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Cave In Bassist Caleb Scofield Dead at 39

Caleb Scofield, a stalwart of New England’s experimental heavy music scene, died near Bedford, New Hampshire in a fiery car wreck Wednesday, March 28. He was 39. He’s survived by his wife, Jen, and two children, 7 and 10 years old.

Scofield played bass for the Boston-based Cave In, beginning in 1998. That year, the band released their influential metal-hardcore hybrid debut Until Your Heart Stops, on Hydra Head. They later signed to RCA for Antenna, with a more rock-inflected sound, but continued evolving through their subsequent albums.

Scofield joined members of Converge and Isis for the post-metal sludge supergroup Old Man Gloom. He also fronted the outré metal act Zozobra, which released two albums.

The New Hampshire Union Leader reported yesterday that the circumstances of the car wreck were so horrific that police could not initially identify Scofield’s gender. “It appears the subject was trying to change lanes right before they entered the toll plaza and didn’t make the lane quite clear and crashed into the barrier,” a state police official told the publication.

A memorial fund to aid Scofield’s family established yesterday currently stands at $55,000 of a stated $1,000 goal. Tributes from associated acts and friends poured in over Twitter.