Sacred Blade’s Jeff Ulmer Dead: Singer/Guitarist Dies After a Stroke

Jeff Ulmer, the vocalist and guitarist for Sacred Blade, an early '80s band from Vancouver, died on March 22. He suffered a stroke and passed away.

The musician's sister Jennifer posted a note on Facebook, celebrating her late brother's life and legacy. She wrote: "You'll be missed terribly, brother Jeff. We'll keep your memory alive forever in our hearts, in those quiet moments. With friends it will be with stories, laughter and tears, and with music, of course."

The cult band, beloved by those who were in-the-know, released Of the Sun + Moon in 1986, which is said to be a speed metal record with a sci-fi lyrical bend. Bootleg copies of the demos for the follow up were passed around in underground circles, but a proper sophomore effort was never recorded or released.

Ulmer discussed the never-materialized follow up as recently as 2006, saying this: "I don't believe that releasing inferior product is good for anything other than ripping the fans off, which is the last thing I want to do. Sure, having new product would keep the public awareness alive, but I would still be faced with an album I could not fully stand behind.

"I struggled for over a decade to get the follow-up to Of The Sun + Moon recorded, but for one reason or another, there were always obstacles that kept it from completion, from financing to having our tapes disintegrate during production. I know it is frustrating to the fans to have to wait so long for new material. It is equally frustrating for me to have to contend with the hurdles that are faced when you are independently producing music that isn't conforming to the current trends in the market, while insisting on production quality that rivals or surpasses that of artists with multi-billion dollar corporations behind them."

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