Former Bury Your Dead Guitarist Eric Ellis to Release Solo Album Recorded in Prison

In late 2012, former Bury Your Dead guitarist Eric Ellis was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted of very serious gang-related crimes. Twenty years in prison is a looooong time to spend behind bars, but somehow, Ellis has secured the means to create and record new music, which he plans to release this fall.

Ellis was a member of Bury Your Dead during the band's formative years, experiencing notable underground success with the albums 'Cover Your Tracks,' 'Beauty and the Breakdown' and the act's 2008 self-titled album. Ellis left Bury Your Dead in 2008 and began to focus heavily on gang activity.

The gang committed a series of violent felonies and crimes, including an extortion that left one man nearly dead; the choking of a young woman until she passed out; armed bank robberies; armed home invasions; daily cocaine and opiate sales; and theft of thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise from local stores," reads an FBI press release about Ellis' gang. "Arrests were made in November 2010 when an investigation revealed that the gang was preparing to commit additional home invasion robberies. The robberies committed by the Guardians resulted in the loss of almost $2 million to their victims."

Not much has been heard from Ellis since his 2012 arrest, but in a recent press release, Elis details the behind-bars project Gevicht:

This project began to take shape in my time off between Bury Your Dead tours.  it went through many different forms as it evolved over the years...  You (will) have the choice collection from that expanse... (for) those who can appreciate the precision and beauty of technical music, Gevicht is my legacy.

Ellis is currently in the midst of an appeal process, which he began in June.