God Forbid, the New Jersey-based metalcore band featuring guitarist Doc Coyle (now of Bad Wolves), will play their first reunion show later this year and it has just been confirmed that former As I Lay Dying guitarist Nick Hipa will join the lineup.
The news came straight from Coyle, who shared a message on Twitter along with a photo of himself and Hipa, each with a guitar in hand.
“The cat is out of the bag,” writes Coyle, “People have been asking relentlessly about would be playing 2nd guitar for the God Forbid reunion. We’ve been keeping it under wraps but I am proud to announce our good friend @yesTHEnickhipa ex-As I Lay Dying, as that guitar player.”
In August of 2021, Hipa announced his exit from As I Lay Dying after signing back on in 2018 when the band reunited, contributing to the metalcore icons’ 2019′ album Shaped By Fire, the fifth album he was a part of overall. In a lengthy statement, he revealed he had “distanced” himself from the band on a “personal” and “professional level” more than a year prior to going public with the news.
“Respectfully, I left because the story and meaning we built our reunion upon decayed considerably over time. What primarily endures is a superficial pursuit I cannot justify supporting or being part of,” read another portion of the announcement.
Hipa now rounds out Coyle, Byron Davis (vocals), Corey Pierce (drums) and John “Beeker” Outcalt (bass) in the reunited God Forbid, who will play their first comeback show at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival in September later this year.
God Forbid were founded in 1996 and released their debut, Reject the Sickness, in 1999. An additional five albums followed, including 2005’s standout IV: Constitution of Treason, before the group disbanded in 2013.
