Former CELTIC FROST bassist and founding member Martin Eric Ain, real name Martin Stricker, passed away last night from a heart attack at the age of 50. Martin, who last played with the band on their last album titled “Monotheist” in 2005 has since left the music business, owned a bar called Acapulco and co-owned a music bar called Mascotte Club in Zurich. The news was first reported by Swiss news portal 20 Minutes, claiming “he suddenly collapsed when he switched to a different tram” according to late bassist’s close friend Jan Graber who also claims that Martin had no known health problems.
Martin Eric Ain made a name for himself playing in the Swiss metal band Celtic Frost, who are considered pioneers of the genre and influenced many extreme metal musicians and acts. The band enjoyed international success during the 80’s and the 90’s, releasing iconic albums such as “Morbid Tales”, “To Mega Therion”, “Into the Pandemonium” and “Vanity/Nemesis”, all of which were recently reissued by the reactivated Noise Records label . Their last album before the break-up “Monotheist” was released in 2005, when the band played a series of shows in support of the release, including a performance at Wacken Open Air in 2006.
Celtic Frost and now Triptykon frontman Tom Gabriel Fischer commented via his Facebook account: “I am deeply affected by his passing. Our relationship was very complex and definitely not free of conflicts, but Martin‘s life and mine were very closely intertwined, since we first met in 1982.”
