R.I.P. MIKE ALEXANDER, 1977 – 2009

I’ve just received an e-mail from Earache Records alerting me that Mike Alexander, bassist for U.K. thrashers Evile, has passed away. He was thirty-two years old.

Evile members Matt Drake, Ol Drake and Ben Carter have released the following statement:

“This is so hard to find the words to express fully how we feel.  We can’t believe or accept what’s happened.  One minute we’re talking to our buddy, Mike, the next minute we can never speak to him again.

There’s so many things rushing through our heads that we want to say, do and feel.  We half expect him to come round the corner and call us ‘dickheads’.  We can’t get our heads around it.

It upsets us so much that he was away from his family when this happened, although knowing Mike, we’re at least glad he was on tour doing what he loves.

We’re lost for words.  We all miss him so much already.  He was such a headstrong, genuinely nice guy who loved music and his family.  We’ve got so many brilliant memories with him.

Our hearts go out to his daughter, family and friends at this tragic, difficult time.

Mike is much loved and is sorely missed.

Rest in peace, brother.”

I’m not going to pretend I’m a huge Evile fan, but the band are clearly very talented and a rising force in metal. And to lose someone so young, and clearly so devoted to the art of metal, is always tragic.

Our thoughts are with the band and the rest of Mike’s friends and family.

-AR