Oh man, this is one of those stories that starts with a head shake and ends with your jaw on the floor. Let’s talk about what happened in South San Francisco on Monday, because if you’re even remotely tapped into the death metal scene—or heck, just Bay Area lore—you probably know the name “Possessed”.
The genre-defining band just lost one of its earliest guitarists, Brian Montana, in a way no one saw coming: a standoff with police that turned deadly over a… neighbor dispute about “tree clippings”. Yeah. That’s how this story starts.
So here’s the rundown. Brian Montana, 60 years old and one of the original members of “Possessed”, was reportedly furious—like, weapons-grade furious—over some yard debris. According to South San Francisco police, he not only confronted his neighbor but also pulled out a firearm.
When police arrived on the 300 block of Arroyo Drive around 6 p.m., what started as a neighborhood dispute exploded into a 30-minute firefight involving “three different weapons”.
We’re talking handgun, shotgun, rifle—the works. Authorities say Montana fired multiple times at officers, who were using patrol cars for cover before returning fire.
Now, let’s pause here. You’ve got a legacy musician, part of the foundational sound of a genre known for pushing sonic and lyrical boundaries, suddenly found in a real-life shootout with cops on a suburban street. It’s surreal. This isn’t some gritty Netflix doc. This is what actually happened.
Montana was ultimately struck and died on the scene. One neighbor was injured—thankfully expected to recover—and no officers were harmed. The bodycam footage and more details are reportedly on the way, and the San Mateo County DA’s office is already on the case.
This tragic incident adds a grim chapter to “Possessed’s” history. Remember, lead singer Jeff Becerra was also shot back in 1989 during a robbery, which left him paralyzed from the waist down. That’s now “two” members of this legendary band who’ve suffered life-altering or fatal gunshot wounds—one in a random act of violence, the other in a violent outburst rooted in neighborhood tension.
And here’s the kicker: “Possessed” isn’t some dusty name on a vinyl sleeve. They’ve got nearly 200,000 Instagram followers and were actively touring, pushing their album “Revelations of Oblivion”. The band posted a quiet tribute to Montana—a simple “Rest In Peace” over his photo on Instagram. No long eulogy. Just a stark goodbye.
It’s hard not to see the heavy, almost operatic irony here. A man who helped shape one of metal’s most intense subgenres went out in an eruption of gunfire, echoing the same chaos and violence that often defines the genre’s themes. Except this time, it was all too real.
