Former MUTANT SOLDIER Singer Laid To Rest

June 11, 2009

Brian Lisik of Nordonia Hills Sun reports: On Saturday, police and fire departments from throughout the [Sagamore Hills, Ohio] area laid to rest one of their own. And efforts are already under way to officially honor the memory of Township police officer (and former MUTANT SOLDIER singer) Kevin "Sku" Skizenta, 40, who died of leukemia June 2.

"What a huge loss this is for the department and the community," Township Police Chief David Hayes Monday following a Township Trustees meeting. "Kevin was an outstanding officer who was always dedicated to performing his duties without complaining. In fact, before he fell ill I had told him he was one of the best men I'd ever had over the years. We're going to be there for his family — we're planning more benefits and maybe setting up a college fund for his two sons — and we are planning some sort of memorial to him."

Read more from Nordonia Hills Sun.

Skizenta fronted MUTANT SOLDIER (MySpace page) from 1988 through 1992, helping the band hold its own in the second wave of Cleveland thrash. He idolized METALLICA frontman James Hetfield, and carried a half mic stand in tribute to TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy.

MUTANT SOLDIER opened big thrash shows at the Agora and headlined small venues like Sabers and the Berea Roller Bowl. The well-received 1989 demo, "Battered Existence", drew positive notices from as far away as Japan. The band recorded another EP, "Soldier of Misfortune", that remains unreleased.

MUTANT SOLDIER performing in 1989:

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).