periodically in recent years, and I’m quite looking forward to performing live with ’em. Past that, I guess we’ll see!

& if you’re still reading: Big love to all you people that’ve followed my work over the years (regardless of where I’ve gone!) Things haven’t always panned out the way I imagined, but I’m still so thankful for all of these experiences – good and bad alike. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to experience ANY of it without you all, so for real – thank you.

That’s all for now, ya’ll. Hope you’re well <3 ! -Rudi

Paul Rüdinger’s statement on the matter

Whitechapel have yet to announce a replacement for Rüdinger.

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