With three dates remaining on their current North American tour, Every Time I Die frontman Keith Buckley has announced an impromptu hiatus.

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It comes ahead of the hardcore stalwarts’ annual Christmas festival, ‘Tid The Season, which is set to go down across two nights at the Buffalo RiverWorks next Friday (December 10) and Saturday (December 11).

Buckley tweeted earlier today (December 3) that he’ll be skipping the band’s next three shows in preparation for ‘Tid The Season, explaining that “caring for my own mental health has taken priority over EVERYTHING else in my life”.

Every Time I Die made their own announcement shortly thereafter, confirming that their upcoming shows in Richmond and Virginia Beach – as well as tonight’s show in Huntington – would not be cancelled. Instead, the band have invited fans to “come and help us finish up this tour” in a karaoke-esque fashion, pointing to one of Buckley’s frequent motifs, “this mic is your mic”.

The post seems to have incensed Buckley, as the vocalist and songwriter then tweeted: “Now that I have seen the “official statement” indicating that ETID is finishing the tour without their singer, I think I’m ready to tell you all a little bit about exactly WHY my mental health has had to become a priority over ETID.”

Buckley went on to allege that his brother, lead guitarist Jordan Buckley, “[told] an outsider that ETID had been in talks to replace me this entire time”. But as evidenced by the band’s insistence to perform without a fill-in vocalist, the singer continued, “[Jordan’s] concern was a cruel trick”.

Touching on the way sobriety affected Buckley’s tenure in Every Time I Die, he said: “traveling separately, away from alcohol and the behaviors of those who choose to drink, has brought me peace of mind and has made me the best performer I have ever been. I love the ETID community and finally felt like I was giving back in a meaningful way. and I will continue to.

“being ostracized from a band I have built for 20 years because I made a decision to do whatever it took to be a good Human Being hurts me deeply, but trust me when I say I am the most mentally fit I have ever been. this decision was made to protect myself from my own sibling.”

being ostracized from a band I have built for 20 years because I made a decision to do whatever it took to be a good Human Being hurts me deeply, but trust me when I say I am the most mentally fit I have ever been. this decision was made to protect myself from my own sibling

— keith buckley (@deathoftheparty) December 3, 2021

Every Time I Die released their ninth album, ‘Radical’, on October 22 via Epitaph. It featured the singles ‘AWOL’, ‘Post-Boredom’ and ‘Planet Shit’, as well as the double A-side ‘A Colossal Wreck’/‘Desperate Pleasures’.

‘Radical’ marked Every Time I Die’s first album in five years, following 2016’s ‘Low Teens’. In the years since that album’s release, the band has both toured extensively and pursued other projects. In 2019, Buckley returned to helm punk supergroup The Damned Things for their second LP, ‘High Crimes’.

Rhythm guitarist Andy Williams, meanwhile, has pursued a career in professional wrestling, appearing with the promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name The Butcher.

Every Time I Die will take ‘Radical’ to the UK in 2022, with a nine-date tour alongside The Bronx scheduled to kick off in January.