Cory Smoot, the guitarist for satirical, costumed heavy metal band Gwar, has died at the age of 34.
He was found dead on the tour bus by his bandmates while refueling in Pembina, North Dakota, before crossing into Canada. His death took place only hours after completing a performance at First Avenue in Minneapolis, on Wednesday night. The cause of death is still unknown.
Known as the red-faced, white dreadlock-wearing Flattus Maximus, Smoot joined the band in 2002, and completed several albums with GWAR, including a live album and a compilation album.
Nothing out of the ordinary had been observed by First Avenue's general manager Nate Kranz on the night before Smoots died.
"There was nothing unusual about the show last night, it was about as normal as you can get," he told New Times's Minneapolis sister publication City Pages yesterday. "Conrand [Sverkerson, First Avenue's longtime stage manager], their drummer, and their tour manager went and had one drink at O'Donovans after the show, and they got on their tour bus, we let them out of the garage, and sent them on their way."