Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe to front Eyehategod on US tour

Randy Blythe
Randy Blythe (Image credit: Getty)

Lamb Of God vocalist Randy Blythe will front Eyehategod on their upcoming US tour.

He’ll fill in for Mike Williams who’s taken a step back from the band to deal with unspecified health issues. The 11 dates are due to get underway in October, with Blythe’s appearances coming on the back of Eyehategod’s two August shows which featured Phil Anselmo on lead vocals.

Blythe says in a statement: “Anyone who knows me well knows I am a massive Eyehategod fan. I’ve seen them play more times than I can remember. I wear their merch – I even have a freaking Eyehategod tattoo that I got in New Orleans. They are one of my favourite bands of all time.

“So it’s a bit difficult for me to say, ‘I’m super-happy that I’ve been asked to fill in for Mike Williams.’ In fact, I can’t honestly say that at all because no one would rather see Mike do this tour more than myself.

“Mike is the voice of Eyehategod and I respect him as a friend, musician, and writer way too much to ever think otherwise. What I can say is that I am beyond honoured to be serving a brief tour of duty on vocals with Eyehategod for this upcoming run.”

Williams adds: “Once again, rather than cancel an amazing tour, we have chosen to continue on. This Discharge tour is super important to me as that band has been a huge influence on my life, but my health situation right now dictates that I am not able to take the stage and perform to the best of my abilities every single night.

“This is where our good friend Randy Blythe comes into the picture. We’ve known Randall since the early 90s when Eyehategod would pass through Virginia and he’d offer for us to crash at his crib after our gigs. Great times and we became great friends.

“To have Mr Blythe on board as a fill in for me on vocals for this run is a true ‘circle-stays-unbroken’ turn of events. I am getting the medical help I need and will return to the band as soon as possible.”

The US shows will kick off in Seattle on October 6 and wrap up in Chicago on the 16th of the month.

Eyehategod, Discharge, Toxic Holocaust 2016 US tour

Oct 06: Seattle Studio Seven, WA
Oct 07: Portland Dantes, OR
Oct 08: Santa Ana Observatory, CA
Oct 09: San Francisco Slim’s , CA
Oct 10: Los Angeles The Roxy, CA
Oct 11: Pomona Glass House, CA
Oct 12: Boston Brighton Music Hall, MA
Oct 13: Baltimore Soundstage, MD
Oct 14: New York Webster Hal, NY
Oct 15: Chicago Reggies, IL
Oct 16: Chicago Reggies, IL (with Negative Approach, Svlphvrvs)

Live: Eyehategod

Anselmo: Eyehategod guest stint isn't about me

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.