INFERNAEON, SONS OF AZRAEL Members Refuse To Submit To 'Censorship'

Brian Werner, vocalist for the Florida death metal band INFERNAEON, has issued the following statement:

"[Before a recent gig] in Fresno, California, we were told by the club owner that we could not perform or sell our merchandise due to the graphic images depicted on our shirts and CDs. We would have had to censor the lyrics in our songs and lose the stage show in order to play. My band and I have not been more insulted. Last time I checked, freedom of religion means any one person has the right to practice any religion of his choosing. This was a case of one person trying to enforce his religious convictions on all the fans that chose to buy a ticket. The decision was made to stand our ground with our brothers in SONS OF AZRAEL, and not submit to any sort of censorship.

"We all come from various religious beliefs, and do not discriminate against anyone for their own. All we ask is to not be discriminated against for our beliefs and convictions.

"We did not do this just for ourselves. We did it for all of you, and your freedoms. This country was founded on the basis of unpopular speech, and the right to be free at any and all costs."

Joseph Siracuse, vocalist of the Buffalo, New York-based death metallers SONS OF AZRAEL, added:

"This was an unfortunate situation for a number of reasons. We apologize to all the fans who paid to see our performance but this was a circumstance that required the protection of our convictions. The owner of this venue did say that we could perform if we cut certain songs from our set and removed all of our merchandise from the premises. This was unacceptable.

"It is our constitutional right to express ourselves. As individuals, we are very tolerant people. We do not condemn anyone for their beliefs and we expect the same in return. As musicians, our lyrics and music are our outlets for expression and trying to silence them is unjust.

"To our fans in Fresno, we'll be back."