METALHEADS AGAINST RACISM Founder Responds To THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT's 'Open Letter'

Mike Meier of the Metalheads Against Racism web site has issued a statement slamming the Dutch death metal band THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT for allegedly using his web site as a promotional platform for their new album and explaining why he had previously referred to the group in an online posting as "known racists" (see previous BLABBERMOUTH.NET stories: Story#1, Story#2). Meier's statement reads as follows:

"Apparently the Dutch death metal band THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT is trying to use the Metalheads Against Racism website as a promotional platform for their new album.

"In early 2004, I noticed TMDC were using one of the Metalheads Against Racism banners on their website. There was no link to the MAR site, and I had never been informed by the band that they were using the banner. The usual deal on MAR is you put the banner on your site with a link, e-mail me, and then you're added to our members list. This put me in an uncomfortable situation as it was obvious they were just using the banner to reduce some of the damage they had inflicted on themselves during their European tour in 2003, when a number of people heard them run their mouths about how they hate Muslims (see also the guestbook entry from Rvschti on their website).

"However, reacting to this would inevitably entail having to mention them by name and clearly call them racists, which is something that's usually not done on the MAR site. The site doesn't exist for anyone to point fingers at others, and the FAQ clearly states this. I decided to put a short statement on the news page anyway. I explain this at such great length because the band is trying to make it look like I accused them unprovokedly, which simply isn't true.

"Months later, I got an e-mail from one of the band members notifying me that the banner was on their site. I replied letting them know I wouldn't link back. Nothing happened for a long time. Now, almost eight months after the news entry on MAR went up, they're turning this into a huge thing. Why? I'll tell you why. To get their name on Blabbermouth. It's been a while since they've been in the media, and they've got a new album coming out. It's that simple. And of course I was also never informed that any of this was going to be published anywhere.

"So now I have to issue this statement. I'd rather not participate in any of this as it's so obviously nothing but a promotional stunt, but it looks like I have to. They demanded proof, so I will give you the facts. This will be the only statement from me about this, any further participation in this hypocrisy will only serve its real purpose, to promote the band, and I refuse to be a part of that.

"In all honesty, I think their 'open letter' (which I didn't know was an open letter, of course, as the e-mail I got was addressed only to me) that talks about how Holland has become a 'haven for terrorists' because they treat their fugitives too well should really be proof enough, but there's more. They claim none of this was ever evident in their lyrics, so let's take a look at some of the lyrics on 'The Apotheosis'.

"Excerpts from two songs about Vlad the Impaler's slaughter of the Turks:

"From 'Forest of Flesh':

" 'Bow for me, pathetic mortals, your God is dead for ages, Impaled like thousands of your despised people, Eyes gazing glassy and vacant at the bloodred sky, Violently condemned to see your dying God above, 'We are born in the moonlight and killed by the sun We are the bloodsucking creatures of the night', My knights of hell slaughter the legions of Mohammed, The tortured Mudjahedeen scream their agony upon the stake.'

"From 'Cathedral of Corpses':

" 'Allah's war is lost today, Dark Seraphim, Slayer of Jihad, Death in Carpathia, the massacre is done, Face the flesh horizon, destructor, misantrophe, The corpses of the impaled Turks penetrate your hopes."

"Of course, this is an historical event (the reference to vampirism aside),but it's rather telling that this band who claims to only be talking about their contempt for terrorists also likes to write graphic descriptions of Turks being butchered, repeatedly driving home the point that they're Muslim — in not one, but two songs. They could've picked any historical subject, but apparently this tickled their fancy (granted, there's also one song about Attila the Hun and one about ancient Rome on the album). Last I checked, there were no suicide bombers in the 15th century.

"But it gets better, in the song 'Desecration of the Black Stone', which isn't about any historical event, but more like a fantasy about butchering Muslims and desecrating the Ka'ba. There are frequent references here that go back to the previous two tracks about Vlad, the phrase 'Slayer of Jihad' (which is also printed as the title in big bold letters on the bio sheet they sent out with the promo of the album, by the way) pops up again both in the lyrics and the title, 'Cathedral...' being 'Slayers of Jihad Part I' and 'Desecration...' being Part II, and we find whoever the protagonist is supposed to be saying 'In my dreams I go back to the forest of flesh/Where the Ottomans lay slain before the cathedral of death.' Obviously, TMDC's interest in Vlad the Impaler is far from being purely historical, they see him as a great example of how Muslims should be dealt with. My 'favorite' part of that song, however, is this:

" 'The blood of your forefathers shall be shed on mount Arafat, The bastard sons of Abraham shall never rise up again, The laws of the Sharia will not impress upon us, Your holy army, blotted out pounded into sand, The pest of Arabia shall not overwhelm us.'

"The bastard sons of Abraham? The pest of Arabia shall not overwhelm us? How is this a reference to terrorists and not simply Arabs in general? It isn't. Three out of the nine songs on 'The Apotheosis' are about slaughtering Muslims, or rather, 'the pest of Arabia', and when the band is asked about their views, we get responses like this:

" 'Name one Muslim country that's worth living in. There is none.' (translated from Rock Hard magazine, issue 193, page 61 - http://www.rockhard.de)

"Or, more recently:

" 'Everone knows that if there are Muslims in the game there is always a lot of trouble, blood and death.' (by TMDC HQ, in the band's guestbook)

"Or they complain about how well their country treats foreign fugitives.

"These are the facts. You be the judge."