Jason Rainey, longtime guitarist for Phoenix thrash greats Sacred Reich, has died. Blabbermouth reports that Rainey died yesterday of an apparent heart attack. He was 53.

Sacred Reich formed in Phoenix in 1985, when the members of the band were teenagers. The band’s sound was a hard, theatrical take on ’80s speed metal that sometimes crossed into hardcore, as when they covered Fear’s “Let’s Have A War.” They released their debut album Ignorance on Metal Blade in 1987, and they went on to release four LPs — including one, 1993’s Independence, on the major label Hollywood Records. They broke up in 2000.

Sacred Reich reunited for occasional touring in 2007. But by the time the band released their reunion album, 2019’s Awakening, Rainey and Sacred Reich had parted was contentiously.

Below, watch a few Sacred Reich videos and check out the statement from the band.