Guitarist Ralph Santolla in a Coma

Former DEATH, ICED EARTH, DEICIDE and OBITUARY guitarist Ralph Santolla is in a coma at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, Florida after suffering a heart attack Tuesday night.

Ralph's mother, Sue Santolla-Rocha, revealed his condition in a Facebook post earlier today. She wrote: "Friends and family, it is out there now, so let me tell you what I know.

"Ralph thought he had a spider bite on Saturday. Went to the hospital. It was not a spider bite; it was a blood clot. Tuesday night he fell and he had a heart attack. John Rocha gave him CPR until EMT arrived. His heart had stopped but they got him back.

"His visuals are stable but he is in a coma. He is on a ventilator, but he is breathing around it. He could breathe on his own, but they do not want to add additional strain to his body. He is in a coma. That is the main concern at this moment. They can fix everything else.

"We are having as many of his friends as he can come and talk to him and play music. There has been a minimal movement, but some. It is ICU, but he is in a private room and they are letting anyone in and they can stay as long as they want. So please pray as he has people all over the world praying and if you can come and spend time with him.

"Please… he needs to get back from the place that he is in. I love you all... Let's just work on getting him out of the coma if we can."

Although Santolla never recorded with DEATH, he toured with the legendary death metal act in 1993 and appeared in the group's "The Philosopher" video.

Santolla, who is believed to be 51 years old, played on and off with DEICIDE between 2005 and 2011 and appeared on three of the band's albums: "The Stench Of Redemption" (2006), "Till Death Do Us Part" (2008) and "To Hell With God" (2011).

Ralph joined OBITUARY in 2007 as the replacement for Allen West. He recorded with the band on the "Xecutioner's Return" (2007) and "Darkest Day" (2009) albums as well as the "Left To Die" EP (2008).

Yikes. That ain't good. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Here's to a full recovery.

I hope he pulls through.

Troublezone wrote:

I hope he pulls through.

Same here.

Florida will get you one way or another.

I hope he recovers.

I heard that Schmier from Destruction said that he heard there is no brain activity from him. No idea if that's 100% true or not, but if it is, that's quite grim.

This is what he was working on before he got sick. Cool stuff, I hope he gets to finish it.

He was also in a band a few years ago called Devil's Highway with Kyle Thomas from Exhorder. Unfortunately, the band never got off the ground.





DEVIL'S HIGHWAY, the new "supergroup" featuring vocalist Kyle Thomas (TROUBLE, EXHORDER), Ralph Santolla (DEICIDE, OBITUARY, DEATH), Steve DiGiorgio (TESTAMENT, SADUS), guitarist Matt Brunson (CROWBAR, KINGDOM OF SORROW) and Tony Laureano (DIMMU BORGIR, NILE), has begun recording its debut album at Vulture Lounge in Tampa, Florida and DDT Studios in New Orleans, Louisiana. Santolla is handling all production duties on the CD, which is expected to be completed in December for an early 2015 release.

DEVIL'S HIGHWAY's sound is described in a press release as "a mixture of classic metal and hard rock with nods to BLACK SABBATH, ALICE IN CHAINS, vintage SCORPIONS and early OZZY OSBOURNE.

Thomas had the following to say about the formation of DEVIL'S HIGHWAY: "I met Ralph on tour when ALABAMA THUNDERPUSSY was doing main support for OBITUARY. We hit it off perfectly from day one and have been close friends ever since. On that tour, he played me some songs he was writing and asked if I'd be interested in working on it with him. I immediately said yes, because I thought it was fantastic.

"After going to Japan with Ralph, Tony and Steve [as the DEATH METAL ALLSTARS], we decided it was so much fun that we should make a real band.

Story continues after advertisement
"Although we've been working on the songs bit by bit for quite some time, it will be well worth it when it's done. Some of my closest friends say this could be the best material I've ever been involved with. I'm honored to be in the mix."

Added Santolla: "This debut has certainly been a long time coming. Steve and I have been planning to do a record together for ages. I couldn't get psyched unless there was a world-class singer involved and then I met [Kyle], so that was that. We all have an awesome musical and personal chemistry, and the songs, arrangements and playing are very strong. I think a lot of people are really gonna love this. Plus, the artwork is bitchin'."

DEVIL'S HIGHWAY is:

* Kyle Thomas (EXHORDER, ALABAMA THUNDERPUSSY) - Vocals
* Ralph Santolla (OBITUARY, ICED EARTH, DEICIDE, DEATH) - Guitar
* Matt Brunson (CROWBAR, KINGDOM OF SORROW) - Guitar
* Tony Laureano (DIMMU BORGIR, 1349, NILE, ACHERON) - Drums
* Steve DiGiorgio (TESTAMENT, SADUS, ICED EARTH, DEATH) – Bass

Devil's Highway's album is in mid-production. Ralph was recording and fixing guitars when this happened.

Dorian (Ralph's son) has indicated that Ralph will be taken off of life support tomorrow.

This is making me very sad.

Quote :

Dorian (Ralph's son) has indicated that Ralph will be taken off of life support tomorrow.

Awww man, that sucks.

Even more terrible news.

I was afraid this was going to happen. It's rare that they come back from something like that. Very sad news.

Oh, that's terrible.

He was a really amazing guitarist.

EDIT: Apparently he just passed away.

Temple of Blood wrote:

Oh, that's terrible.

He was a really amazing guitarist.  

EDIT:  Apparently he just passed away.  

AS of 45 minutes ago (2:15 EST) he was still living. The plan is still to remove life support tomorrow.

Sad news..

I only no of his work with Millenium, Excellent with both Jorn & Plant on vocals.

Yeah it looks as though Revolver were running a story that he had passed a couple of hours ago but if you click the link to the story it says that he is still in a coma but about to be taken off life support.

I don't know the guys work but he seemed talented and was also about to study for a degree.

I was hoping he would pull through... very sad news!

R.I.P. Ralph Santolla.

Boris2008 wrote:

Yeah it looks as though Revolver were running a story that he had passed a couple of hours ago but if you click the link to the story it says that he is still in a coma but about to be taken off life support.

I don't know the guys work but he seemed talented and was also about to study for a degree.

He was going to be taking music composition classes. He was a true student of music. By my estimation, he was a musical genius. I swear, I think he could SEE music.

This is from the album he did w/ Jorn

Sad news!

2 hours ago, Ralph's mom posted that he has now left us. RIP buddy.

RIP sir.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

2 hours ago, Ralph's mom posted that he has now left us. RIP buddy.

Sorry, bud. I know you have a more personal connection with him. =(