Is Drummer Lyle Cooper Out of The Faceless?

UPDATE, 6:55pm: The fill-in drummer this past weekend was definitely Alex Rudinger of The Haarp Machine, pointed out by several MetalSucks readers, as previously suspected. Official photo at the bottom of this post (Rudinger is on the far left).

Original Post:

This much we know: drummer Lyle Cooper did not perform with The Faceless this past weekend during the band’s shows in Mexico. Here’s fan-filmed video of “Xenochrist” in Guadalajara with a drummer that is clearly not Cooper:

What we don’t know is whether Cooper was simply forced to sit-out these dates due to some kind of temporary issue (visa problems, family matters, etc) or whether he is no longer a member of The Faceless at all. We’re still investigating.

MetalSucks reader Mike R. alerted us to this development, and theorizes that the stand-in drummer in the above video is Alex Rudinger of The HAARP Machine. We haven’t been able to confirm that either, but he’s not the only one who called out Rudinger by name.

If Cooper is in fact out of the band, it wouldn’t be all that surprising; The Faceless have more ex-members than Pamela Anderson has STDs, and the band always has and will continue to be the Michael Keene show no matter what. “Don’t say anything publicly until the media notices” also seems to be the mantra these days with regards to band members leaving. Still, it’d be a bummer since Cooper is a talented cat and by far the longest tenured member other than Keene. We’ll update you all as soon as we have any more information.

By the way, have you listened to The Faceless’ latest album Autotheism yet? Awesome awesome awesome highly recommend A++++ WDBWA.