Suffocation's sound hinges on churning, jagged riffs and surgical technicality, but over the last few years, it's their lineup that's done most of the churning. They've brought in a handful of different vocalists to handle the live duties in place of Frank Mullen, who stepped down from his touring role with the group in 2012. He'll hit the stage again for one more go, but after this, he's parting ways with the New York death metal legends for good.

Mullen, known for his unrelenting and pioneering low gutturals, outrageous stage banter and infamous hand chop motion, announced the news on his personal Facebook page yesterday (March 12). "Hello my friends I will be doing one last tour later this year. I will let you all know once the details are finalized," he said. A video post, featuring former WWE star Lisa Marie Malone, a friend of his sister, was posted on March 9 as the two discussed the vocalist's last year with Suffocation. Both can be seen below.

However, he promised bigger things were on the horizon, joking he's going to be a full time actor. "I'm gonna be all over the place - everywhere," he exclaimed, "It's gonna be me and The Rock, me and The Rock - bam!" And this is the kind of stuff we'll miss from Frank the Tank when he's behind the mic, prefacing "Entrails of You" as the band's only love song and rallying the crowd for a home barbecue where he'll rent the wood chipper.

Since Mullen's departure from the road, Suffocation have had a difficult time maintaining a steady frontman. At first, they went with star power, recruiting Decrepit Birth's Bill Robinson and then John Gallagher of Dying Fetus. Ricky Myers (Sarcolytic, Disgorge) then took over up front and was succeeded by Kevin Muller, whose tenure with the band was also quite brief and now Myers has rejoined... and will presumably be put on hold as Mullen fires up the wood chipper one more time.

Last year's album, Of the Dark Light, appears to be the last time we'll hear Mullen on new Suffocation material.

Where Does Frank Mullen Rank Among the Top 30 Extreme Metal Vocalists?

Loudwire Podcast #22 - Suffocation

More From Loudwire