ALL SHALL PERISH's MIKE TINER Says Band Had No Choice But To Fire Singer

Bassist Mike Tiner of Oakland, California-based extreme metallers ALL SHALL PERISH says that the band had no choice but to fire their lead singer, Hernan "Eddie" Hermida, after Hermida joined SUICIDE SILENCE as the replacement for the late Mitch Lucker.

Speaking to Metal Injection, Tiner said: "I first heard of Eddie potentially joining SUICIDE SILENCE in March while we were on tour in Japan. When he first brought it up, he made it seem as if he was only considering recording with them, but then as he further explained everything, it became very clear that he wanted to join SUICIDE SILENCE. Everyone in that room had the same reaction: 'How are you going to possibly have time to do both bands?' Eddie reassured us a dozen times over that both bands would be able to coexist and work together with one another, with him as the vocalist of both bands.

"As we had always trusted Eddie before, after a lot of long conference calls, we gave him the benefit of the doubt and decided to wait till there was an actual scheduling conflict and cross that bridge then. We already had METALLICA's Orion Music + More and our own MTL: South Of The Border Tour on the books, so we went ahead with Eddie for those shows, and they all turned out very well. It seemed like maybe everything would actually work out OK. Then, after Eddie was officially in SUICIDE SILENCE (but before it went public),we got an offer from DEATH ANGEL to play two or three shows with them, all in California. Eddie in particular wanted to do these shows and pushed hardest for them, so we confirmed them. Then a week or two later he tells our management that he actually can't do the shows… because of SUICIDE SILENCE.

"That's when SUICIDE SILENCE's management informed us of all of the things ALL SHALL PERISH would and would not be 'allowed' to do. ALL SHALL PERISH could not play a show until Eddie was well 'established' as the new singer of SUICIDE SILENCE. SUICIDE SILENCE's management told us that they would have to be well into their new album and touring cycle before ALL SHALL PERISH could be seen again with Eddie.

"That is easily a year of ALL SHALL PERISH not being 'allowed' to do anything; possibly more than a year. There were other rules, too, but this one was huge. When we heard this, we immediately all got on the phone with Eddie and asked him how him being in both bands could ever work, especially after this whole DEATH ANGEL thing. Eddie still insisted it could work but also maintained that SUICIDE SILENCE would be his priority. We asked Eddie if he was quitting and he said, 'No, I'm not. If you want me out of ALL SHALL PERISH, you'll have to fire me.'

"Now, I ask all of you reading this, both ALL SHALL PERISH fans and SUICIDE SILENCE fans: what would happen if you worked at Starbucks and you told your boss that you took a job at Coffee Bean across the street, that Coffee Bean would be your new priority and that you wouldn't be able to pick up a single shift at Starbucks for at least a year or more, followed by: 'But I'm NOT quitting!'

"Did Eddie 'quit' ALL SHALL PERISH or was Eddie 'asked to leave' ALL SHALL PERISH? You tell me."

Hermida spoke to Metal Injection earlier in the week about his decision to join SUICIDE SILENCE.

Asked how SUICIDE SILENCE approached him to join the band, Hermida said: "At first, their manager contacted me and said, 'Hey, Ed, the guys are thinking about picking themselves up and would like to hear what someone else sounds like on a previously recorded track.' They said it was more for the reference than anything else. After I recorded the 'You Only Live Once' track, they liked it so much that we started exploring ways to make something work."

He added: "Mitch and SUICIDE SILENCE were always like a surrogate family to me so when they asked me to help with the track, I was honored. When they officially asked me if I'd be interested in joining the band, it definitely put me in a tough spot as I had many things to consider."

Regarding when he decided that he would have to do this full time and depart from ALL SHALL PERISH, Hermida said: "The full-time aspect for SUICIDE SILENCE was always part of the deal. Just know that I did everything in my power to stay in ALL SHALL PERISH and work both projects. The ALL SHALL PERISH boys will say that I quit when I decided to take the reigns in SUICIDE SILENCE. I will say that I was asked to step away by my bandmates because they didn't want my schedule with SUICIDE SILENCE to interfere with their future. Either way, ALL SHALL PERISH has my heart and soul built into it and I will always support the work we did together."