• facebook
  • twitter
  • rss

SODOM Mainman Comments On WITCHHUNTER's Passing

September 18, 2008

Bassist/vocalist Thomas "Angelripper" Such of the German thrash veterans SODOM has released the following statement regarding the passing of the group's original drummer, Chris Dudek (a.k.a. Witchhunter):

"In the beginning of [last] week, I received the message that Chris Witchhunter had died. I was shocked — and you can believe me… I still am.

"As we recorded 'The Final Sign Of Evil' [2007 LP featuring re-recordings of the material from SODOM's classic first EP, 'In the Sign of Evil', plus bonus tracks], I noticed that Chris was in a very bad condition. It took more than 18 months to finish the recording for this record.

"My God, I don't know what to say about this tragedy and I'm feeling really down.

"After Chris had left the band, we didn't meet very often. If you take a look at the 'Lords Of Depravity' DVD, everybody realizes that Chris was really ill and confused. You can also understand why Chris and I didn't have much contact during the last few years. His sickness was a slow process and everybody saw what happened — but Chris never took a helping hand from anybody else. All of Chris' friends will tell you so. The worst thing was that Chris himself never realized the situation he was in and that it was important to accept help from others.

"I can't write any 'clear' words as I am in South America right now and we are flying from show to show. At first I thought that it might be better to cancel the tour but that wouldn't have been fair to our fans and Chris wouldn't have liked it either.

"I hope that all of Chris' friends will help his lovely mom and support her in these dark times. In the beginning of our friendship, she was like my own mom to me. After my return from South America I will surely support her, too. I hope that we can arrange a big show for Chris with a couple of friends to give him a special farewell and to make some money for his mother!

"Hey, Chris, you created music history. R.I.P.!"

Chris Dudek reportedly died on September 8, 2008 around 6:00 a.m. due to vital organ failure.

Chris Dudek (a.k.a. Witchhunter) in 2007:

Fan tribute:

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

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).