Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe: “I Would Love to Play in the Czech Republic Again”

More than seven years after he was acquitted of manslaughter charges in the Czech Republic, Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe says he “would love” to play in that country again.

Blythe, you likely recall, was arrested in Prague in 2012 for the death of nineteen-year-old fan Daniel Nosek, who suffered fatal injuries at a Lamb of God show in 2010. He spent 37 days in Pankrac Prison before posting bail, returned to the country of his own free will to face trail the following year, and was ultimately found not guilty (twice).

Blythe’s stance on his ordeal has always been an admirable one; after his acquittal, he visited Daniel Nosek’s family, and said that “The small inconveniences I have been through since my arrest are not noteworthy… A young man is still dead, & his family still suffers.”

Now, in a Reddit AMA, Blythe has said that he’s ready to return to the Czech Republic, while also outlining what it would take for the band to play there again:

“I would love to play in the Czech Republic again — I have nothing against the Czech people, and I was not mistreated there. Eventually I think we might play there again, but it will 100 percent have to be with the cooperation of the family of the young man who died, and I would want to give the money from the show to a charity they choose. If we played there, it would be a huge news story, and I do not wish to cause the young man’s family anymore pain — they did no wrong, and were not cruel to me at all; in fact they showed me great kindness. But they have suffered enough, so it is out of respect to them we have not returned. I hope the Czech fans understand.”

In addition to Dark Days, a book about his arrest, imprisonment, and eventual acquittal, Blythe also wrote lyrics about his time in Pankrac Prison for the 2015 LoG track “512,” named after his cell number at that penitentiary.

[via]