Eric de Vries (Winterkälte) Passes Away After Battling Brain Cancer
Eric de Vries (Winterkälte) Passes Away After Battling Brain Cancer
The industrial music community mourns the passing of Eric de Vries, co-founder of the drum’n’noise band Winterkälte. De Vries, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor less than two years ago, passed away on October 28, 2024. It was his fellow bandmember Udo Wiessmann who announced the sad news.
De Vries’ influence extended beyond Winterkälte. This year, he released “My Battle“, a solo project reflecting his journey through illness. Tracks like “Marching Without Fear” and “I Kill My Endboss” are a few of the tracks that explained his battle.
Below is the Facebook update the band posted when he was diagnosed with cancer.
He is survived by his wife Edith and son Felix. Our deepest condolences to his family and friends.
About Winterkälte
Winterkälte is a German rhythmic noise band founded in the early 1990s by Eric de Vries and Udo Wiessmann. They became well-known within the industrial and electronic music scenes for their heavy, percussive soundscapes, merging harsh noise elements with rhythmically structured beats to create a genre often referred to as “drum’n’noise” or rhythmic noise. Their work often integrates social and environmental themes, giving a dark, confrontational voice to issues like ecological degradation, industrial impact, and human rights abuses.
The band debuted with their self-titled album “Winterkälte” in 1993, establishing their distinct sound, which combines distorted rhythms, aggressive beats, and minimalistic, machine-driven sound structures. Over the years, they released several albums, including “Drum’n’Noise” (2000) and “Disturbance” (2006), both hailed as groundbreaking in the rhythmic noise genre.
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