Yashira - "Redact (Flood)" music video screenshot
[Screenshot via YouTube]

Yashira drummer Seth Howard dies in head-on collision

Yashira drummer Seth Howard was killed late Saturday night (Dec. 29) in a head-on traffic collision in Bradford County, Florida, according to Jacksonville’s WJXT News 4 and put together by MetalSucks. The burgeoning post-metal act confirmed the news of the tragic death in a Facebook post Monday morning. The musician was 24 years old.

Crossing the center median, Howard’s car struck an oncoming vehicle while he was driving north on SW State Road 231 at 11:20 p.m., the television station reports. The drummer died of his injuries, while the other car’s occupants—Antonio Flaherty and his passenger, Neymar Flaherty—were taken to UF Health Gainesville medical center with serious injuries.

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Earlier today, Yashira offered a heartfelt tribute to Howard on their Facebook page. “We couldn’t possibly convey how grateful we are to have shared these experiences” with the late drummer, they write of their time performing with the percussionist. “You never really know the true importance of these moments when you’re in them.” See the post below:

“If you saw him,” the group’s surviving members share, “he was probably laughing to himself about something he saw whether it was just cool to see or actually funny. He was ALWAYS laughing and his laugh was contagious, loud as fuck, and it got etched into the mind of anyone who ever met him. If you met him, you loved him. It’s that simple.”

The band add they “don’t know what’s in store” for their future. “We’re trying to just process and heal as much as we can,” Dylan Mikos, Luke Barber and Connor Anderson write. “Maybe we’ll pick this up with some sort of plan, maybe we won’t.”

The Jacksonville-based outfit are often associated with veteran East Coast metalcore act Zao, with whom they shared a split EP release from earlier this year. Yashira also released their debut full-length Shrine in 2018 via Good Fight Music.

Our thoughts are with Howard’s family and friends at this time.