Dave Mustaine Once Kept King Diamond From Performing with Volbeat Because of Jesus Feelings
When I was in college, one of my best friends from back home contacted me with news he was worried would infuriate me: despite being a diehard metalhead, he’d found Christ. Being and old friend, I had to take the piss, and told him I’d be happy to take all of his Deicide records off his hands. He responded with, “Just because I’m a Christian doesn’t mean I can’t still rock out to that stuff.”
The thing is, it’s possible to believe in Christ, and be a Christian, and still aesthetically enjoy music about Satan, so long as you understand that music isn’t going to brainwash America’s children and that God isn’t the type of being to send you to Hell for cranking some Slayer. Unless, of course, you’re a myopic and power-hungry douche who needs everything to be his way.
But that’s Dave Mustaine for you! According to a new interview with Hank Sherman, longtime guitarist for seminal Satanic metallers Mercyful Fate, Mustaine blocked Fate frontman King Diamond from making a guest appearance with Volbeat at a Texas stop on the 2012 Gigantour trek. Why? Because King Diamond might anger Jesus, of course.
In a recent interview with Vita In Musica (which you can listen to below in its entirety), Sherman said the following:
“…apparently, Dave Mustaine didn’t want King to be onstage and do whatever Satanic lyrics, or whatever that was all about. So, King came to the concert and he was given the… he was told that, ‘Hey, King, you’re not allowed’ from Mustaine for some reason.
“Then we went onstage and when King was down among the spectators… We did the intro where [King Diamond] was singing the intro vocals. That was pretty funny…What that was all about, I really don’t have a clue. I don’t know if suddenly Mustaine had gotten into God, or, you know, for whatever reason. But that was pretty bizarre, you know, because back in the days, they were very good friends… Megadeth were touring with [King] Diamond back in the ’80s. So there’s [been] a lot of changes in [Megadeth].
I don’t think anyone is terribly surprised by this news, of course. If Mustaine is going to refuse evolution outright, he sure as Hell isn’t going to let some Satanist play onstage at his tour.
Here’s something to consider, though: would Mustaine ever own up to this? Would he ever dismiss King Diamond, a card-carrying Satanist? King is one of metal’s greatest musicians, and he and Mercyful Fate had a huge influence on Metallica. By shitting on King Diamond, Mustaine would be sullying his own legacy and alienating a ton of the old-school metalheads who like him. As I mentioned earlier, Dave could easily like Diamond’s music, religious or not, but keeping the greatest Danish metal singer of all time from a guest appearance with a touring Danish band because JC might consider it a no-no is some grade-A bullshit.
Meanwhile, Dave, for the record: this is why people hate you. This shit, right here.
[via Loudwire]
