Early Graves lead singer killed, two injured in tour van crash

The lead singer for the punk/death metal band Early Graves was killed and two others were injured Monday when their tour van rolled over on Interstate 5 near Central Point, Oregon.

Makh Daniels, 28, of Pacifica, was fatally injured after being ejected from the rear cargo area of a van carrying two metal bands - Early Graves and The Funeral Pyre. According to Lt. Gregg Hastings of the Oregon State Police, the vehicle lost control after the driver fell asleep. Drugs or alcohol do not appear to be a factor in the accident.

The driver was identified as Justin Garcia, 24, of Fresno, a guitarist for The Funeral Pyre. Garcia and Early Graves guitarist Tyler Jensen, 21, of Livermore, were taken to Rogue Valley Medical Center for non-life threatening injuries. Six other men escaped serious injury in the crash. Daniels and the others injured were not wearing seat belts, Hastings said.

According to their Facebook profile, Early Graves is a "collection of 4 flawed, compulsive, manic-depressive A-holes whose only way to cope is to play punk the way it was meant to be played: bloody as hell, swingin' for the fences with iron fists lookin for that 12th round knockout." The band had recently released its second album, Goner.

In an earlier interview, Daniels said he had been through some dark times and writing the lyrics on the band's latest album, with themes of loneliness and depression, had been “an exorcism of sorts.”

“Doing this record has been absolutely necessary for all of us in the band,” Daniels said. “And personally, it’s the proudest I’ve ever been of anything I’ve ever done.”

The Funeral Pyre is a blackened death metal band from La Habra, California. On its website, The Funeral Pyre describes itself as "a metal band with no ambition or hope. We have given up on people and life."

The two bands were on the last leg of a national concert tour. The groups had just played in Salem, Oregon and were scheduled to play in Reno, Nevada on Monday night. The 2003 Chevrolet extended van was pulling a utility trailer and heading southbound on I-5 when the crash occurred.

Other passengers in the van included Early Graves members Matthew J. O'Brien, 28, of San Francisco; Daniel P. Sheddon, 27, of San Francisco; Christopher M. Brock, 23, of San Ramon, Calif.; and The Funeral Pyre members Adam T. Campbell, 27, of Brae, Calif.; and Alex Hernandez, 27.