A few weeks ago, we reported on the sad news regarding Nunslaughter/Schnautzer drummer, Jim ‘Sadist’ Konya suffering a stroke that left him in the hospital and those close to him worried for his well-being. A few days after the incident, Konya seemed to be stable and slowly recovering with slow speech and docile movements, giving signs of a full recuperation but, sadly, a second stroke hit him while he was recovering. The latter was more severe and the doctors saw no sign of recovery and was scheduled to be taken off his life support and, hopefully, transferred to his parents care. Today, Jim Konya was not able to sustain the transfer and has passed away.
5 years ago, the metal community was hit with the news of Ronnie James Dio’s passing and the mourning was palpable among every fan of heavy metal and is still remembered up to this day by many who just knew the man as Dio and listened to his voice during their childhood and teenage years. The news of Konya’s death feels the same way for those who knew him personally, shared a few words with him or never got to meet him and that only shows what kind of man he was for the metal scene.
In a scene filled with all sorts of characters, Jim Konya is definitely one of the outstanding personalities in the underground scene and the proof of that is not just the overwhelming support his GoFundMe campaign received, but the words of concern and hope many expressed as soon as they found out about the tragedy. A true metal warrior devoted to his craft, Konya touched the heart of many musicians throughout his 20+ years of music career in many different ways, including sharing some laughs, giving out stickers and shirts or always showing support to the smaller bands who happened to share stage with him. His charisma was irrefutable for anyone who ever came across it and his nutty energy was only paralleled by his sense of humor many got to know and love.
Musically speaking, he was a true beast behind the kit who knew how to deliver the most hellish blast beats with the same energy of a 17 year old kid and the maturity of an ancestral demonic entity. Nunslaughter, Schnauzer, The Spawn of Satan and many other bands were some of his many endeavors feeding his need to make the metal scene better and those close to him know how that hunger was never satisfied.
Personally, I can’t say much more about Jim Konya, as I never had the pleasure to meet him but it requires a legend to make an impact strong enough to inspire a writing like this. Those of you fortunate enough to ever know him in person, be proud of your ability to say you knew one of the most influential musicians in the underground scene; those of you who ever crossed a few words with him, be proud of ever being in the presence of a man who made an impact in your life without even trying; those of us who never had the opportunity to meet the man in real life, rest assured that the love this man had was truly deserved and all we can do is pay respect to someone who merits every compliment you will read from today to many years to come.
Farewell, Jim Konya.
