Caninus to Release Final Record in Wake of Basil's Passing

Posted on Jan 4th 2011 3:00PM by Amy Sciarretto Comments

Caninus Sarah Sturges

Caninus is the death grind side project of Most Precious Blood's Justin Brannan and Rachel Rosen. The band is also fronted by two pit bulls, Basil and Budgie. Howard Stern sidekick and Charred Walls of the Damned drummer Richard Christy also played on a few Caninus tracks, which garnered the band some exposure on Stern's show.

However, it is with a heavier-than-granite heart that we report that Caninus will release a final record on War Torn Records, as 'frontdog' Basil was put to sleep last Wednesday after being diagnosed with a brain tumor.

"I have been overwhelmed with the amount of support," Brannan told Noisecreep. "So many people have said how Basil touched their lives in some way and inspired a lot of people to adopt dogs and opened their eyes to the truth about how sweet pit bulls can be."

Brannan reminisced about Basil, saying, "She gave me 10 years of love and taught me so much about life, love, patience, loyalty and courage. She had a brain tumor and instead of subjecting her to life on doggy death row and meds, chemo and radiation, we decided to let her go out on top with dignity." A final Caninus record -- with Christy behind the kit -- will be dedicated to Basil and will be released later this year.

R.I.P., Basil.

Listen to Caninus' 'Brindle Brickheads'