Celtic Frost co-founder and bassist Martin Eric Ain has died at the age of 50 after falling ill in Switzerland over the weekend.
The website 20 Minuten reports that he collapsed while switching between trams on Saturday.
Ain, born Martin Stricker in the US, hooked up with Thomas Gabriel Fischer, aka Tom G. Warrior, in the band Hellhammer in the early 80s. Following their split, the pair re-emerged as Celtic Frost and released their first album Morbid Tales in 1984.
Ain contributed to 1985’s To Mega Therion, 1987's Into the Pandemonium, 1990’s Vanity/Nemesis before Celtic Frost disbanded in 1993. He also played on their comeback album Monotheist in 2006.
Fischer has issued a statement on his blog, quoting the pair’s 1984 track Visions Of Mortality: “The sands of time will never run, for an immortal dead man.”
He adds: “I am deeply affected by Martin Eric Ain's passing. Our relationship was very complex and definitely not free of conflicts, but Martin's life and mine were very closely intertwined since we first met in 1982. My life will be painfully incomplete without his existence.”
Fischer also posted a picture of him and Ain with original Celtic Frost drummer Reed St. Mark, taken in 2006.