Death and Cynic drummer Sean Reinert reported dead at 48

Former Cynic and Death drummer Sean Reinert has reportedly died, aged 48. The rock music website Blabbermouth is reporting that Reinert was found unresponsive at his Californian home.

Reinert formed prog metal pioneers Cynic with guitarist Paul Masvidal back in 1987. The band always stood out from the then burgeoning death metal scene and released their groundbreaking debut Focus in 1993. They disbanded in 1994 but returned to activity with 2008's Traced In Air.

Reinert lefty the band in 2015 and announced they'd split due to artistic and personal differences but the same day Masvidal announced the band would continue. Reinert was replaced by Matt Lynch.

The drummer also appeared on Death's 1991 album Human, a seminal album in the development of the technical death metal genre. Reinert later worked with the US prog rock band Perfect Beings, although they announced they'd split up earlier this year.

Reinert's former band mate Paul Masvidal earlier posted a plain black image on his Twitter and Instagram page as well as the Cynic Facebook page. There has been no further comment from the band as yet.

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.