Mayhem Fest Down a Behemoth

This year’s Mayhem Fest will now be at least a little bit calmer: Behemoth have dropped off the tour. Explains Nergal via Facebook:

“This must have been the most difficult decision we were forced to make in recent years. Behemoth is known for not canceling any shows or tours. But this is not something we can do whenwe are missing our driving force, the man behind the drums – Inferno. Unfortunately, he was hospitalized due to appendix surgery and it’s gonna take him few months to fully recover and get back to shape. We are trying to save selected European Festivals with a fill in drummer (Krimh,ex-Decapitated), but we won’t be risking doing a full-on prestigious tour like the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival without Inferno. Behemoth is a solid unit and any part of this unit missing makes us weaker, and that is not how we want to present our new material to our fans. Please, accept our apologies and be patient, we shall return to Europe (this fall) and US (early 2014) empowered and motivated as never before!”

The decision NOT to carry on without a key member of the band is pretty admirable in this day and age, when seemingly no band member is too important to be replaced (not thinking of anyone in particular, honest Injun). Still, this is a major bummer — Behemoth are awesome live, even in the blistering heat and bright daylight, and now North American fans seem to be looking at a minimum of six months before they’ll get to see the band in concert again. Sigh. At least we’re getting a new ‘Hemoth* album, The Satanist, this fall.

And there are still plenty of good bands on the latest edition of Mayhem, including Mastodon, Amon Amarth, Machine Head, Children of Bodom, and Job for a Cowboy. Get dates here.

*I’ve decided to nickname them as of right now. ‘HEMOTH!

[via Metal Insider]