Following their recent Canadian tour with Children of Bodom, death metal giants Black Dahlia Murder have teamed up with Toxic Holocaust, Skeletonwitch and Trap Them for a North American tour. The shows were going well until earlier this week, when they tried to play at Rocketown, a Christian-run venue in Nashville, Tennessee.
While the promoters were familiar with the bands, many parents were not. As the news video below explains, a number of parents were upset with the Satanic imagery in Black Dahlia Murder's "Black Valor" and with Toxic Holocaust's "Hang the Pope." The incident became a national news event, but the promoters at Rocketown refused to cancel the show, saying that their purpose as a venue was to be all-inclusive.
Toxic Holocaust's Joel Grind responded with the following statement:
Unfortunately, the protesters here don't see the tongue-in-cheek aspect of any of this, and are taking everything at face value. What else is new? Whatever you do, don't look into or research anything, and don't, God forbid, think differently. Fuck it, while we're at it, don't think at all.
To clear a few things up, there was a news clip that showed our video, "Nuke the Cross," and then directly cut to lyrics for a song called "Hang the Pope." Even though we did record a cover of that song on our first demo, that song is actually by Nuclear Assault. I think that was done intentionally to make the story have more impact and more shock value.
Secondly, I want to thank the people running Rocketown for allowing this show to go on despite the protests. It just proves that being Christian and being closed minded doesn't have to be synonymous with each other.
Everyone has a right to believe in whatever they want. If it empowers you and doesn't infringe on anyone else, then I'm all for it. Sadly, the herd mentality of organized religion doesn't work like that. It's too much of a threat to the very foundation on which it's based. Let's end organized religion and stop the real evil in this world.
Thanks to Brooklyn Vegan for the tip. The news clip, along with a hilariously unintelligent response from a youth pastor, are viewable below.
While the promoters were familiar with the bands, many parents were not. As the news video below explains, a number of parents were upset with the Satanic imagery in Black Dahlia Murder's "Black Valor" and with Toxic Holocaust's "Hang the Pope." The incident became a national news event, but the promoters at Rocketown refused to cancel the show, saying that their purpose as a venue was to be all-inclusive.
Toxic Holocaust's Joel Grind responded with the following statement:
Unfortunately, the protesters here don't see the tongue-in-cheek aspect of any of this, and are taking everything at face value. What else is new? Whatever you do, don't look into or research anything, and don't, God forbid, think differently. Fuck it, while we're at it, don't think at all.
To clear a few things up, there was a news clip that showed our video, "Nuke the Cross," and then directly cut to lyrics for a song called "Hang the Pope." Even though we did record a cover of that song on our first demo, that song is actually by Nuclear Assault. I think that was done intentionally to make the story have more impact and more shock value.
Secondly, I want to thank the people running Rocketown for allowing this show to go on despite the protests. It just proves that being Christian and being closed minded doesn't have to be synonymous with each other.
Everyone has a right to believe in whatever they want. If it empowers you and doesn't infringe on anyone else, then I'm all for it. Sadly, the herd mentality of organized religion doesn't work like that. It's too much of a threat to the very foundation on which it's based. Let's end organized religion and stop the real evil in this world.
Thanks to Brooklyn Vegan for the tip. The news clip, along with a hilariously unintelligent response from a youth pastor, are viewable below.