Turns out Tim Lambesis, the former heavy metal star currently serving a six-year prison sentence for hiring a hit man to kill his estranged wife, isn’t really a Christian. The Grammy-nominated Christian metal singer has admitted that he’s not really a disciple of God at all after a hugely successful career pandering to a religious crowd. The revelation came about in an interview with the Alternative Press.

Tim LambesisTim Lambesis performs at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in 2010. (Photo: Getty/Frazer Harrison)

“Truthfully, I was an atheist,” said Lambesis. “I actually wasn’t the first guy in As I Lay Dying to stop being a Christian. In fact, I think I was the third. The two who remained kind of stopped talking about it, and then I’m pretty sure they dropped it, too.”

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The founder and lead singer of As I Lay Dying was convicted following an undercover sting. His personal trainer called the authorities after the rocker asked if he knew anyone that could kill his wife, Meggan Murphy Lambesis. The basis of his musical success could be found within the Christian faith, but then that turned to atheism, no one in the band spoke up. 

“In the process of trying to defend my faith, I started thinking the other point of view was the stronger one,” he said. “The first time I cheated on my wife, my interpretation of morality was now convenient for me,” Lambesis explained. “I felt less guilty if I decided, “Well, marriage isn’t a real thing, because Christianity isn’t real. God isn’t real. Therefore, marriage is just a stupid piece of paper with the government.”

In the interview, which you can read in full here, Lambesis goes on to detail the intricacies of lying about his faith. “I remember one Christian festival where an interviewer wanted one of the guys [in the band] to share his testimony, and he just froze up and let one of the guys who was still a Christian at the time answer the question,” Lambesis recalled. “We laughed about it afterward, but we were only laughing because it was so awkward.”