Los Angeles alternative metal band Bad Wolves revealed that their new lead vocalist is Daniel “DL” Laskiewicz, the former lead guitarist for The Acacia Strain. Black Wolves’ founding vocalist Tommy Vext had left the group in January this year due to threats following his criticism of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

“We are excited to officially announce that Bad Wolves has a new singer – Daniel ‘DL’ Lasckiewicz,” Bad Wolves announced today, June 2. “DL is a tremendous songwriter and singer, and we can confidently say that the album we are working on, titled Dear Monsters, is the best Bad Wolves album to date.”

Bad Wolves is still a young band, having formed in 2017 and released two studio albums so far, Disobey (2018) and N.A.T.I.O.N. (2019). They’re best known for their cover of The Cranberries’ “Zombie,” which they released in tribute to their late singer Dolores O’Riordan. Bad Wolves have a distinctly modern production sound with pop crossover sensibility and memorable alternative metal melodies. Dear Monsters will be their third album, which a press release claims is nearly completed and is set for release sometime later this year.

The band continues, “DL is one of the most talented and hard-working people we have ever had the pleasure to know.  He is a team player, a creative force, and overall a great human being who fits perfectly with our BW family. It feels incredible to be surrounded with such positive energy and the music we’ve made is certainly reflective of this new-found optimism and collaborative spirit.  This new album shows a more cohesive and unique reflection of the band. There is a lot to prove and expectations are high with a new singer coming in. And we nailed it. The songs speak for themselves, and if you’re a Bad Wolves fan we know you won’t be disappointed.”

DL was The Acacia Strain’s founding guitarist, having played with the metalcore band from 2001-2013. He was replaced by Devin Shidaker at that point, who has fully taken over DL’s role in the band since then. The Acacia Strain’s last album was Slow Decay in 2020.

Vext had released a statement explaining his departure earlier this year. “I voiced my disappointment of protests turning into violent riots,” he stated. “Cities, businesses, lives destroyed ‘mostly peacefully.’ I criticized the media standing idle and even condoning that behavior. I pointed out that Good causes were infiltrated by bad actors, hijacked and delegitimized a good movement. I dared to question who financially benefits from this and who was funding these events. I questioned the lockdowns as small businesses were driven into bankruptcy yet big chains were allowed to operate. I questioned the imposed social distancing and why rioting and looting are exempt, or why you can’t have family gatherings or eat at restaurants unless you are a politician. A repeated hypocrisy we saw time and again. And for this they came after me.”

“Me, an African American artist speaking his mind,” he continued. “I became unacceptable by the gatekeepers because I walked off the plantation. I had to be silenced. Cancel culture came after my band. I was threatened, ridiculed, blackmailed and smear campaigns were launched to destroy my career and my livelihood.”

The rest of Bad Wolves made it clear that they disagree with much of what Vext had said. They concluded today’s statement, “So much has happened since Tommy publicly quit Bad Wolves a few months ago – and we disagree with the validity of much of what he has said publicly about our parting of ways – but we would prefer to not look back on the past and instead focus on this new chapter. And most importantly, we’d like to let the music speak for itself. Thanks for believing in Bad Wolves and please join us in welcoming DL to the family. We can’t wait for you to hear what’s coming.”