Lord Mantis drummer Bill Bumgardner dies

Bill Bumgardner

Lord Mantis and Burning Churches drummer Bill Bumgardner has died aged 35.

The sticksman was the only original member remaining in Lord Mantis at the time of his death. He also played in Indian from 2006 until their 2015 breakup. His death was ruled a suicide by Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Former Lord Mantis guitarist and current Abigail Williams frontman Ken Sorceron confirms the news, saying: “Coming to terms with some sad news tonight. My ex bandmate, Bill Bumgardner, of whom I played with in Lord Mantis took his life today.

“Our musical partnership didn’t end in the most pleasant way and I never got around to reaching out to bury the hatchet, which is sad.

“My sincere condolences to his family, friends and those who made music with him. I had some great times with the dude and those are the ones I’ll choose to remember.”

Lord Mantis paid tribute to to Bumgardner. They say: “All of us were incredibly fortunate to call him our friend and bandmate, and we will miss his humor and his unwavering commitment to his music.”

A post on Indian’s Facebook page also honoured the late drummer.

They add: “He was true to his craft and an even truer friend. Words cannot describe the impact he had on our lives and how deeply he will be missed. Long may you run kid, we love you.”

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Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.