Two Members of After Death Drown in Brazil

Posted on Jan 22nd 2010 2:00PM by Chris Harris Comments
After a year full of crippling losses, tragedy continues to befall the metal community in 2010. On Jan. 21, metal lost two more of its own in Brazil. Leon Villalba and Timothy Kennelly, the guitarist and bassist for U.K. metallers After Death, drowned while swimming at the Atalaia beach in Aracaju, in the northeastern part of Brazil.

Villalba was 21 years old, while Kennelly was 18. The deaths come amid After Death's extensive tour of Brazil, where they're the support act for Master. Villalba and Kennelly were reportedly swimming at the beach around 2:30 PM when another beachgoer noticed a floating body and alerted local lifeguards. The floating body was Villalba, and several attempts were made to revive him, but he did not respond to CPR. Kennelly's body has not been recovered, and a search for his remains will continue Friday with air support.

Atalaia is considered to be the fourth most dangerous beach in Brazil, despite being one of the most popular in Aracaju, the capital of Sergipe.

The tragic loss will not deter the remainder of the tour, and both deaths are being investigated by the homicide division of the Department of Public Safety. There are still 17 dates remaining on the Masters of Hate Tour 2010, and they'll go on, as scheduled. The surviving members of After Death told local media that, while they are "all in mourning and still shocked by everything that happened," the show must go on.

"[Leon and Timothy] would want the shows to go on," they said. "We'll complete the tour in their honor." After Death released an EP called 'Eulogy' last spring.
Filed under: News

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14 Comments

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audriesaur

this is truly tragic. however, it does say on their website that the purpose of this band's music is to "convey Occult teachings to the public via Musick." But that fact surely does not make their deaths any less terrible. may God bless their loved ones and be their peace.

January 23 2010 at 1:39 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
darlene

Ignorance and commenting on a terrible tragedy doesnt mix either.

January 23 2010 at 12:20 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ll5000

Remember, you can't drink 6 shots of vodka, smoke a joint, and do 8 lines of cocaine, and then go swim out 200 yards in rough waters... bad things happen when you do that.

January 22 2010 at 7:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
PAT

Metal has been dead since the 90's, grow-up and get a life you growling were-wolf wanna-bes

January 22 2010 at 6:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to PAT's comment
Leila

Yep. It's sad that the only music made now is a bunch of wannabe gangster rappers that can't form a coherent sentence to save their lives or people that can't even sing or even play any instruments getting by with record deals because they cop out by using synthesizers and having others born in the 70s and 80s write their music for them. Oh yeah dude. Metal sure is low standard. Give me a break.

January 23 2010 at 2:17 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kelsey the Great

I think it's terrible that people on here are actually making jokes about these deaths! For one, metal has nothing to do with satanic worship. And two, it doesn't matter if they had been in a country group or rap group for that matter. What happened is a tragedy no matter how you look at it. The people making jokes should be ashamed!

January 22 2010 at 5:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
bryceholton

Its sad that two young aspiring musicians lost their lives. But honestly I have never heard of them nor their band nor the band that they were supporting. I don't like most metal music for its conection with satanic worship. May they rest in peace.

January 22 2010 at 5:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
yaa momma

I guess they lived up to there name

January 22 2010 at 4:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
nivianblanche

How do they know they other guy is dead? His body wasn't recovered? Couldn't he have drown the other guy and slipped off unnnoticed?

Of course, the other guy could have been pulled down by the undertow and drifted out to sea.

This is very sad news. They were both so young. I hope they will find the missing boy or his body, at least.

January 22 2010 at 3:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Terry

You can't do drugs and swim at the same time.

January 22 2010 at 3:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
boldier

I guess you have to be careful of what you name your band nowadays

January 22 2010 at 3:28 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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