2012 and 2014, Tony claimed that the band had "two albums worth of material." In late 2014 and early 2015, the band added drummer James Payne (ex Hour of Penance), and Toronto-based Dean Arnold (of Primal Frost) as lead guitarist. Vital Remains toured South America, Europe and the United States in 2015. In November 2015, a Sanford Florida police officer was fired for singing "Let the Killing Begin" with the band, while he was on duty and in uniform. A video posted on YouTube shows Officer Andrew Ricks - in full uniform - making 'devil's horns' gesture and roaring the title words to the song. Three of the band's former vocalists died between 2017 and 2018. On July 4, 2017, Chris Ross was fatally shot by his brother-in-law, James Ball. On November 2, 2017, Scott Wiley was reported dead with no cause of death revealed, followed by Jake Raymond on June 25, 2018. On September 2, 2019, Brian Werner announced his decision to leave Vital Remains via his social media channels. The announcement was confirmed by the band on their Facebook and also opened an audition call for a live vocalist to join the band in their upcoming U.S. winter tour, and also stated their intention to finish and release their long-awaited seventh studio album in 2020; as of September 2021, however, the album has not been released. On October 31, 2019, the band announced on their Facebook that Scott Eames would be the band's new lead vocalist for their 30th anniversary tour. Style Vital Remains earlier work had minor use of keyboards and ambient noise. After Forever Underground, they removed those elements for a purely death metal approach. Elements of their music that distinguish them in their genre are the use of acoustic Spanish-style solos and their construction of very long songs, which is uncommon in the majority of death metal music. Many of the songs on more recent releases approach eight or nine minutes in length. With the addition of Dave Suzuki to the band, the lead guitar work took a much more prominent place within song structure. He also chose to employ a neoclassical style of soloing. Band members Current members Tony Lazaro – rhythm guitar (1988–present) Gaeton "Gator" Collier – bass, backing vocals (2008–present) Former members Paul Flynn – lead guitar (1988–1996) Tom Supkow – bass (1988–1989) Chris Dupont – drums (1988–1990) Jeff Gruslin – lead