In what may go down as one of the most uniquely American breakups in extreme metal history, VITRIOL’s freshly assembled touring lineup has reportedly nuked itself mid-route, abandoning sole founding member Kyle Rasmussen at a gas station in Vermont — a state best known for maple syrup, horror-movie fog, and now this.
The incident came to light after new guitarist Keith Merrow posted an unfiltered, scorched-earth Instagram story explaining that he, bassist Brett Leier, drummer Andy Vincenzetti, and apparently every other warm body in the vehicle decided they had finally had enough of what he called Rasmussen’s “cowardly and weak outbursts of misplaced anger.”
For those keeping score at home, that means the band’s 2025 headlining tour — their first ever — lasted approximately one (1) gas pump before imploding.
Merrow’s statement, delivered like a man speedrunning a PR meltdown, read:
“HE FUCKED AROUND AND FOUND OUT.
I’LL BE HOME FOR THANKSGIVING, BABY.
SORRY VITRIOL FANS. WE HAD TO ABANDON HIM AT A GAS STATION IN VERMONT.
MYSELF, ANDY, BRETT, AND MATT WILL NOT TAKE KYLE’S COWARDLY AND WEAK OUTBURSTS OF MISPLACED ANGER.
WE GAVE EVERYTHING WE HAD, AND NOW HAVE NOW LEFT YOU WITH NOTHING. MASS EXODUS.
THIS WAS THE DARKEST DAY OF MY MUSIC CAREER TO DATE.”
Darkest day or funniest, depending on whether you were the one left beside the windshield squeegees.
A Tour That Didn’t Even Get the Chance to Go Bad — It Just Went Weird Immediately
The band launched a 30-date U.S.–Canada run — Santa Cruz to Portland, with stops in Montreal, Chicago, Boise, and every venue whose back door opens directly into an alley filled with raccoons.
The promo posts were optimistic:
“We are only two weeks and a few days away from beginning our first ever headlining tour…”
And then suddenly: Not anymore. Show cancellations began popping up one by one, creating a domino effect of fan confusion and comment-section carnage.
Fans React: Confusion, Sympathy, Rage, and At Least One Man Ready to Declare War
The comment sections are currently a sociology thesis:
…Kyle, please get help so you can stop treating your members like shit. The band is too good to be ruined by your personality issues.
…Fu*king pussies cancelling the Montreal show the day before. Eat a bag of dicks and never come back… and give me my money back.
…bruh wtf is going on?
…i think the band is pretty much done at this point… i guess drama is more important than creating heavy music idk
…Just Kyle being Kyle.
Never has a band meltdown looked so much like a group chat arguing while driving through New England.
Where Things Stand
– Kyle is (presumably) no longer at the gas station, though none of the departing members offered transportation, emotional support, or even a Monster Energy drink.
– The rest of the tour is unofficially but very obviously cancelled.
– The band’s official page remains silent, likely because whoever controls the login has also fled.
– Vitriol, once known for blistering technical death metal, is now known for creating the most metal possible version of “we left Dad at the rest stop.”
