Obituary has notified their fans and friends that Frank Watkins, former bassist for the group and later active in Gorgoroth, has passed away. Born on February 19, 1968, Frank moved to the next plane on October 18, 2015.
His style of bass-playing aided Obituary in the creation of one of the greatest epics of death metal, Cause of Death, in which he achieved a sound like an earthquake moving through a mud layer that shadowed the detuned guitars and growling vocals for a subterranean, unearthly aesthetic.
Since those days, Watkins moved on to play for and manage other metal bands, including most notably one reformation of Norwegian black metal act Gorgoroth. During his 47 years, he contributed quite a bit to metal both publicly and in private, and will be greatly missed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fSnDUhpZIA
Tags: deaths, frank watkins, obituary
I’m rather new to metal, and music in general, so I didn’t know who Frank Watkins was, but I am going to see Obituary live (hearing them for the first time) in three weeks.
As the name “Obituary” is uttered with respect among death metal fanatics, I also plan to get their albums. I look forward to hearing Frank’s play.
Frank and the other Obituary guys played one of the best live sets I ever saw, back in 1991 (‘Cause of Death’ tour). They even had pyrotechnics on stage! Good times I’ll never forget.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxRdtspwxus
Gig flyer: http://www.metallipromo.com/images/lawnmower/sab19910607.JPG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcgbEWzUQo4
Rest in Peace Frank.
For all who want to remember him playing live:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjFefTgg6lI
Here he looks so young:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/7c/4b/ae/7c4bae31ec985e08175c96c2e4def200.jpg
I visited quite a few Obituary gigs here in Germany, most of them with Frank as the bass player. He always kicked ass and created a sound which can be described as “monströse Brachialität”. I have to repeat what LordKrumb wrote above: good times I will never forget. Thank you, Frank.
Witnessed obituary about 6 times. 3 times with Frank. He will be missed. Never got to meet him, met both the tardy brothers and Trevor peres, but never Frank unfortunately.
RIP