Clifford Davies, the drummer who played on Nuge’s “Cat Scratch Fever,” was discovered dead Sunday in his Atlanta home. Cause of demise looks to be suicide—a gunshot wound to the head. As always, details are sketchy at this point, but Davies may have been “extremely distraught over money for medical bills.” We’ll keep you updated.
Category: Dead Drummers
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ABBA Drummer, Freakily Dead
ABBA drummer Ola Brunkert was found dead today in Spain. Apparent cause of demise: falling—neck first—on glass from a broken window pane. Authorities believe Brunkert tried to get help after he was gored in the throat but collapsed in his garden and eventually bled to death. An autopsy will be performed, but at this time no foul play is suspected. Just a freaky, thoroughly fucked up, I-wouldn’t-believe-that-if-they-put-it-in-a-movie accident.
Brunkert played on all of ABBA’s albums and also frequently toured with the Swedish sucre sensation. His is even the surprisingly meaty 2 and 4 behind the band’s first hit, “People Need Love”. Check it out below. And no smirking. At least until tomorrow, when we can safely start making fun of ABBA again.
[Update: The London Telegraph is reporting that Brunkert sustained fatal injuries by accidentally walking through a glass door.]
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Black Death Drummer Dead
Phil Bullard, drummer for the metal band Black Death, died on February 6 from colon cancer. Many sites are crediting Black Death (formed in 1977) with being the first all-black metal group. We confess to not having ever heard them and thus felt compelled (shamed?) to search out some sample tunes. Here is the best page for a free, non-illegal MP3; scroll about three-quarters down. [Update 2022: we’ve removed the slow-loading link and replaced it with the full album available as a YouTube vid embedded below. Thanks, Google Overlords!] And if that’s the sort of tune that gets your sticks all hard, you’ll be raging to know that Auburn Records is releasing a deluxe version of Black Death’s eponymous 1984 album.
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Decapitated’s Drummer Dies From Head Injuries
Death metal got a whole lot deader this past Friday (November 2). Witold “Vitek” Kieltyka, skin slayer for the Polish band Decapitated, died from injuries sustained to (ironically enough) his head when the group’s tour bus crashed. Dude was only 23 years old. Rumors are circulating that the band’s bus driver was at fault.
Apparent moral of the story: employ mutherfucking drivers who can mutherfucking drive.
Blabbermouth has an exclamatory eulogy from Meshuggah’s Tomas Haake:
The metal community has lost one of the most talented and skillful drummers of our time! I remember when I first heard DECAPITATED‘s ‘Organic Hallucinosis’ and it just blew me away! What a band and WHAT A DRUMMER!!! Vitek was a true talent and drummer genius and his passing is just so very, very wrong! The future will be a sadder place without your drumming!!! Our thoughts go out to the band and to their families in this sad, sad moment. Rest in peace, Vitek.