LAMB OF GOD's MARK MORTON: CHRIS ADLER 'Knows Damn Well That I Love And Respect Him'

LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Morton has clarified his recent comments about Chris Adler, saying the group's founding drummer is "an incredibly talented person" who "knows damn well that I love and respect him."

Earlier this week, Morton spoke to American Songwriter about what it was like writing and playing with new LAMB OF GOD drummer Art Cruz after recording with Chris for over a decade. He said: "There are differences for sure. Chris was a phenomenal talent, and he's a great drummer, and we made a lot of amazing music together. But Art is also a phenomenal talent and a great drummer. He's more feel-oriented. He's a little less robotic, and I don't mean that as a dig. I don't want to compare them too much. They're just two different drummers. But Art is a real feel, finesse player. I think the prime example I can give is live with Chris we used to play everything to a click. There was a click in our ear and that was a machine that kept timing consistent and the same every night. Within a week of playing with Art live, we were off the click. We were just playing the songs together instead of playing them at the same time. And I think that really made its way into our creative process as well."

After various web sites, including BLABBERMOUTH.NET, picked up Mark's comments, he took to his Twitter to set the record straight about his relationship with his former bandmate. He wrote: "Chris Adler is an incredibly talented person & an incredibly talented drummer. We have made a ton of music together & I'm immensely proud of our collective work. I have said that repeatedly in recent interviews because I mean it. Sites want clicks so they SPIN it another way."

He added in a separate tweet: "Chris and I remain in contact and he knows damn well that I love and respect him."

LAMB OF GOD will release its new, self-titled album on June 19 via Epic Records in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast Records in Europe. The follow-up to 2015's "VII: Sturm Und Drang" marks LAMB OF GOD's first recordings with Cruz, who joined the band last year.

Earlier this week, Cruz told Terry "Beez" Bezer of Knotfest.com's "Mosh Talks With Beez" that he had no intention of copying Adler's style. "I'm never going to be Chris Adler, and I don't want to be Chris Adler; I want to be me," he said. "I wanna be Art Cruz, but I've been able to use what he's inspired me for and build who I am… I was lucky to be able to create what I did and not lose that LAMB OF GOD sound. It's the LAMB OF GOD sound — it's not the sound of the drummer. Yeah, you need [John] Bonham for LED ZEPPELIN, but if you don't have Jimmy Page, you don't have LED ZEPPELIN. It's a formula, so at the end of the day, I have to keep that sound, and that's what it is. I pay homage to the drum parts a lot, 'cause that's what it is — it's the LAMB OF GOD sound."

Art filled in for Chris on several LAMB OF GOD tours in the past couple of years before being named Adler's official replacement last July.

Cruz made his live debut with LAMB OF GOD in July 2018 in Gilford, New Hampshire.

"Lamb Of God" was recorded with longtime producer Josh Wilbur (KORN, MEGADETH, GOJIRA, TRIVIUM) and includes special guest appearances by Jamey Jasta (HATEBREED) and Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT).