Metal Insider’s 11 most shocking moments of 2017

4) Suicide Silence Commits Career Suicide

There’s something to be said for a band making a move in a bold new direction. If a band stagnates, they’re not going to be happy, so they’ll push forward to remain creatively satisfied. Metallica, Mastodon and Deftones, to name a few, changed up their sounds and evolved both critically and commercially, but when it comes to deathcore, the only band that’s been able to pull that off is Bring Me the Horizon. Suicide Silence attempted to do that on their second album with Eddie Hermida on vocals – and failed in a big way.

When “Doris” previewed their fifth, self-titled album, fans didn’t care for the new sound, which owed more to nu-metal than anything else. Eddie Hermida’s death metal vocals were mostly absent from the new album, with clean singing abiding. Some critics gave the band props for taking chances, and the band seemed to have no apologies for their change either. However, their first album resulted in the lowest debut of their career, and the band’s next album will undoubtedly be a “return” to deathcore. Meanwhile, it’s all optics, but offering your fans a chance to be your roadie for $150 as part of a VIP package isn’t probably the best way to hold on to those fans they do have. We’re still on the firmly on the side of the band doing what they want to do, but it’s hard to think of a more ill-received transition in sound.

-BT

3) Adrenaline Mob’s deadly crash:

This past July, roughly one week prior to Chester Bennington’s suicide, a truck slammed into Adrenaline Mob’s RV on highway I-75. The group were on their way to a show at the State Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Florida and instead, a tractor-trailer veered off of the interstate and hit the band’s RV. Nine people were involved in the deadly scene including a few who were in critical condition. The horrific incident killed bassist David Zablidowsky and tour manager Janet “Jain Train” Rains. The surviving band members have since filed a lawsuit against the trucking company.

-ZZ

2) Decapitated facing trial following rape arrest

Traditionally, whenever a band releases a new album, a tour soon follows. Polish death metallers Decapitated haven’t always had the best luck in their career that spans over twenty years. Guitarist, Wacław “Vogg” Kiełtyk, has experienced it all, which includes the death of drummer Witold “Vitek” Kiełtyka back in 2007, accidents, and a reformed lineup. With that said, the group have literally been through blood, sweat, and tears to get to where they were this past summer.

These tech death giants have previously supported bands such as Meshuggah and more since vocalist Rafał “Rasta” Piotrowski joined back in 2009. Moving ahead to 2017, the band released their overall seventh studio album Anticult, which is their third release under the label Nuclear Blast. Although it’s different than their prior efforts, it’s one of our top albums of 2017 and it’s featured on our Editor’s best picks of the year. With such a bright future ahead, they were ready to travel overseas for a North American co-headlining tour with Thy Art Is Murder to introduce the fresh tunes live to their fans.

Unfortunately, things turned drastically ugly when we found out on September 9th about all four members being arrested for suspected kidnapping. We were stunned by the horrific news and it was hard to believe that they would be involved in any form of kidnapping while on tour. However, the story continued to unfold with an even uglier turn of events. All four members were accused of gangraping a woman after their show at the Pin on August 31st. Since then, the band denied these allegations, have officially been charged with rape, were extradited from LA to Spokane County to face these charges, entered not guilty pleas, to having several members in the metal community speak up for them including Behemoth’s Nergal, along with finally being released from prison while awaiting for their trial date on January 16th. They’ve been through hell, and even if they are found innocent, it will be a long ride for them to get their rep back.

We have expressed that it’s best to refrain from any judgement until they are proven guilty or innocent. However, based on the latest piece of evidence including Thy Art is Murder guitarist Andy Marsh’s statement, who witnessed the woman moshing and smashing her arms against the barricade during their set, can only reveal those reported bruises weren’t necessarily from an attack. Additionally, there were previous mentions that the accuser has a documented history of providing false information to the police since 2014. Meanwhile, Decapitated doesn’t have any previously reported incidents. Regardless, it’s been a nightmare and there are many of us who believe in their innocence and hope 2018 will be a much better year for them. This is of course, if they are proven innocent.

-ZZ

1) Rock Loses Two Influential Frontmen

In terms of influence and reach for grunge and nu-metal, you’d be hard-pressed to name bigger bands than Soundgarden and Linkin Park, respectively. Both bands have multi-platinum albums, devoted fan bases, and were musical ambassadors to those not from Seattle (Soundgarden) or perhaps into heavy music at all (Linkin Park). Tragically, the frontmen of both bands had demons that money and fame couldn’t vanquish, and in the space of just over two months this summer, Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington hung themselves.

Just as I remember the massive outpouring of grief when Kurt Cobain took his life or Dimebag Darrell was assassinated onstage, May 18th and July 20th of this year will be indelibly linked as days of tragedy. Chris Cornell’s suicide after a successful Detroit show made no sense, nor did Bennington’s. Both happily married family men, their lyrics certainly referenced darkness, despair, and angst, which was part of what made them mean so much to their fans. But for these icons to take their own lives at the top of their games is inconceivable, regardless of the pain they had inside. Did Cornell’s death influence Bennington’s? That’s a question we’ll never have the answer to, but either way, it was a dark summer for fans of rock music.

– BT

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