Coreobit: Jesse Pintado

Sometime Napalm Death guitarist Jesse Pintado has died.

Born in Mexico in 1969, Pintado had been a member of respected metallers Terrorizer before joining with Napalm Death, a partnership which would last fourteen years (the length of several billion billion Napalm Death tracks.) His departure from the band wasn't warm but not entirely uncontroversial, as he told Rockdetector in one of his final interviews:

"We shared a house together, we toured together, we were always together, but people move on. Along the way there was a little rough bumps, though I don't know. In my situation it got to the point where I needed a little fresh start. I'm still good friends with the guys; there's no animosity there, we're all cool, and they're happy with what I'm doing."

The fracture had come due to Pintado's drinking, but he maintains media coverage had blown that out of proportion:

"The other day I was browsing the Internet, and they stated I was dead! I thought 'Oh shit, I'm dead!' I really don't pay much attention to that."

Speaking last year, Mitch Harris had spoken about the situation from the band's perspective:

"He's out of the band. He didn't actually leave the band. We sent him home. He had some personal issues. We knew that being in the band wasn't the right environment for his current state of mind. So we sent him home to get some help and support from his family and stuff. We waited for two years for him to get his act together. For example, he didn't even play on 'Order of the Leech' [from 2002] or the covers album [2004's 'Leaders Not Followers 2']. He just kinda disappeared on us and he became unreliable. There were a lot of issues which were holding us back and confusing the issue and we really just wanted to play ball and just get up there and do what we do, and it was really, really affecting the band in a negative way and it was affecting him in a negative way as well as us personally. We thought it would be best. We gave him 200 million chances and he came back after two years, and his condition hadn't improved and we decided to let him go because he just became unreliable. We have a really hard year ahead of us with lots and lots of touring. We thought it would be best for the band, for the album and also for the fans to just let him go which is a shame because we've been through so much. We've achieved so much together and he's been our roommate for years and just living together we've managed to remain good friends. He wishes us all the best as well as we wish him all the best. I can't put it in any more detail than that because it's his own personal kind of deal. It's his own business really. It's a shame."

Speaking after Jesse's death, Harris had mellowed a little:

"I am very sad and upset about this news. Jesse was like a brother to me and we were very close for many years. For now, I feel the most sadness and compassion for his family that loved him dearly, and tried with all their heart to help Jesse redirect his future.

"I suppose I feel more anger and frustration than anything, as Jesse was gifted with people who loved and cared about him. Jesse was equally blessed with many companions around the world, and I am sure that many people share the same emptiness at this moment.

"Now all that I can do is to try and remember the great times we shared together, and hope that Jesse has somehow found peace in his own mind and soul.

After ND, Pintado had revived Terrorizer and played with fellow former Deather Shane Embury in Lock Up. The ironically titled Terrorizer album Better Days Ahead had been released shortly before his death.

Pintado died in a Netherlands hospital, apparently from complications arising from a diabetic coma.

As a tribute, Earache records have released a free downloadable memorial album featuring his work. Dan Tobin of Earache explained why:

"Jesse was one of the most genuine people I ever met, extremely friendly and easy-going. Its such a tragic waste. I’ll remember him as part of what is my all time favourite Earache record, Terrorizer’s ‘World Downfall’, which is simply a grindcore masterpiece, and for all his amazing work with Napalm Death that I was honoured to be a small part of. I don’t think Jesse’s passing has been recognised as the huge loss it is – the worlds of extreme music and grindcore/death metal have lost a true pioneer. We owe him a massive debt and for that I’ll always remember the guy fondly."

The album can be downloaded from Metaltracks.

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