Nick and Vicki founded an advertising firm in La Jolla, CA known as The Lambesis Agency, which handled international clients such as Coca-Cola, Airwalk, SKYY Vodka, Gold Peak Tea, Tacori, Bebe Stores and Campari among others.

[13] In 2008, Lambesis and Destroy the Runner vocalist Chad Ackerman formed Austrian Death Machine, a parody metal band based around Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Lambesis would release three albums over the next three years; Awakened with As I Lay Dying (2012), The Burden of Sorrow by Pyrithion, a side project with members of Allegaeon and The Famine (2013), and Triple Brutal with Austrian Death Machine (2014).

His tattoos include a "rocking Jesus," and cyborg Arnold Schwarzenegger,[25] a Koi fish swimming upstream, which represents a quest for meaning and fulfillment, Hebrew writing, a cross, Jesus Christ in clouds, and his largest (completely covering his back), a samurai fighting a tiger, which represents the battle between reason and instinct.

[22][29] During an August 2010 radio interview on The Full Armor of God Broadcast, Lambesis said "I can only really write about what I'm passionate about in life, so naturally my faith, my belief in the teachings of Jesus and his resurrection come across in our lyrics.

[31] Starting in 2012, Lambesis has made several statements indicating a change in his religious beliefs: in a post on his personal Tumblr page explaining some of the lyrics from the As I Lay Dying album Awakened (released September 2012), Lambesis stated that his studies of theology had led him to the conclusion that "tradition and truth are often at odds with each other".

While he noted that he "didn't hate all religious belief" and was "still inspired by the words of [Jesus]", he was finding it "very difficult for to outline exactly who it is that's worth siding with", and was increasingly regarding "the god of tradition and ritual that I grew up with as less and less of a probable truth".

He also quoted the book Pagan Christianity by George Barna and Frank Viola, noting that both "Protestant and Catholic denominations have poisonous roots".

[35] In divorce papers, Meggan stated that Lambesis was obsessed with bodybuilding, spending "endless hours at the gym", and was wasting "thousands of dollars on tattoos".

She also alleged that he had become "dangerously distracted" while watching their children, including falling asleep while they played in their pool, and had taken two last-minute trips to Florida to see an extramarital girlfriend.

[45] Lambesis met with the undercover agent posing as a hitman, code name "Red", according to Deputy District Attorney Claudia Grasso.

"[45] He then gave [the] undercover agent an envelope containing US$1,000 for expenses, pictures of his wife, her address, the code to get through a gate, and the date on which to kill her.

[45][47] Lambesis' bandmates, representatives from management and Metal Blade Records, and band attorney Ian Friedman were in attendance at his arraignment.

[47] According to the District Attorney of the case, an audio recording of the transaction between Lambesis and the undercover detective exists and was reportedly used at the trial.

[45][47] During the month of his initial arrest, Lambesis pled "not guilty" and his lawyer stated: "His thought processes were devastatingly affected by his steroid use.

[49][50][51] Lambesis was ordered to wear a GPS monitor, was subject to strict travel restrictions, and was unable to see or communicate with his wife and three children.

In the process of sincerely trying to defend that belief in a scholarly way and shortly after finishing my degree, I felt that it was unreasonable to call myself a Christian in light of the evidence.

[60] However, since his arrest, the band has released a statement that Lambesis "has spent much of the last year re-evaluating what originally convinced him to abandon belief in God.

After much brokenness and repentance he sees things differently, considers himself a follower of Jesus, someone submitted to the will of God, or whatever you want to call it," adding, "That's for him to talk about when he's comfortable and only time will tell if he is sincere.

The lawsuit alleges that as a result of the failure to provide him with the drug, Lambesis developed breasts and underwent severe emotional distress.