The Agonist’s Vicky Psarakis Claims Former Vocalist Alissa White-Gluz “Has Been Trying to Kill This Band Ever Since She Was Fired”
So y’know who probably won’t be doing a Killswitch Engage-style duet between their current and former vocalists anytime soon? The Agonist, whose currently frontwoman, Vicky Psarakis, has alleged that the band’s former frontwoman, Alissa White-Gluz, has been using her position within the industry to hold the group back.
For those who need a refresher: White-Gluz was The Agonist’s vocalist up ’til 2014, when she joined Arch Enemy. To hear White-Gluz tell it, her plan at that time was to front both bands, but then The Agonist fired her, which she called “the worst betrayal I’ve ever felt in my life,” chalking The Agonist’s decision to oust her up to “ego.” The Agonist’s guitarist, Danny Marino, subsequently fired back, claiming that White-Gluz had deliberately misled them when she joined Arch Enemy, “playing both sides to have her cake and eat it too.” Marino went on to allege that “since 2014 Alissa has slandered our name openly and has purposely tried to sabotage us within the music industry.”
Now, in a new interview with Rock Confidential, Psarakis has slammed White-Gluz, blaming the Arch Enemy vocalist for the problems The Agonist have had with their forthcoming album, Orphans:
“So, basically, the main thing is that we didn’t have a label at the time. And that is for reasons aside from the music. A lot of things happen that I personally don’t deal with at all. I don’t even wanna deal with it. I’m just here to write music and sing. Some people out there didn’t want us to release this album and we just kept really, really pushing and pushing and we almost considered just releasing it on our own – which isn’t a smart business decision.”
Psarakis then elaborated as to the identity of the “people out there” who “didn’t want us to release this album”:
“I think it’s okay if I were to speak openly about it. I’m not one to cause drama but I think for anyone that’s out there and watching and kind of seeing what’s going on, I think it’s fairly obvious that the person that’s been trying to hold us back is Alissa. In the beginning, she was doing it a lot through interviews and just talking very badly about the band members.
“That is super awkward for me, because this is a person I’ve never met in my life, so it’s weird for me to be talking about it. There’s no knowing how far and to what extent her reach could be to hold this band back. I definitely know some stuff that she’s done and other things are just speculation. So, I don’t wanna throw that out there, but I will say that she has been trying to kill this band ever since she was fired.”
The Agonist, of course, did eventually find a label — Rodeostar — and will release Orphans on September 20. You can pre-order it here. By all indications, it’s gonna be quite good.
Meanwhile, how/if White-Gluz will respond to Psarakis’ comments remains to seen. But it seems worth noting that this is the second potential PR debacle with which the blue-haired screamer has been involved in less than a year: this past winter, Thunderball Clothing found itself at the center of controversy following an unauthorized re-post of a photograph showing Arch Enemy frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz wearing the company’s products, which resulted in a war of words and, ultimately, Thunderball Clothing shutting down as a result of the vitriol AE fans directed at the company’s owner, Marta Gabriel (also the vocalist of Crystal Viper).
Arch Enemy commence a North American tour with Amon Amarth and At the Gates at the end of this month. Dates are here.
[via The PRP]
