Guitarist/producer Erik Rutan has headed home from Cannibal Corpse‘s current European/UK touring to tend to his home. A post shared by the veteran Floridian death metallers yesterday (September 28th) revealed that Rutan‘s house suffered “catastrophic damage” from Hurricane Helene. Rutan also operates his Mana Recording Studio out of the St. Petersburg, FL area.
The band’s statement reads as follows:
“Due to catastrophic damage to his home from Hurricane Helene, Erik Rutan has left the tour to be present with his family at this time.
Our hearts go out to Erik and his Wife as they deal with this situation.”
Vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher said in a separate post:
“My heart hurts so much for @erikrutanofficial and his wife but let me tell you this….he is the toughest guy I know and he will come out of this stronger than ever. This man has done so much for me personally, for my musical career and for that I will forever be grateful. I’ve had so many laugh till it hurts moments in the studio with him that it didn’t even feel like we were working on records.
When I was at my lowest point and wanted to give up, on one knee in the recording booth nearly in tears, he came from behind the console, put his hand on my shoulder and reminded me of who I am and urged me back on my feet and never give up. He never lost confidence in me and we finished the record with a lot of laughs and I never doubted myself again.
He taught me how to conduct myself in a lot of areas I was deficient in and is no doubt the biggest reason I am the vocalist people say I am. I did not intend for this to be a long read, I was only going to repost what our CC insta posted but I really felt the need to share a story and a few words about what Erik means to me personally. We will continue the tour without him onstage but he will be there in our hearts and I urge everyone reading this to please send positive energy his way.”
