Arthur Cruz (born May 27, 1988) is an American musician, best known as the drummer of heavy metal band

Lamb of God Lamb of God ( el, Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Amnòs toû Theoû; la, Agnus Dei, ) is a title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God wh ...

. He is the former drummer of

Winds of Plague Winds of Plague is an American deathcore band from Upland, California. Formed in 2002, the band is known for being one of the few deathcore bands to incorporate symphonic elements into their music. The band's name is derived from a section of ...

Prong Prong or Prongs may refer to: * Prong, synonym of tine (structural), a branch or spike of various tools and natural objects * Prong (band), an American metal band * Prong (company), an iPhone accessories company in New York City * Prongs, British ...

and Klogr.

Early life

Cruz was born May 27, 1988, in

Downey, California Downey is a city located in Southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is considered part of the Gateway Cities. The city is the birthplace of the Apollo space program. It is also the home of ...

. He grew up in the suburb city of

South El Monte South El Monte is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,116, down from 21,144 at the 2000 census. Geography According to the United States Cen ...

located east of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in the

San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley ( es, Valle de San Gabriel) is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, lying immediately to the east of the eastern city limits of the city of Los Angeles, and occupying the vast majority of the eastern part ...

. While attending

South El Monte High School South El Monte High School is a high school in South El Monte, California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It is a part of the El Monte Union High School District. Asahi Gakuen Asahi Gakuen (あさひ学園 "School of the Rising Sun"), or ...

, Cruz joined the marching band percussion section and performed from 2004–2006.

Music career

Winds of Plague

In 2008, Cruz was asked to join

and recorded the album '' The Great Stone War''. The album peaked at No. 72 on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

. In 2011 he performed on the band's next album, ''

Against the World ''Against the World'' is the third studio album by American deathcore band Winds of Plague. It was released on April 19, 2011 through Century Media Records. ''Against the World'' features guest appearances from members of Hatebreed, Terror, For T ...

'', which peaked at No. 60 on the Billboard 200. In 2012, Cruz left Winds of Plague citing "creative differences". Cruz returned as their drummer in 2015, and would also perform on the album ''Blood of My Enemy'' in 2017. In 2021, he left Winds of Plague in order to focus on

, which he joined in 2018.

Prong

Following his departure from Winds of Plague, Cruz was asked to play for

. Cruz has toured and recorded on their album ''

Songs from the Black Hole ''Songs from the Black Hole'' is an unfinished album by American rock band Weezer recorded between 1994 and 1996. Intended to follow Weezer's 1994 self-titled debut album, it was to be a rock opera that expressed songwriter Rivers Cuomo's mix ...

''. Cruz left Prong in 2018.

Klogr and The Rasmus

In 2017, Cruz collaborated on drums on alternative metal project Klogr for the single Technocracy and a European Tour with

The Rasmus The Rasmus is a Finnish rock band that formed in 1994 in Helsinki while the band members were in upper comprehensive school.Main source of the band's history: The original band members were Lauri Ylönen (lead singer-songwriter), Eero Heinonen ...

Lamb of God

In 2018, Cruz filled in for

Chris Adler Christopher James Adler (born November 23, 1972) is an American musician, best known as the founder and longtime drummer of heavy metal band Lamb of God from 1994 to 2019, and of Megadeth from 2015 to 2016. Adler played drums on Megadeth's f ...

's North American tour, which also included supporting

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

on their

farewell tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

. In 2019, he officially became the drummer for

following

's departure from the band. Cruz's first release with Lamb of God was their 2020 self-titled album.

Equipment

Cruz endorses Meinl cymbals, and he uses Ludwig drums,

Remo Remo Inc. is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based in Valencia, California, and founded by Remo Belli in 1957. Products manufactured include drum kits, drumheads, drums, and hardware. History Drummer and founder Re ...

drumheads, Axis pedals, and

Vic Firth Everett Joseph "Vic" Firth (June 2, 1930 – July 26, 2015) was an American musician and the founder of Vic Firth Company (formerly Vic Firth, Inc.), a company that makes percussion mallet, percussion sticks and mallets. Biography Vic Firt ...

drumsticks.

Personal life

Cruz is an avid baseball fan and is known to be a die hard Los Angeles Dodger fan. With this, Cruz Founded and owns the Lifestyle Baseball Apparel brand, BASELORDS. In addition, Cruz is an amateur

Illusionist Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close up magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It ...

and is said to perform

sleight of hand Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' ()) refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card ...

micromagic Close-up magic (also known as table magic or micromagic) is magic performed in an intimate setting usually no more than 3 meters (10 feet) from one's audience and is usually performed while sitting at a table. Sleight-of-hand, also known as pres ...

Discography

;Lamb of God * ''

'' (2020) * ''

Omens An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient times, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages fr ...

'' (2022) ;Winds of Plague * '' The Great Stone War'' (2009) * ''

'' (2011) * ''

Blood of My Enemy ''Blood of My Enemy'' is the fifth studio album by American deathcore band Winds of Plague. The album was released on October 27, 2017 through Entertainment One Music and Good Fight Entertainment. It is the band's first album not to be released t ...

'' (2017) ;Prong * ''

'' (2015) * '' X – No Absolutes'' (2016) * ''

Zero Days ''Zero Days'' is a 2016 American documentary film directed by Alex Gibney. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. Synopsis ''Zero Days'' covers the phenomenon surrounding the Stuxnet com ...

'' (2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Art 1988 births 21st-century American drummers American heavy metal musicians American heavy metal drummers American musicians of Mexican descent Hispanic and Latino American musicians Lamb of God (band) members Living people Musicians from Los Angeles County, California People from Downey, California Prong (band) members