Elijah Nelson, bassist for Seattle-based death metal band, Black Breath, passed away last Saturday (December 28) at 40 years of age. No cause of death has been revealed at this time.

Black Breath drummer Jamie Byrum pays tribute to his late bandmate with the following:

"As some of you may already know, our brother and bassist Elijah Skye Nelson passed away on Saturday. The remaining members of Black Breath would like to offer our deepest condolences to Elijah’s family and to say thank you for raising the sweetest and most original person any of us have had the pleasure of knowing. His kindness, generosity, and beauty cannot be overstated. Elijah treated all humans from every walk of life with sincerity and generosity; lacking any prejudice or judgement. I think that’s something we can all take away from his legacy: be kind to each other.

"We would also to take this time to thank everyone of you for the love and support over the years and the blood, sweat and tears at the gigs. Y’all are the reason we do this and without each other we are nothing.

"Black Breath have no plans for live actions or recordings but if that changes, you’ll hear about it here. RIP ELF."

Black Breath released their third album, Slaves Beyond Death, in late 2015 via Southern Lord.

Tracklisting:

“Pleasure, Pain, Disease”
“Slaves Beyond Death”
“Reaping Flesh”
“Seed Of Cain”
“Arc Of Violence”
“A Place Of Insane Brutality”
“Burning Hate”
“Chains Of The Afterlife”

"Reaping Flesh":

“Slaves Beyond Death”: