Corrosion of Conformity drummer Reed Mullin has died at the age of 53, his bandmates confirmed via social media.

No cause of death was revealed, but he’d missed a number of shows in recent years as a result of various health issues.

“It’s with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to a friend, a brother and pioneer,” the band said. “Reed you are loved and always will be. Let’s all take a moment…” Felix Griffin of D.R.I. wrote separately: “I just heard one of my oldest friend in the music scene has passed. I am devastated what a amazing and sweet individual he was.”

Repulsion’s Scott Carlson said he was “deeply saddened” about the loss of “monster talent” Mullin, adding: “One of Repulsion’s earliest shows was supporting C.O.C. in Flint, MI. … Reed never forgot about the people of Flint. Just a couple of years ago he texted me in LA to ask if any old school scenesters would come to the upcoming C.O.C. show at Flint’s Machine Shop. What a sweetheart.”

Mullin co-founded the band in 1982 along with Mike Dean and Woody Weatherman, and appeared on their first six albums, including 1994’s Deliverance. He left in 2001 as a result of a back injury, but returned in 2010. Their 2018 release, No Cross No Crown, was the first to feature the classic lineup of Pepper Keenan, Mullin, Dean and Weatherman since 2000’s America’s Volume Dealer. Mullin was also a member of Teenage Time Killers, a supergroup that featured Dave Grohl, who released the album Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 in 2015.

Asked in 2018 about the highlights of his touring career, Mullin told EonMusic: “The first tour that we did in the U.K and Europe, I think it was ’89 or something like that, and it was us and D.R.I., and I can remember almost every freaking show from that, or when we toured with D.R.I. in the States, because we were little punk rock kids, just getting out in the van … it was always an adventure, just to get gas!” He added: “But then we went on the Metallica tour, and I remember some of the shows, and it was so comfortable and plush and lush… and it’s interesting, because I can remember almost every D.R.I. show from 30 years ago, but not the Metallica dates.”

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He reported that the classic lineup had returned to action like “ducks to water,” saying: “We did [a] nostalgia tour kind of to test the waters, every barometer I guess, to see not only if the fans would take to it, but also how we’d get along and stuff like that… But man, it was a blast, and it’s still fun after how long?”

Later that year he said that he’d miss the band’s European tour as a result of knee replacement surgery. He described replacement John Green as “a mf baadaass” and encouraged fans to attend the shows without him. Asked separately about Mullin’s absence, Dean said the original drummer had “to take care of himself and get his shit together… and if that happens, the door’s open for him.”