Veteran American death metallers DECEASED played without their drummer Eric “The Hindenburg” Mayes last night (Saturday, March 31) at the Championship Bar in Trenton, New Jersey. DECEASED frontman King Fowley doubled as the band’s drummer for the gig — the first time he has assumed the dual role in almost a decade.

Fowley told Blistering.com that Mayes had to remove himself from DECEASED on a temporary basis due to an undisclosed illness.

“He’s had some health issues that are being taken care of and he just can’t do the show,” Fowley said. “He’s on different medicines but he’ll be back in no time. This isn’t going to affect the band going forward. It’s something he’s been dealing with for a while and he’s been having some troubles, but he doesn’t want to make a big fuss over it. The good thing is that he doesn’t drink at all anymore and he’s trying to quit smoking and eat much healthier foods. The dude’s smoked like three packs a day for the last thirty years, so that’ll be tough. It’s all a process and he’ll be at full strength before our next show, which is going to be May 26 with Artillery in New York.” He added, “Eric will be back and better than ever in a few weeks so people don’t need to worry too much.”

Video footage of last night’s concert can be seen below (courtesy of Metal Rules! TV).

In a recent interview with Chips And Beer magazine (issue #2), Fowley stated about DECEASED‘s current status, “We’ve got a new live guitarist in James Danzo, who replaces Matt Altieri. Matt stepped down late last year to do other things. Chris Paolino is still playing live on bass for a lot of gigs. Bassist Les Snyder just got married and is living still in Texas. Mike Smith is still on guitar for the records and Shane Fuegal is on guitar both live and studio. Eric Mayes is rocking the drums and I’m out front singing at the live gigs. We’re preparing to write the new record, ‘Ghostly White’, and thinking about 2012 for more in-depth touring.”

Source : Blabbermouth.net