METALFEST Organizer JACK KOSHICK Sued By HELL ON EARTH

April 25, 2004

John C. Koshick (a.k.a. Jack Koshick),organizer of several underground heavy metal festivals, including the long-running Milwaukee Metalfest, was reportedly served with court papers on Monday, April 19 in connection with a dispute over industrial rock band HELL ON EARTH's removal from the lineup of this year's Sun n' Steel Metalfest.

According to a posting on the band's web site, HELL ON EARTH hired a processor to "hunt down" Koshick (doing business as Jack Koshick Presents) 1,300 miles away as Koshick had avoided being served earlier in Florida by Pinellas County Deputies.

HELL ON EARTH are claiming that Koshick breached a contract signed by the band and the promoters insuring them a spot at the early March event, which included appearances by TESTAMENT, OBITUARY, PRONG and M.O.D., among many others.

Koshick initially claimed that HELL ON EARTH were dropped from the bill of Florida's Sun n' Steel Metalfest after "Baptists were calling [him] and complaining about [the band] performing at the show," according to a posting on the group's web site. However, Koshick was eventually "caught in his own web of lies after HELL ON EARTH's meeting with Pinellas Expo Center's General Manager John LaChance and Koshick. During the meeting, it was revealed that neither LaChance nor any Baptist Fundamentalists had any part in canceling the band as Koshick had claimed. It became apparent, for unknown reasons, Koshick alone had decided to breach the band's contract and cancel them from the show."

A representative for the band said, "HELL ON EARTH will have their day in court and Jack Koshick will be made an example of."

HELL ON EARTH made worldwide headlines late last year when they promised to broadcast the suicide of a terminally ill fan during an Oct. 4, 2003 concert in St. Petersburg. The band played that night, but no suicide was reported. More recently, the group claimed to have engaged in "consensual cannibalism," although footage of this activity has yet to be seen outside the "members-only" section of the group's web site.

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