Cave In Rocker Caleb Scofield Dies in Fiery Car Crash

Caleb Scofield, bassist and vocalist for metal bands Cave In, Old Man Gloom and Zozobra, died in a car accident on Wednesday, New England Cable News reports.

The musician was in his truck when it collided with a toll booth in New Hampshire. He was 39.

The crash happened shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday on the Everett Turnpike at the Bedford toll plaza, shutting down the northbound side of the highway for nearly two hours. Aerial footage from NBC10 Boston showed the burned wreckage of a vehicle lying in front of the tollbooth. The tollbooth was also damaged, with a side panel and speed limit sign lying in the ashes.

New Hampshire State police said after hitting the center divider, the Scofield’s truck rolled over at least once, landing between two unmanned E-ZPass lanes. Witnesses claim that that the crash occurred after Scofield attempted to switch lanes at the last minute

Scofield died of smoke and heat inhalation, thermal injuries and multiple blunt impact injuries, an autopsy revealed on Thursday morning.

“We are shocked and devastated by the passing of Caleb Scofield,” Cave In wrote to fans on social media. “He was one of a kind, our best friend and an unfathomable world of inspiration. Thank you for your support, and for understanding how difficult this is for us.”

Scofield joined Cave In in 1998, three years after its inception and after several bassists had filled and left the position. They released their debut album, Until Your Heart Stops, that same year.

The band later signed to RCA and in 2003 released Antenna, but returned to label Hydra Head for their subsequent albums. Scofield remained in the group through all five of Cave In’s studio albums and through the band’s progressing sound, “which he helped shape with his growling vocals and somber bass tones,” Rolling Stone reports. Cave In went on hiatus in 2006, but in 2009 they reunited and released two more albums.

Outside of Cave In, Scofield joined sludge-metal group Old Man Gloom, fronted by Hydra Head and Isis’ Aaron Turner. Their most recent studio album, The Ape of God, was released in 2014 by Profound Lore Records. Scofield also formed and served as the frontman of Zozobra, which featured Cave In bandmates Adam McGrath and J.R. Conners and then-Isis member Aaron Harris.

“I’m not ready to talk about this yet, but I just wanted to say that Caleb will always be in my heart,” Harris wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of the bandmates.

“We’d like to thank everyone for the kind words coming in. We will have countless words to say, and endless stories to tell in the future, but today we are just trying to keep it together,” Old Man Gloom wrote on Facebook.

“Yesterday the world lost a very special person: Caleb Scofield. He was deeply important to us as a friend, tour mate, roommate, collaborator and human,” Isis wrote in a post on Facebook. “He was a great father, a loving husband and his loss will be most deeply felt by his family. His music in his various bands (Cave In, Old Man Gloom, Zozobra), have inspired us and many others, and will continue to do so for years to come. We love you and miss you already Caleb.”

“Saddened by the sudden death of Caleb Scofield. Great guy and was a pleasure working with him on the last two Old Man Gloom albums,” Profound Lore Label founder Chris Bruni wrote on Twitter. “But those Cave In albums, genre defining and d— did they ever hit me hard.”

Scofield is survived by his wife Jen and the couple’s two children, Desmond, 10, and Sydney, 7.

His friends and bandmates have shared links to donate to the Caleb Scofield Memorial Fund, which had raised more than $53,000 by Friday morning, despite its $1,000 goal.