Blake Judd’s Metal-Archives.com Entry is Hilarious
This morning I saw a news item about Corrections House postponing the rest of their tour and I got to thinking of Nachtmystium’s Blake Judd, vis-a-vis the Sanford Parker connection.
Judd, of course, came under fire from fans this past summer after failing to deliver merch he’d sold them directly via his Facebook page, a stunt he also pulled back in 2013 before landing in jail. Judd then disappeared from public view, widely assumed to be back on heroin, and was even spotted copping drugs in a McDonald’s parking lot in Chicago. Finally, Krieg’s Neill Jameson, who knew Judd through the Chicago metal scene and played with him in Twilight, published a heart-wrenching editorial on Judd and his drug addiction that seemed to put a sad endcap on this chapter.
That was in early September, and things have been quiet on the Blake Judd front since. Judd deleted his personal Facebook page, and even the “Blakecrush” Facebook page — created by and for those who had been ripped off online by Judd — hasn’t posted any updates since October 31st.
But that October 31st update is a doozy! It’s a link to Blake Judd’s page on Metal-Archives.com — aka Encyclopaedia Metallum — and the opening description is unusually hilarious for a site that typically takes itself so seriously, but it’s also absolutely right on the money:
Blake Judd is a prolific scammer who collects money for merchandise and does not send it. This became highly publicized in early 2013 when Yosuke Konishi, owner of Nuclear War Now! Productions posted an announcement on his label’s forum stating that Judd had offered to sell him the dead stock from his then defunct label, Battle Kommand Records, consisting of several hundred CDs and two test pressings of an Archgoat LP. It was also revealed that Hells Headbangers Records paid him for 490 CDs on September 11, 2012 which the label never received. Many fans also stated that they had been ripped off by him.
Judd acknowledge these accusations in a statement in November 2013 in which he announced Nachtmystium’s split-up and admitted to his scamming, stating “As for the merch issues and money stuff, yeah, I’ve fucked up with a lot of you and for this I’m terribly sorry.”
On October 5, 2013, Judd was arrested and retained on grounds of theft unrelated to the aforementioned ordeals, forcing Nachtmystium to cancel several shows. He was released on November 1. His mugshot was used on a “Blakecrush” t-shirt distributed by foes, with a banner that read “Battlekommand Silence” and his likeness crossed out and surrounded by the phrases “no reply / no package / no refund / no shame” – a parody of the classic Deathlike Silence which reads “no fun / no core / no mosh / no trends.” Blakecrush later became the name of group of 1000+ fans who sought to publicize his scamming.
But back to the original question: what has Judd been up to since early September? Anyone in Chicago got a beat on him? We of course all hope for the best, but fear the worst.
