Austin Carlile Leaves Of Mice & Men, Band To Continue On As Four-Piece

31 December 2016 | 11:41 am | Alex Sievers
Originally Appeared In

It seems that everything we heard out of the Of Mice & Men camp in 2016 was that of the health issues of frontman Austin Carlile. Now, right before 2017 dawns, those issues have all come to a head with the announcement today that Carlile is departing the band.

It seems that everything we heard out of the Of Mice & Men camp in 2016 was that of the health issues of frontman Austin Carlile. Now, right before 2017 dawns, those issues have all come to a head with the announcement today that Carlile is departing the band, with his four bandmates Aaron Pauley, Alan Ashby, Phil Manansala and drummer Valentino Arteaga set to continue on as a four-piece band.

Now, for those unaware of the finer details, Carlile battles Marfan syndrome — a rare genetic connective tissue disorder that currently has no cure available, and a normal life expectancy requires constant proper treatment. Some may recall that back in October, the band cancelled the remaining dates of their European tour because of their frontman’s health. Upon those cancellations, the singer opened up about his physical ailments on Instagram, saying:

"As most of you know I battle daily with a rare fibrostic connective tissue disorder called Marfan syndrome. Due to recent issues arising from this, we have cancelled the remainder of our European tour. It breaks my heart but the band & myself have decided it was unsafe for me to continue on in this state of health… Please do not worry for me, there are multiple things more important happening in the world right now. Besides, God has a plan, all of this is in His hands at the end of the day and I'm ready for whatever comes next. - AC"

Then just last month, the band dropped out of their Australian tour with A Day To Remember and Tonight Alive due to Carlile's ongoing recovery, with Issues replacing the band on that bill. Yet now, these ongoing health issues have resulted in the singer struggling to make it through full tours, their schedule and his vocal duties, and as such, he must now step away from the band in order to focus on himself and his health. After all, he has had now not one, not two, but four tears in his spine due to pushing himself through the pain and has been advised that if he continued on his current trajectory with his work in the band, he could have dealt horrific, permanent damage to his body. So, stepping away from the band, as truly hard a call as that was to make, is indeed for the better.

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Of course, with this news still being so fresh, there has been no word of a replacement for the band yet (if there even will be one), but you can expect more news on OM&M's future to come in 2017.

Carlile shared the gut-wrenching news earlier today via his Twitter account, and you can read the statement in full below. He has stated that he won't be quitting music and that he will be moving onto other projects in the near future. Either way, these be sad times for OM&M and their fanbase.