Pig Destroyer Continues to Reach Out to Family of Relapse Records' Pat Egan with Previously Unreleased EP

True underground metalheads are loyal to the end. And when the end came too soon for Relapse Records’ longtime director of retail sales, Pat Egan—who died February 18th from complications due to pneumonia—the community rallied to pay tribute and help support his family. Bands he worked with over the years, including Mastodon, The Dillinger Escape Plan, High on Fire, Baroness and Kingdom of Sorrow, Exhumed, and Pig Destroyer have contributed tracks to a 20-song benefit compilation Patlapse, available on Bandcamp for a minimum donation of five dollars.

But that wasn’t enough for experimental powerhouse Pig Destroyer, who also donated a 25-minute song EP, Mass and Volume, available for a donation of $10 or more. As with the label compilation, the money will go towards a college fund for Egan’s daughter, Katie.

“Pat Egan was a friend and a keystone member of the Relapse family for many of the years we have been involved with it,” said Pig Destroyer in a statement. “He devoted his life to supporting underground music and he immeasurably helped develop the bands he worked with.”

Mass and Volume features two trudging doom metal songs recorded in 2007 during the Phantom Limb sessions but never released. The title track is nearly 20 minutes long and “Red Tar” is more than six minutes.

“With [the song] being released on its own and [drummer] Brian [Harvey] no longer being in the band, our intentions of releasing Mass & Volume basically evaporated,” the band said. “However, looking back now, Mass & Volume serves as a great epilogue to that particular era.”

In early 2013, Egan became ill and entered the hospital with severe pneumonia. Friends said he seemed to be getting better in early February, when he was texting and posting on social media. Then, his condition worsened and his health declined rapidly. On February 22, services were held for Egan at New York's Lindenhurst Funeral home. A public memorial took place today, March 5th at Idle Hands Bar in New York City.

"Pat was one of the most passionate metalheads we have ever had the pleasure to work with,” Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor said. “It was that same passion that drove him to fight as hard as he could for the bands he loved and worked with. He definitely played a huge role in the success of Mastodon and for that we are eternally grateful.”

“For someone who worked in this often thankless music business for as long as he did, Pat always loved what he did and always expressed that to everyone around him,” said The Dillinger Escape Plan frontman Ben Weinman. “Pat was someone who tied people together and we will all miss him immensely."

Jon Wiederhorn is the co-author of the book “Louder Than Hell: the Definitive Oral History of Metal,” which comes out May 14 on !t Books/Harper Collins. Follow him on Twitter - @louderthanhell

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