Former TROUBLE/ZOETROPE Drummer BARRY STERN Passes Away

Former ZOETROPE/TROUBLE drummer Barry Stern has sadly passed away. Stern, who was said to be recovering from recent hip-replacement surgery, was believed to be in his mid-40s. "He was a close friend and the reason I discovered the Chicago metal scene," SOIL guitarist Shaun Glass told BLABBERMOUTH.NET. "I was a huge ZOETROPE fan back in the day and I just got him on the guest list for the Dime [benefit] show here [in Chicago in late February]."

Stern played drums and sang on the first two ZOETROPE albums — 1985's "Amnesty" and 1987's "A Life of Crime" — before leaving to join the Chicago doomsters TROUBLE prior to the recording of their classic 1990 self-titled offering. He stuck around long enough to appear on the follow-up effort, 1992's "Manic Frustration".