DESTRUCTION Pulls Out Of 'Chris Witchhunter Tribute Concert' Over Poster Dispute

German thrashers DESTRUCTION have cancelled their appearance at the "Chris Witchhunter Tribute Concert", which is scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 11, 2009 at Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen, Germany. The event will honor late SODOM drummer Chris Dudek (a.k.a. Witchhunter) and will feature performances by SODOM, TANKARD and ASSASSIN, among many others.

According to a posting on the SODOMMySpace page, DESTRUCTION vocalist/bassist Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer wasn't "satisfied with the flyer and poster design [see below]. Regrettably, this discontent had also been discussed on the DESTRUCTIONmessage board and thereby word spread to other forums too. Via e-mail, Schmier let us know that he doesn't want to be 'a support act' with DESTRUCTION and that we 'are supposed to look for someone else!' instead. We regret their decision. There will be a replacement for DESTRUCTION, which we're going to introduce next Monday, January 19th, 2009!

"As this festival's initiator, SODOM furthermore want to point out the basic idea behind this event again: We'd like to arrange a worthy farewell for Chris Witchhunter and still we also want to raise money for his mother. The event shall be a peaceful and untroubled party for every thrash metal fan.

"There's another topic that has been discussed on various forums too: 'Why don't KREATOR take [part in the concert]? Do they think they are too good for this?' If you have a look at KREATOR's tour schedule, you'll see that the band is on tour at this time. This is the reason why they can't take place! Well, this is a pity, but their tour had been planned a long time before the Chris Witchhunter tribute show."

Chris Dudek reportedly died on September 8, 2008 around 6:00 a.m. due to vital organ failure.

SODOM bassist/vocalist Thomas "Angelripper" Such previously stated about Dudek's passing, "As we recorded 'The Final Sign Of Evil' [2007 LP featuring re-recordings of the material from SODOM's classic first EP, 'In the Sign of Evil', plus bonus tracks], I noticed that Chris was in a very bad condition. It took more than 18 months to finish the recording for this record.

"After Chris had left the band, we didn't meet very often. If you take a look at the 'Lords Of Depravity' DVD, everybody realizes that Chris was really ill and confused. You can also understand why Chris and I didn't have much contact during the last few years. His sickness was a slow process and everybody saw what happened — but Chris never took a helping hand from anybody else. All of Chris' friends will tell you so. The worst thing was that Chris himself never realized the situation he was in and that it was important to accept help from others.

"I hope that all of Chris' friends will help his lovely mom and support her in these dark times. In the beginning of our friendship, she was like my own mom to me. . . I hope that we can arrange a big show for Chris with a couple of friends to give him a special farewell and to make some money for his mother."

Chris Dudek (a.k.a. Witchhunter) in 2007:

Fan tribute:

SODOM performing "Obsessed By Cruelty" + Witchhunter solo:

(Thanks: Gilbert van Hagen / www.metalfan.nl)