Gus Chambers, former vocalist of German metal band Squealer and Dave Lombardo's groove metal side project Grip Inc., has passed away last Monday, on the 13th of October, at the age of 52. Gus Chambers, who nowadays lived in Coventry, England, reportedly took his own life.

The Coventry Telegraph reports that, one of the city's much-loved and popular musicians, Gus Chambers, died last weekend. Gus Chambers was a natural born rocker.

He took over lead vocals from Terry Hall in the punk band Squad in the late 70s, and fronted the band through their finest moments. But his punk-crazed stage antics were quite opposite to the real man - Gus was a thinker, and a great believer in fairness and racial equality, though to some, he was just a punk.

When the final embers of the punk revolution faded away, Gus took his skills as a top notch front-man to the new band 21 Guns. They released the single Ambition Rock on Neville Staples's Shack Records.

Gus later moved to America and formed Sons Of Damnation, finally joining the no messing high-energy metal band Grip Inc. They were formed by former Slayer drum-king Dave Lombardo. They released three brooding albums in the mid to late 90s - "Power Of Inner Strength", "Nemesis", and "Solidify" - and finally came back with a fourth entitled "Incorporated" in 2004, which was greeted as a true return to form by the critics.

Of late, Gus was part of the sonically-superb Mantra Sect. "I've been very lucky in my career," said Gus. "I have had the privilege of playing in front of thousands of people at festivals like Rock in Rio and the Dynamo Festival in Holland. Nothing though brings back fonder memories than playing in front of maybe 20 or 30 people in The Hand and Heart or the back room of The Swanswell."


Coventry Telegraph concludes: "The line, "He'll be greatly missed", is forever trotted out on these occasions; this time it's totally fitting, and judging by the unprecedented number of people who phoned me to tell me the tragic news, this is one great Cov rocker who will never be forgotten and God forbid, ever be replaced."

A few more reactions to Chamber's death can be read here.

Source:	coventrytelegraph.net
Band profile:	Grip Inc.