An Update on the Status of URIZEN

One month ago tonight, we lost our partner, our brother, our best friend, and fellow road warrior, Rustin Luther.

There’s no sincere way to describe this kind of loss. Being bandmates with someone is a special kind of bond, especially for a band that tours regularly. During those stretches on the road, the people in your band become closer than family. You ride together, sleep together, rock together, pack together, eat together, laugh together… there are few bonds that we know of in this life that are as pure, as complicated, or as intense. To have such a major chunk of that family ripped away is devastating in a way that can’t be accurately conveyed in words.

Over the past month, we have been coping with this tremendous loss. We’ve had over a year since his initial cancer diagnosis to prepare for this, but never would we have imagined that the end would come so soon. It’s been… hard. To put it lightly. Very, very hard.

But during this devastating and draining time of mourning, we’ve been able to get together and begin to heal the wounds of the past by planning for the future. Looking ahead to a URIZEN without Rustin is difficult. It’s depressing and hazy and unfocused, but regardless of everything, we want to make one thing clear:

We’re not done yet.

We don’t know when we’ll have the strength to take the stage again, and we don’t know what this all means for the future of our tours, but we have promised ourselves, just as Rustin made us promise to him, that we would not let this band fade away after all of the love, sweat, and tears that we and Rustin have devoted to this project.

For now, we are focusing our emotions on finishing the new music that we have been working on for the past few years. These 10 new tracks stand as both a beacon of hope for our future and as the final recorded memory of the legendary Rustin Luther, and our hearts and minds are fully devoted to finishing this album and sharing it with all of you who have been so incredibly supportive of both this band and of Rustin.

Once again, we can’t express enough how thankful we are for all of you and your support over this very tumultuous year and a half. Rustin drew strength from all of your words during his courageous battle with cancer, and we continue to pull strength from you all moving forward. Our goal for the future is to make sure that Rustin’s bombastic and loving personality is never forgotten, and considering what a loud, proud, beautiful soul he was, I don’t think that is going to be much of a challenge.

Rustin, we love you. Brothers forever and ever.

- Thomas, Daniel, and Nolan // URIZEN