Good Bye My Friend

[aimless nomad]

I don't know what to say. I found out about it yesterday. I never got to meet David in person, unfortunately, but from the forum and emails, he seemed a genuinely great man. Absolutely gutted by the news. My sympathy to his friends and family. David's music meant a lot to me over the years. He will be missed greatly.



Rest In Peace David

 

[shredsofautumn]

if details/a report on the accident is released, could someone repost it here? there's been so little information given. my head has been swimming how it happened, why no one else is injured, etc. Thanks in advance, friends.

 

[Miltbrand]

Listening to W5 now. I've never felt this 'split' over an album. The music is fucking awesome, but it's an hour long reminder that David is gone...

 

[shredsofautumn]

I think we all feel the same way, brother. It's his passing masterpiece. It's been a tough Christmas season for all of us on the WoY forum, I'm sure. Having the Earache records memorial jpeg as my desktop background has been tough. Every time I start to laugh at something someone says or something on television, I glance at the computer screen and instantly feel down. David inspired so many lives, from tracking drums in Seoul to writing his own music and releasing his own albums, all the way to teaching English to students in Kuwait, he has affected many lives and will continue to as long as we hold the flame of WoY and pass it on to friends, relatives, and our children. I plan to preserve David's legacy, and preserve his passion for music. I feel it is what he would have wanted. It's a tough holiday season. Never had a musician I felt that I had an emotional understanding with pass. It's hard.

 

[kleo706]

It's been announced that the next Metal Thursday at Ralph's in Worcester, MA will be dedicated to David. WoY will play over the PA. There will be toasts. If anyone wants to head out and grieve with like-minded individuals, things generally start somewhere in the 9:00 range.

 

[The Black Death]

Listening to W5 now. I've never felt this 'split' over an album. The music is fucking awesome, but it's an hour long reminder that David is gone...

Hi Miltbrand ! Same feeling for me, this album will always be a little special now...Hard to listen but a beautiful gift to us from David...

shredsofautumn...he has affected many lives and will continue to as long as we hold the flame of WoY and pass it on to friends, relatives, and our children. I plan to preserve David's legacy, and preserve his passion for music. I feel it is what he would have wanted.

I really hope this forum will continue to exist, that fans ( supporters like David prefer to call us... ) will continue to post in his memory and to keep Woods of Ypres alive...
A place where we can express ourselves about our love for metal.

Let's continue to spread the words !!!

 

[phantomfreak]

Listening to W5 now. I've never felt this 'split' over an album. The music is fucking awesome, but it's an hour long reminder that David is gone...

I think we all know how you feel. That first listen of W5 was so hard to get through, tears were shed during Finality.

 

[Jolty]

It IS really hard to listen to. I've only managed to get through the whole thing once. I can't stop crying. The album sounds HUGE -- it is amazing, it fills the whole room. At the same time, though, it just fucking contradicts everything I'm feeling right now.

@shredsofautumn: From earlier reports, it seems as though he was walking along the highway and was struck by a vehicle on the 21st.
http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/loca...1221_highway_collision/20111221/?hub=CP24Home
http://www.citytv.com/toronto/cityn...bound-lanes-of-hwy-400-reopens-after-accident
http://www.newstalk1010.com/News/localnews/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10329266

 

[XnaySaturo]

It IS really hard to listen to. I've only managed to get through the whole thing once. I can't stop crying. The album sounds HUGE -- it is amazing, it fills the whole room. At the same time, though, it just fucking contradicts everything I'm feeling right now.

@shredsofautumn: From earlier reports, it seems as though he was walking along the highway and was struck by a vehicle on the 21st.
http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/loca...1221_highway_collision/20111221/?hub=CP24Home
http://www.citytv.com/toronto/cityn...bound-lanes-of-hwy-400-reopens-after-accident
http://www.newstalk1010.com/News/localnews/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10329266

That's FUCKED UP man.

I listened to Woods 5 and yeah it's really strange to listen to. The album itself is spectacular though.

 

[Morf1end]

I dug out some of my old CD's today and found hand-written notes from Dave giving thanks for the support. I remember when I received my pre-ordered copy of Pursuit and being stunned that a musician would take the time to do such a nice gesture. I'd bought thousands of albums from countless bands in the past and Dave was the first to ever do such a thing. That wasn't the only time either, in fact, every time I ordered something he thanked me like I'm sure he did with all of his supporters. After listening to Woods V for the first time today, I'm blown away. I wish I had the chance to thank him but instead I'm going to do what he always asked me to do in those notes and emails, enjoy it and spread the word. His music lives on.

 

[Snyper]

I dug out some of my old CD's today and found hand-written notes from Dave giving thanks for the support.

i always loved the fact that he always attached personal notes with everything he's sent me, i still have mine but they're mixed all over the place with other papers, i gotta find them and put them some where they won't get ruined

@shredsofautumn: From earlier reports, it seems as though he was walking along the highway and was struck by a vehicle on the 21st.
http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/loca...1221_highway_collision/20111221/?hub=CP24Home
http://www.citytv.com/toronto/cityn...bound-lanes-of-hwy-400-reopens-after-accident
http://www.newstalk1010.com/News/localnews/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10329266

i've been looking at every local news site about the accident, none have yet said why he was walking along the highway, did he have car troubles? flat tire? ran out of gas?
on the CTV Barrie facebook page, one witness suggested suicide, i find that so hard to believe given David's talking about the future

 

[hordalands_doedskvad]

That is so much fucking sad.
That's all I can say... I can't find any other words for this.
I always liked the first few albums the most. But Woods V now has some kind of special spirit to me...But it is hard to listen to.

My condolence to Davids family.
Good bye.

"hard to listen to" definitely sums up my experience with Woods 5 considering what happened. especially when you consider the themes.

i couldn't get earache's link to work either, hope this helps you out Curt- here's a promo copy for download on mediafire (probably the same file as provided by earache?) just extract it with something like jzip for free.

http://www.mediafire.com/?y5ol5ge85niefgd

Thank you very much.

 

[shredsofautumn]

Just read those news reports that were posted. Dave was walking on the highway? makes no sense. Reading the vague details made this so much worse.

 

[shredsofautumn]

On the note that you said 'one witness suggested suicide'- that's the first thing that came to my mind as well reading the details. But I agree with your question- why would he do such a thing? I won't believe it until all details are released. One unfortunate thing about humanity is that no matter how well you know someone, everyone has inner demons and everyone has things they keep to themselves. As I said before, the most haunting thing to me is that the new album as a whole is so different from Woods 4- It's an entirely different level of doom. It's almost like he knew his time was near and he expressed it in his lyrics. Maybe someday we will all know the truth about what happened- whether it was a legitimate accident or something more. Regardless of whether we find out or we don't, it doesn't make it any less tragic. I will continue to mourn now.

 

[Morf1end]

I'm not buying the suicide theory at all. I doubt Dave would've wanted to put his family and friends through all this pain, especially a few days before Xmas. Also, all of Dave's hard work with Woods was starting to pay off and he had a lot to look forward to. He was even talking about future Woods albums past V in interviews. I think this was just an unfortunate accident.

 

[shredsofautumn]

Morf1end- I'm in total agreement. Upon looking closer at the news reports, he was walking on the SIDE of the highway. I think it was just a tragic accident.

'Back On the highway, under the moon, my final moments, still wondering about you...' -with the exception of the bit about the moon, this coincidental line from the album gives me the shivers every time i hear it.

 

[Jolty]

Suicide was my first thought, but I don't think he'd do that. It wouldn't make any sense, especially with he new album about to be released. It also feels wrong to speculate about such things with such scarce details. I'm convinced that it was just a horrible accident. Narrow highways and semis (where the driver is seated up so high) are always dangerous.

 

[shredsofautumn]

well said jolty, speculating isn't the right thing to do until more information is released. once i start rambling all the thoughts in my head, speculation is bound to appear. RIP.

 

[Hopkinator]

I've driven that stretch of the 400 where he was killed quite a few times, and the outlet mall at highway 89 is dangerous, and there have been a few deaths relating to the highway there.

 

[PurpleCrayonWriter]

This is horrible news. I had many e-mail exchanges and conversations with David. I've been a fan of WoY for years. I always found him to be personable, accessible, and generous with his time. I truly liked David. He was one of the most genuine guys I've ever known.

I hope this accident receives an update with details soon. I can't tell from the news reports if he was walking "on" the highway (as one report indicated) or if he was walking "along" the highway, for example on the shoulder. Either way, unless something recently happened in his life that we don't know about, I seriously doubt it was suicide. It just doesn't make sense. WoY had just toured North America. A new album was about to be released. Things looked to be happening for David.

This news really depressed me when I first heard it just before Christmas. And, frankly, I'm sure it'll continue to depress me long into 2012.

RIP, David. You were one of a kind.