Nyt näyttäisi siltä, että death metal -skene on menettänyt yhden rakkaimmista bändeistään. Vanha kunnon Bolt Thrower julkaisi verkkosivuillaan viestin, jossa paitsi kunnioitetaan vuosi sitten kuollutta rumpalia Martin “Kiddie” Kearnsia myös annetaan ymmärtää, ettei uutta rumpalia tule. Ja jos uutta rumpalia ei tule, ei taida koko bändiäkään olla olemassa.
Surullinen tieto, mutta osattiinhan tuota odottaa, sillä Kearnsin kuolema oli selvästi bändille kova paikka. Ainakin yhtye jättää kelpo kavalkadin upeita levyjä jälkipolvien löydettäväksi: For Victory, The IVth Crusade, War Master, Mercenary… Huokaus. Kiitos näistä!
Alla bändin viesti vielä kokonaisuudessaan:
On behalf of ourselves and Kiddie’s family, we would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and support over the last 12 months. Together with Kiddie’s family we made the conscious decision to keep his unexpected death a private matter, and to take time out to deal with it all.
When Kiddie joined us back in 1994, although he was only 17, he instantly improved Bolt Thrower as a live band, and no one was more loyal to, and prouder to be in Bolt Thrower than him.
We spent over 20 years together, touring the world, with 3 different vocalists, but he was so much more than just a drummer to us. So when we carried his coffin to his final resting place, the Bolt Thrower drummer position was buried with him. He was, and will now forever remain THE Bolt Thrower drummer, our Powerhouse and friend Martin ’Kiddie’ Kearns.
As for the rest of us, Bolt Thrower has been our way of life for 30 years, never driven by money, fame or ego, but by our own personal principles and values that have guided us through life, and which bonded us as friends long before Bolt Thrower was even formed…
’We are not now that strength which in old days
moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.’
– Tennyson – 1833″