Gloryhammer Fire Vocalist; Members Accused of Abuse and Racism

Symphonic power metal band Gloryhammer have fired their lead vocalist, Thomas Winkler, who had been in the band since 2011 and sang on all of their releases. No reason for his release was given. As an indirect result of Winkler’s dismissal, allegations of abuse and racism have surfaced against other members of the band.

Posting on social media yesterday, August 22, the band announced they were letting go of Winkler:

“We regret to announce that Thomas Winkler is no longer a member of Gloryhammer.

“All upcoming shows (including the UK Tour with
@alestormband) will continue as planned, with a new vocalist.

“For the Eternal Glory of Dundee.”

A short time later, Winkler, who goes by Angus McFife in Gloryhammer, took to his own social media to reveal he was let go via an email he claims cited “disagreements on business and organizational matters” as the reason for his dismissal. Here’s a screen shot of that post:

Later in the day, Gloryhammer issued another statement apologizing for the brevity of the first one, explaining they had “no option” but to let Winkler go, but stopping short of explaining further citing “respect to Tom.” Here is a screen shot of that post:

Elsewhere in the Twitter chain of Gloryhammer’s initial announcement there is a screen shot of a post by an anonymous woman accusing bassist James Cartwright of abusive behavior. Other screen shots of what is allegedly a leaked group chat between band members shows them using racist and misogynistic language, including the n-word.

Alestorm vocalist Christopher Bowes is the keyboardist in Gloryhammer.

MetalSucks has reached out to a representative for both Gloryhammer and Alestorm for comment. We will update this article if we hear back.