Free Show - Brutal Truth & Lair of the Minotaur

Tonight @ Knitting Factory, courtesy of Scion:RSVP by 6 pm - click on the imageSo Scion is the unofficial corporate sponsor of underground metal, putting on that all-day festival out in Atlanta at the end of February with Neurosis et al. and a bunch of great shows in LA over the last year or 2.  Who thought there would ever be one?  Sure, the Nachtmystium thing was bullshit, but it's understandable that a Japanese car company might shudder when associated with Nazism, even if a gross distortion.  But then there's those who take the money and feel regret, like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, or Aaron Weaver of WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM:

So tell me something.  Did you or the band have difficulties with Scion?  Did you catch any flack for your relationship with them?

Oh man, well we gave ourselves more flack than anyone else could have given us....[he goes off into occultism]...Can I finish my thing about Scion?

Oh yes, I’m sorry.  We never circled back to that.

We went off on an insane tangent.  The reason I brought it up is because I think that a Scion concert has an occult aspect to it.  I think it’s a very dark one.  I think that even though the people involved I’m sure are very well intentioned and just have the idea that “Isn’t it great that we can hook up these bands with this money?  Isn’t it great that we can put on a free concert?”  I think that fundamentally there is something very negative that is going on.  I think that in a very real way that is truly Satanic.  I do believe that there are dark forces that you could characterize as Luciferian or Satanic that have influence over the world, and I think that being a part of a Scion sponsored festival, you’re in a very real way making a deal with the devil.  I believe that to be true.  We debated a great deal within the band on whether or not we should take part in such an event. It’s a classic example of one of those compromises that you make.  We’re pretty financially humble people.  We were trying to decide how we are going to afford to buy our plane tickets back from Europe.  Right as we were trying to crunch the numbers, we got an e-mail offering us this festival.  They would buy our plane tickets and give us a bunch of money with rock star treatment.  We decided to do it and make that deal with the devil.  It’s not something that we intend on doing in the future.  I think that playing a corporate sponsored event is a pretty intense compromise for a band like ours to make.  It’s very obvious to me that the corporate world is trying to find some new way to sell products.  Obviously television commercials don’t work anymore.  People are way more sophisticated and savvy than they were a few generations ago.  I just don’t want to be a part of helping the corporate world to figure out how to convince people to buy stuff.

For the full interview, including Mr. Weaver's sincere comment that he is "not passing judgment on anyone," here's the full interview at Metal Sucks.  The struggle between reality and purity.  It affects us all, and we can relate to his struggle with this world of compromise.  But it is comforting to know that even BRUTAL TRUTH is susceptible.  All ye Satanists - get there early to ensure entry, and to experience LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR.