In 1997, Geffen Records released Get Some, the debut album by Santa Barbara’s Snot. The band, a mixture of punk and nu-metal, were fronted by charismatic frontman Lynn Strait. Appearing on the Ozzfest 1998 tour helped increase their exposure both with metal fans and the musicians they toured with. The band started work on their second album, but on December 11, 1998, Strait’s car got hit by a truck, instantly killing him and his boxer, Dobbs, who adorned the cover of Get Some. He was 30.
The band broke up immediately following his death, but his passing resonated with the metal community. Strait hadn’t recorded vocals for the band’s sophomore album, but much of the music had already been recorded. It was decided that his friends in the industry would complete the album. Released in 2000, Strait Up featured vocals from a who’s who of metal, with Max Cavalera, Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Corey Taylor, Fred Durst, System of a Down’s Serj Tankian and Coal Chamber/Devildriver’s Dez Fafara, among others. One of the few songs not written by Snot, three fourths of Sevendust recorded the acoustic “Angel’s Son,” the album’s most popular song and a touching tribute to Strait. The video for the song is a fitting tribute to Strait, with the band playing around a campfire on a beach in a sort of vigil, steadily growing in attendance as members of Korn, Incubus, System of a Down and more join. Sevendust later released a full band version of the song the following year.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 15 years since Strait passed, but due to Strait Up and the fans that Snot’s music resonated with, his legacy lives on.
