Warbringer frontman John Kevill broke the sad news to fans via social media that the band's former drummer Nic Ritter died late last week at the age of 36 from drowning in his pool.
Ritter was a member of the band from 2008 through 2011 and was featured on the group's 2009 album "Waking Into Nightmares". Kevill initially broke the news to fans via his personal Facebook page on Friday. He wrote, "Got some awful news last night- Nic Ritter has died. I spent about 2 years on the road with this guy, and probably about 350-400 gigs. It really shook me up to hear he is gone. I had spoke to him recently but not seen him for many years and I'm kicking myself for it now.
"I will make a proper tribute when I've collected my thoughts a bit and learned more of the circumstances. As of now what I know is that he drowned in his pool. I wish I knew more, hopefully will find out soon. Very sad day. I wish I had got the chance to hang and catch up on old times- we never did."
On Saturday (July 1st), Kevill posted the following on the band's Facebook page: "A couple days ago we got some tragic news. Our former drummer, Nic Ritter, is dead. He passed either Wednesday or Thursday and I got the word Thursday night. I know few details of how he died. I had not seen Nic in many years, though I had spoken to him a few times fairly recently. I always will to regret that I never saw him again, and we never really caught up on all our old times traveling the world.
"Nic played approximately 400-450 shows with Warbringer between June 2008 through January 2011, the period where we were never off the road. His drum performance on 'Waking into Nightmares' pushed the standard of technicality and musicianship in Warbringer to a new level and helped to shape the identity of the band to what it is today. He was an absolutely stellar player who in my opinion is a true innovator in thrash metal drumming.
"Sadly, 'Waking into Nightmares"' is, to the best of my knowledge, his sole recorded musical legacy. Shame that he never played on another record, at least I know he was very proud of our work on that one. Rest easy, old buddy."
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