Cradle to Grave Singer/Bassist Rushed to Hospital With H1N1 Virus

Cradle to Grave's brand new vocalist/bassist Donovan 'Demon' Mason was rushed to Vancouver's UBC Hospital last week after he was unresponsive when his family tried to rouse him awake. Mason is blind -- yes, he plays an instrument even though he is blind -- and suffers from advanced diabetes, which often affects the immune system and can cause it to shut down periodically.

Mason's family and fellow bandmates figured he was suffering from a particularly nasty bout with the flu, but he was diagnosed with severe H1N1. His attending physicians were able to save Mason's life and revealed he had been near death.

Thankfully, the family acted fast, or Mason could have died from his illness. The musician is currently recovering at home and the Canadian swamp thrash band has halted the recording process for their third album, the follow-up to 2008's 'Texas Medicine,' while Mason recovers.

Of the new music, guitarist/vocalist Denis Barthe said, 'Our goal with this album is to release material as relevant as Venom's 'Black Metal' or Voivod's 'War and Pain' albums." He also said the pre-production sessions "gave us the opportunity to make our material a little bit more in line with what Venom did with 'Welcome to Hell' and 'Black Metal.' We can't believe how this band sounds now and we are anxious to show it to the world."