Former ONLY LIVING WITNESS Drummer Dies At 46

August 9, 2011

Eric Stevenson, former drummer of the acclaimed Massachusetts-based heavy rock band ONLY LIVING WITNESS, died on Monday, August 8 after a five-month battle with melanoma, a type of skin cancer. He was only 46 years old. He leaves behind a son, Thomas, aged six.

Stevenson (also ex-FORMICIDE) co-founded ONLY LIVING WITNESS in 1989 with singer Jonah Jenkins (MILLIGRAM, RAW RADAR WAR).

ONLY LIVING WITNESS' two studio albums, "Prone Mortal Form" (1993) and "Innocents" (1996),were reissued through Century Media in 2006.

The song "December" from the ONLY LIVING WITNESS' album "Prone Mortal Form" was covered by SHADOWS FALL for the "Century Media: Covering 20 Years Of Extremes" collection.

Commented SHADOWS FALL singer Brian Fall via Twitter: "Incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of Eric Stevenson of the mighty ONLY LIVING WITNESS. Your music will live on forever. RIP."

NONPOINT drummer Robb Rivera wrote on Facebook, "Saddened to hear that one of my main influences Eric Stevenson has passed away. Eric was the drummer of Boston's mightiest band ONLY LIVING WITNESS. Those who know me well know how much that band and his drumming touched my life. From the early '90s when I heard their first four-song demo to their last album, 'Innocents'. To me he was the modern-day Bill Ward. Those flam hits are legendary and will be sorely missed. Rip in peace, Eric."

DEATH RAY VISION, the new project featuring Brian Fair, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE bassist Mike D'Antonio and former OVERCAST/SEEMLESS guitarist Pete Cortese, said in an online posting, "ONLY LIVING WITNESS was much loved by everyone in DEATH RAY VISION (OVERCAST played about a million shows with them back in the day) and had a big influence on our lives. If you dont know ONLY LIVING WITNESS, do yourself a favor and pick up their two albums You won't regret it."

Multi-camera video footage of ONLY LIVING WITNESS performing the song "December" at the group's reunion concert on June 21, 2008 at the Middle East (Downstairs) in Cambridge, Massachusetts can be viewed below.

BLABBERMOUTH.NET sends out its condolences to Eric Stevenson's friends and family.

Eric Stevenson (March 2010):

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