ALEISTER WILD Guitarist In Coma After Altercation With Bassist

According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, the lead guitarist of the Colorado Springs-based rock band ALEISTER WILD remained in a coma Wednesday after getting knocked unconscious by the band's bass player.

The incident happened early Saturday morning outside Union Station, a Colorado Springs tavern on North Union Blvd. where the band had just finished performing.

The bassist, Michael Sorden, got angry at lead singer Ernest Munoz for refusing to help him load his equipment and punched Munoz in the face.

"I told him 'Forget you' and he came at me, but I thought he was just going to yell in my face," he said. "And he just swung and punched me so hard that I fell to the ground."

Terry Span then stepped in and tried to calm Sorden down.

"The next thing I know, I see Mike hitting him and Terry falls down like dead weight," Munoz said. "Blood spattered on my arms and I knew there was something really serious about this."

Span was rushed to Memorial Hospital where doctors say he has little chance of waking up from the coma, the Gazette reports.

Sorden faces a possible charge of second degree assault and was being held without bond at the El Paso County Jail.

Span started ALEISTER WILD in his hometown of Canton, Ohio, in the 1990s before moving to Colorado Springs, where he met Sorden.

An earlier version of ALEISTER WILD featured bassist Kelly Garni, who was one of the founding members of QUIET RIOT, and keyboardist Kelle Rhoads, brother of late OZZY OSBOURNE/QUIET RIOT guitarist Randy Rhoads.

Read more from the Colorado Springs Gazette.

Terry Span:

Michael Sorden:

(Thanks: Nick Lucchesi / Westword)