Shaun Glass
Remembering Shaun Glass
L
6 illinoisentertainer. com august 2026
ocal journeyman musician, Shaun Glass( Terminal Death, Sindrome, Broken Hope, SOIL, Dirge Within, The Bloodline, Repentance), was a heavy metal encyclopedia of knowledge, and his perseverance within the local metal scene throughout four-plus decades will sorely be missed after his recent passing. On May 31, 2026, Glass suffered a stroke brought on by undiagnosed high blood pressure. He spent nearly a month in the hospital on life support before passing away on July 1 at the age of 57. The numerous bands Glass formed and played in helped shape and develop the Chicago metal scene significantly. Glass’ s knack for songwriting and his craftsmanship for creating memorable riffs were second to none. I once described him in a review of Repentance’ s The Process of Human Demise album in a 2023 IE issue that the way Glass constructs his riffs is like a“ mad scientist” at work.( He got a chuckle out of that one). Glass’ s first band, Terminal Death, formed in 1984 and released two inspirational demos, which led to the eventual formation of his second professional band, Sindrome, which released one of the most influential demos of the mid-’ 80s. Into the Halls of Extermination went on to be a massive game changer in the underground scene and became a measurement of what other metal bands of similar sound could aspire to be. In 1994, Glass joined death metal band Broken Hope as bassist and recorded two influential albums – 1995’ s Repulsive Conception and 1997’ s Loathing – before leaving in 1998 and rejoining in 2012 for two further years. Former Broken Hope band member and longtime friend Jeremy Wagner pays his respects.“ Shaun Glass was so loved and so appreciated, and that makes me smile,” he told me through email.“ I was so fortunate to call Shaun my brother, bandmate, and my longtime friend. More than that, Shaun leaves behind a wonderful wife, Michelle, and his brilliant and amazing son, Maddux, and I keep them in my thoughts and heart during this difficult time.” Glass helped form SOIL in 1997 and rode a decent wave of mainstream success with its singles“ Halo” and“ Unreal” from the band’ s 2001 album Scars.
Since 2018, Glass has been focused on his latest band, Repentance, which almost immediately gained traction in the local scene with its brand of classic American thrash / Europeanstyled melodic death metal with modern extreme metal elements. Their live debut was opening for Trivium in May, 2018 at The Forge in Joliet. Repentance’ s latest album, Retaliate, was originally slated for release on July 17 of this year. However, the band’ s record label, Nobel Demon, has pushed the release back to an undetermined date.“ Shaun was our leader, our bandmate, and most of all our friend,” Repentance drummer Brandon White says through Facebook Messenger.“ We were truly honored to have had him in our lives and call him our brother. We miss him terribly. Retaliate is the culmination and zenith of everything Shaun Glass was known for: crushing riffs, groove, and stellar songwriting.”
A GoFundMe donation for A Life in Metal, A Future for his Son: Shaun Glass fund is available to donate to, with almost $ 49K of 180K raised so far. After medical expenses are paid, every donation goes to his son Maddux in a trust fund.
– Kelley Simms