THE BEAST

Mike Portnoy has paid tribute to Sean Reinert , saying that "he was an outstanding drummer and a really nice guy."

Reinert was found unresponsive at his San Bernardino, California home on Friday night (January 24). According to TMZ , he was transported to a hospital, but after life-saving measures proved ineffective, he was pronounced dead upon arriving. No foul play is suspected at this time. However, an official cause of death is pending an autopsy, which hasn't been conducted yet.

On Saturday, Portnoy tweeted: "Absolutely shocked to hear of the passing of Sean Reinert . I watched him play every single night when CYNIC supported [ DREAM THEATER ] in 2009 and was always in complete awe. He was an outstanding drummer and a really nice guy. Way too young to leave us...RIP my friend"

Reinert was a founding member of the pioneering progressive metal band CYNIC , along with guitarist/vocalist Paul Masvidal , and he remained in the group until September 2015.

In 1991, Reinert and Masvidal joined the legendary Florida band DEATH to record the "Human" album. After touring with DEATH , they returned to CYNIC .

Reinert played his last shows with CYNIC in September 2015 in Japan.

After his exit from CYNIC , Sean was involved with the Los Angeles progressive rock group PERFECT BEINGS .

Absolutely shocked to hear of the passing of Sean Reinert. I watched him play every single night when Cynic supported DT in 2009 and was always in complete awe. He was an outstanding drummer and a really nice guy. Way too young to leave us...RIP my friend 😞 pic.twitter.com/kLmYorhcHo

— Mike Portnoy 🤘 (@MikePortnoy) January 25, 2020

Via Blabbermouth