Whitechapel Drummer Alex Rudinger Reveals He Has Left the Band

Whitechapel drummer Alex Rudinger has revealed he's quit the band, just three months after the Phil Bozeman-led deathcore act announced he'd been added as a permanent member.

Rudinger explained his exit in a statement on Tuesday (Dec. 7). He joined Whitechapel in 2019 as a touring drummer and performs on their latest album, October's Kin. "I'm still incredibly thankful that I got the opportunity to play and write with them," the drummer says, "and I wish them well." Rudinger has also performed in bands such as Conquering Dystopia, The Faceless, Threat Signal and Good Tiger.

The drummer explains, "A while back, I resigned from Whitechapel. I offered to keep this under wraps until sometime after the album was released. Despite the fact that I'm no longer with them, I'm immensely proud of the new album, and I didn't want anything to distract from the music."

Rudinger continues, "There were certainly reasons for this decision, but I've always felt that it's incredibly unprofessional for an artist to divulge all of their issues publicly. All I'm going to say is: A number of things didn't seem right to me, both professionally and personally, so I decided to move on."

In September, Whitechapel said, "Over the past few years our good friend Alex Rudinger has been filling in the drumming spot for live shows, and we figured what better time than now to welcome him as an official member after his stellar performance on … Kin."

Rudinger counters, however — "Despite their semi-recent post, I was never a full-time member of the band," he says. "I'm sorry to disappoint anyone, but that announcement was made prematurely. It was discussed, but significant details were never addressed. I was never asked to sign anything, nor did I have any knowledge on the inner workings of the business itself. I was treated and compensated as a hired-gun the entire time, including the writing and recording of Kin."

Whitechapel are due to head out on a U.S. tour with Cannibal Corpse in February 2022. It's currently unclear if the band has someone lined up to replace him.

Read Rudinger's full statement below.