Jump to content

In Memoriam - Metal/Rock Stars Passed Away Thread


Recommended Posts

I would have loved to have seen the artistical progress of Sid Vicious and Dave Lepard into the 2010's...unfortunately by that time none of them were alive.

I wish Quorthon could have made more albums. When Lemmy died it destroyed my enitire day and I had a sniffle or two while watching his memorial service online. But what happened to Taiji Sawada (ex- bass player in X-japan, Loudness etc.) was just damn tragic!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Not a recent death as such, but sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday that I spoke to her for the first time...

Tristessa from Astarte ( Maria Kolokouri ) died on August 10th 2014 from complications related to leukemia. We can all talk about how terrible cancer is, but I would rather tell how Tristessa was when she was alive!m

I got in touch with her after having bought the debut CD from Astarte and then contacting her to request an interview, after having written a review for a Danish underground music magazine called Metal Poisoning. She wrote back sending me a huge envolope with what seemed like a zillion flyers for obscure Greek black metal bands, a copy of their second album, a few post cards with even more obscure black metal bands, a very freindly hand written letter including an e-mail adress where I could contact her to arrange a time for a phone interview. Damn, I miss the late 90's early 2000's...these days it would just be a short e-mail reply and a few links :D

What had really taken me by surprise when listening to Astarte for the very first time was how that girl could....GROWL!!!! She was bloody amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What took me by an even bigger surprise was how gentle and girly she sounded on the phone...I had expected a raspy butch voice and what did I hear??? A little girl voice...now that is what I call talent!!!!! And she was the sweetest person imaginable...first off she was thrilled that anyone could even be bothered to take her and her band seriously, second off she knew her metal!!!! And thirdly she had a cracking sense of humour: after the actual interview had ended we talked a while longer about goddesses, European paganism, and those bloody sodding men in the metal scene...who were so sodding bloody stubborn and old fashioned to not give girl bands a decent chance and what the bloody hell we felt like doing to them (cudos to you for counting how many times I have written "bloody" so far) including strapping Sakis (Rotting Christ) to a wall using bondage gear...and having one hell of a laugh about it :D:D:D

Years later I found her on Myspace, we greeted and added eacother on our freinds list...and mourned together when Ronnie James Dio died. 

I miss her.....

 

 

tristessa1.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think anyone has mentioned Aleah Stanbridge here yet either. She was the vocalist for the single album Trees of Eternity did (members of Swallow the Sun, ex Katatonia and Nightwish). She was seriously one of the most beautiful looking women I have ever seen in my life and her voice was utterly incredible. She died of an illness just last year. 

Here's the demo version of this song because it also shows her picture. The album has a better production of course. Damn, what a talented singer. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
  • 2 months later...
  • 2 years later...
  • 6 months later...

I tried, I did, because I had never heard the album before. I've only ever been familiar with the debut which of course the late Mr. Howe was not a part of. Listened to The Dark one time but I didn't like it so I never went any further with them. This one was worse though, I made it about two songs in before I had to abort the mission. The phrase Z-grade turdburger comes to mind. It's always tragic when someone relatively young (or at least younger than me) dies unexpectedly like this, and I mean no offense to the fans of Mike Howe (may his soul rest in peace) or the band out there, it's honestly nothing personal. But fuck me if that wasn't some 3rd tier lame-ass bullshit rock. No idea how this band got as big as they did, if this is considered to be one of their better albums I can't even imagine how bad the mediocre ones could be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ex Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison has passed away aged 46!

No cause of death but it's noted he has previously a condition called "acute transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord which damages nerve fibers, which ultimately led to the drummer temporarily losing the use of his legs."  

 

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/former-slipknot-drummer-joey-jordison-dead-at-46/

 

Love them or hate them, there's no denying Joey was a damn good drummer and if nothing, Slipknot did revive the mainstream world's interest in more extreme music (I would argue the popularity of melodic DM and NWOAHM, commercial rebirth of DM and TM were down to Slipknot pushing a much heavier version of nu-metal - indeed Iowa is extreme metal by most accounts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh oh oh god. I was absolutely crushed when I read this this morning.

He was such an extraordinary talent and by all accounts a gentle soul—despite dealing with a debilitating disease. He will be sincerely missed.
I know the other members of Slipknot must be devastated; as he was their co-founder, and even though he wasn’t in the band at the time of his death, he still seemed genuine in his fondness for the members.

R.I.P Joey. Hope you’re jamming with Lemmy and Eddie in heaven.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know Deadovic, believe it or not I do still genuinely like some stuff from the 80's even though I don't spin it a ton anymore these days because I played all my favorite 80's stuff into the ground back when it was new and all throughout the 90's. Once I got around to black & death though (my true calling) that has deffo made many of those old 80's metal bands redundant to me.

Some of those old 80's records still stand up to an occasional spin and some others I don't ever need to hear again. I stand by my assessment that while the 1984 Metal Church debut is gold, the rest of their stuff is various degrees of crap. But if you enjoy it good on ya Deaddie Weaddie, that's fantastic.

I would be quite interested to see how your tastes will have changed in another 20 years, if you're still listening to the same 200 records or if not then how you'll feel about the stuff you loved in your 20's and 30's. I reckon everyone's tastes change at least a little over the course of several decades, as new input is received that changes the equation a bit for many of us.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd rather get a topic started on US withdrawal from Afghanistan because I've never heard Metal Church before.

Was more surprised to hear about Joey Jordison today. Being well established in my unflinching metallic taste by 1999 when Slipknot's debut came out I didn't think too much of it. I did own it though. I liked the percussive side; it was the vocals and lyrics that I just couldn't relate to at the time, or anytime since.

However, while they had a gimmick there was something new enough going on musically to deserve their success. Slipknot was probably responsible for an entire generation of metalheads - misguided from the true path of righteousness though they may be.

So yeah, how about that withdrawal? I am sure it will go off without a hitch and absolutely not leave a power vacuum and another generation of disillusioned angry young men. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WN I was listening to Metal Church 20 years ago so I suspect I will be listening to them in 20 years time too.  I also still listen to Guns N Roses and Metallica despite first getting into them 30 years ago.

 

 I don't generally grow out of music though I do add new stuff occasionally.    Been digging latest LIK album even though it is a Dismember clone

4 minutes ago, JonoBlade said:

I'd rather get a topic started on US withdrawal from Afghanistan because I've never heard Metal Church before.

Was more surprised to hear about Joey Jordison today. Being well established in my unflinching metallic taste by 1999 when Slipknot's debut came out I didn't think too much of it. I did own it though. I liked the percussive side; it was the vocals and lyrics that I just couldn't relate to at the time, or anytime since.

However, while they had a gimmick there was something new enough going on musically to deserve their success. Slipknot was probably responsible for an entire generation of metalheads - misguided from the true path of righteousness though they may be.

So yeah, how about that withdrawal? I am sure it will go off without a hitch and absolutely not leave a power vacuum and another generation of disillusioned angry young men. 

 

 

 

Same opinion on Slipknot - indeed I just wrote them of as nu-metal shit back when slef titled came  out but grew to respect them begrudgingly even though am not a fan of most of their music.  Massively influential and a big gateway drug to metaldon for many in last 20 years.

 

 

As for Afghanistan let the graveyard of empires do whatever the hell its people want regardless of western sensibilities. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, JonoBlade said:

I'd rather get a topic started on US withdrawal from Afghanistan because I've never heard Metal Church before.

So yeah, how about that withdrawal? I am sure it will go off without a hitch and absolutely not leave a power vacuum and another generation of disillusioned angry young men. 

 

 

58 minutes ago, Dead1 said:

 

As for Afghanistan let the graveyard of empires do whatever the hell its people want regardless of western sensibilities. 

Hey guys, keep a lid on that here. Gets out of hand too quickly. Plenty of other places around the internet for political chat. Thanks.

 

I was bummed to see the news about Mike Howe as well. 55 seems too young. Always makes me think about how much time I have left, too. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Hey guys, keep a lid on that here. Gets out of hand too quickly. Plenty of other places around the internet for political chat. Thanks.

I understand the reluctance but to be honest it was the aspect of our discontinued community at Metal-Fi that I liked most. Undoubtedly there are other places on the internet for political chat but my guess is those places are just a shouting match with polarized views or an echo chamber of confirmation bias. The reason it worked well (mostly) on Metal-Fi is that ultimately we had the brotherhood of metal to fall back on which trumped political allegiance. Tensions sometimes flared but they soon calmed back down.

Besides which, most of the time it was not political. Dead was good at examining current events through the lens of history from his (interesting) POV, and I often learned to respect other peoples' views. Disagree with them sure, but understand how nurture (or lack thereof) shapes the man. I also liked reading about tanks.

The general consensus on Metal-Fi was that all politicians, of all flavours, are corrupt assholes. We only differed as to the exact magnitude of assholeness. In that way we were apolitical.

By being exposed to different ideas, even ideologies, some of the young ones here might actually learn something more worthwhile than whether Metallica is better than Megadeth or not. 

It's a tough one. Of course, maybe the Metal-Fi guys that were far more vocal than me about such topics had enough and were happy to move on. I miss it. 

Mike Howe dead at 55? I never heard what the dude sung like but from his photo he looked dependable and pleasant. RIP.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, JonoBlade said:

I understand the reluctance but to be honest it was the aspect of our discontinued community at Metal-Fi that I liked most. Undoubtedly there are other places on the internet for political chat but my guess is those places are just a shouting match with polarized views or an echo chamber of confirmation bias. The reason it worked well (mostly) on Metal-Fi is that ultimately we had the brotherhood of metal to fall back on which trumped political allegiance. Tensions sometimes flared but they soon calmed back down.

Besides which, most of the time it was not political. Dead was good at examining current events through the lens of history from his (interesting) POV, and I often learned to respect other peoples' views. Disagree with them sure, but understand how nurture (or lack thereof) shapes the man. I also liked reading about tanks.

The general consensus on Metal-Fi was that all politicians, of all flavours, are corrupt assholes. We only differed as to the exact magnitude of assholeness. In that way we were apolitical.

By being exposed to different ideas, even ideologies, some of the young ones here might actually learn something more worthwhile than whether Metallica is better than Megadeth or not. 

It's a tough one. Of course, maybe the Metal-Fi guys that were far more vocal than me about such topics had enough and were happy to move on. I miss it. 

Mike Howe dead at 55? I never heard what the dude sung like but from his photo he looked dependable and pleasant. RIP.

That's all fine and good, even if it is wildly off topic for a memorial thread, but I want to nip it in the bud. This isn't a knock on you all; you guys seem respectful of each other and I think it's great to have a bunch of folks around who know what it means to be part of a community. These discussions just go south too easily for us to want to give them breathing room anymore. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

That's all fine and good, even if it is wildly off topic for a memorial thread, but I want to nip it in the bud. This isn't a knock on you all; you guys seem respectful of each other and I think it's great to have a bunch of folks around who know what it means to be part of a community. These discussions just go south too easily for us to want to give them breathing room anymore. 

Seconded.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@ Deadovic...It's not that I've grown out of music as much as they've just invented a whole new genre of music called heavy metal since I became heavily interested in music as a pre-teen in the early 70's. Turns out I like this metal stuff much more than the rock music I grew up with. By the time I was 30 in the early 90's they had already come up with myriad sub-genres of metal to pick from, virtually something for everyone. I didn't have the option to listen to black or death metal in the 70's when I was a young pup in my teens or even in my early 20's because it didn't exist yet. So I was forced to make do with what was available at the time which in the 70's was rock and then punk. I latched onto each new heaviest sub-genre in real time as they were invented in the 80's until metal finally caught up to the level of heaviness I was craving. You younger guys came of age at a time when just about all the current metal sub-genres were already fully formed. So even as pre-teens you were free to gravitate towards the ones that you enjoyed the most. As a Boomer, I can't even imagine having had metal to listen to when I was still a kid in school, that would've been so fucking cool. So I don't think I've outgrown music, I was just born too soon and had to wait around awhile for the music I connect with the strongest to be invented. I should've been born in the early-mid 70's, that would've been perfect for me.

 

@ Jon-O...as one of the more vocal ones you speak of, I don't think my love of mixing things up (mostly with Deadly Deadovic) on our old "Heeere's Donny" thread which became the general politics thread for 5 years had anything to do with politics or me wanting to talk about politics. As I'm sure even these new folks have noticed by now, I just like to argue and debate, the subject is really not important. That thread just happened to provide me with a wealth of opportunities to argue and debate when certain people posted stuff I strongly disagreed with. But I have no need or desire to argue politics specifically, I'm totally fine arguing about metal or about most anything really.

Only reason I've argued so much with Deadly Do-Right specifically is that he is one of the rare ones who doesn't take it personally like most people do when you challenge or dispute them. There's no fun to be had arguing & debating with people who get butt-hurt so easily. When he and I argue it's like two pitt bulls having a tug of war over a bone, both resolutely determined never to give in. I freely admit I enjoy the fuck out of it. And there are never any hard feeling afterwards so it's been cool.

But even as I think any kind of censorship or having off-limits subjects is stupid, I can totally understand why maybe these nice people don't want to go down that road of political flame wars raging out of control like a California wild fire and I'm prepared to respect their wishes. I will be more than happy to argue with you over the merits (or lacktherof) of Judas Priest's 1970's output or that plant based nonsense or life as a Kiwi ex-pat or how finger length impacts your fretwork or anything else you might care to spar with me about Jon-O if that'll make you feel any better. I'm always here for you brother.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Happy to keep politics out and be "civilised."

 

5 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

You younger guys came of age at a time when just about all the current metal sub-genres were already fully formed. So even as pre-teens you were free to gravitate towards the ones that you enjoyed the most.

 

Not really.  Finding new or even old metal was hard in mid-1990s especially as I grew up in a regional nothing town.  I couldn't even find Iron Maiden CDs let alone Testament or Napalm Death or Darkthrone!  It had actually been easier to find metal pre-1995 (when I had no money) as it was more popular. 

Metaldom in Australia literally collapsed overnight.  When I started high school in 1993 there were lots of metalheads, by the time I finished in 1996 I was the only one except one guy who liked Motley Crue and nothing else!  

  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Join Metal Forum

    joinus-home.jpg

  • Our picks

    • Whichever tier of thrash metal you consigned Sacred Reich back in the 80's/90's they still had their moments.  "Ignorance" & "Surf Nicaragura" did a great job of establishing the band, whereas "The American Way" just got a little to comfortable and accessible (the title track grates nowadays) for my ears.  A couple more records better left forgotten about and then nothing for twenty three years.  2019 alone has now seen three releases from Phil Rind and co.  A live EP, a split EP with Iron Reagan and now a full length.

      Notable addition to the ranks for the current throng of releases is former Machine Head sticksman, Dave McClean.  Love or hate Machine Head, McClean is a more than capable drummer and his presence here is felt from the off with the opening and title track kicking things off with some real gusto.  'Divide & Conquer' and 'Salvation' muddle along nicely, never quite reaching any quality that would make my balls tingle but comfortable enough.  The looming build to 'Manifest Reality' delivers a real punch when the song starts proper.  Frenzied riffs and drums with shots of lead work to hold the interest.


      There's a problem already though (I know, I am such a fucking mood hoover).  I don't like Phil's vocals.  I never had if I am being honest.  The aggression to them seems a little forced even when they are at their best on tracks like 'Manifest Reality'.  When he tries to sing it just feels weak though ('Salvation') and tracks lose real punch.  Give him a riffy number such as 'Killing Machine' and he is fine with the Reich engine (probably a poor choice of phrase) up in sixth gear.  For every thrashy riff there's a fair share of rock edged, local bar act rhythm aplenty too.

      Let's not poo-poo proceedings though, because overall I actually enjoy "Awakening".  It is stacked full of catchy riffs that are sticky on the old ears.  Whilst not as raw as perhaps the - brilliant - artwork suggests with its black and white, tattoo flash sheet style design it is enjoyable enough.  Yes, 'Death Valley' & 'Something to Believe' have no place here, saved only by Arnett and Radziwill's lead work but 'Revolution' is a fucking 80's thrash heyday throwback to the extent that if you turn the TV on during it you might catch a new episode of Cheers!

      3/5
      • Reputation Points

      • 10 replies
    • I
      • Reputation Points

      • 2 replies
    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/52-vltimas-something-wicked-marches-in/
      • Reputation Points

      • 3 replies

    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/48-candlemass-the-door-to-doom/
      • Reputation Points

      • 2 replies
    • Full length number 19 from overkill certainly makes a splash in the energy stakes, I mean there's some modern thrash bands that are a good two decades younger than Overkill who can only hope to achieve the levels of spunk that New Jersey's finest produce here.  That in itself is an achievement, for a band of Overkill's stature and reputation to be able to still sound relevant four decades into their career is no mean feat.  Even in the albums weaker moments it never gets redundant and the energy levels remain high.  There's a real sense of a band in a state of some renewed vigour, helped in no small part by the addition of Jason Bittner on drums.  The former Flotsam & Jetsam skinsman is nothing short of superb throughout "The Wings of War" and seems to have squeezed a little extra out of the rest of his peers.

      The album kicks of with a great build to opening track "Last Man Standing" and for the first 4 tracks of the album the Overkill crew stomp, bash and groove their way to a solid level of consistency.  The lead work is of particular note and Blitz sounds as sneery and scathing as ever.  The album is well produced and mixed too with all parts of the thrash machine audible as the five piece hammer away at your skull with the usual blend of chugging riffs and infectious anthems.  


      There are weak moments as mentioned but they are more a victim of how good the strong tracks are.  In it's own right "Distortion" is a solid enough - if not slightly varied a journey from the last offering - but it just doesn't stand up well against a "Bat Shit Crazy" or a "Head of a Pin".  As the album draws to a close you get the increasing impression that the last few tracks are rescued really by some great solos and stomping skin work which is a shame because trimming of a couple of tracks may have made this less obvious. 

      4/5
      • Reputation Points

      • 4 replies
×
×
  • Create New...