Underoath have shared a statement on the departure of longtime guitarist James Smith, who announced that he had split from the metalcore group in late March. In an Instagram post on March 29th (at the tail-end of Underoath's tour with Periphery and Loathe), the axman — who had been with the band since 2003 — claimed that he was "informed that I'm no longer a member of Underoath," adding, "This saddens me to say, but unfortunately is where we have ended up."
Smith didn't reveal the exact reasons for his exit, and Underoath didn't comment on the matter until today (April 7th). In a brief Instagram story, Underoath acknowledged that Smith hadn't actually played with them on the "Blind Obedience" tour, and that they ended up parting with him due to "differences" that they weren't able to work out.
Read the full statement below, and then see a screenshot of Underoath's Instagram story after the jump.
"As some of you have noticed, James was not on the Blind Obedience tour and we want to clarify that we have officially decided to part ways.
"We care for James, we want the best for him, and that will never change. There were differences that we hoped we'd be able to work through that unfortunately, we realized weren't able to be. Some people will want to know details, but this was an incredibly difficult situation and isn't something that can or should be addressed on the ineternet and we hope ya'll understand.
"We appreciate you all. Thank you all so much for all the support over the years and we'll see you soon."
