Metal Riot

Riding high on frontman Randy Blythe recently being acquitted of manslaughter charges in the Czech Republic, Lamb Of God have announced a North American tour and a week long mountain retreat for 170 lucky fans.  The tour begins Thursday May 16th in Asheville, NC, and wraps up on Thursday June 2oth in Norfolk, VA with opening duties being handled by Decapitated and Terror(until June 10th when The Acacia Strain takes over).

For a full list of dates and venues click right here.

Now for the coolest part.  The band is hosting something they are calling the “Metal On The Mountain” retreat at the Full Moon resort in Big Indian, NY.  The band has stated the following in a press release:

“The band announces today the Metal on the Mountain retreat July 15th through 19th to be held at the Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, New York. The weeklong retreat, which is limited to 170 fans, will feature activities aimed at musicians and non musicians alike. The curriculum, created by the band, will include guitar and drum clinics with Mark Morton, Willie Adler, and Chris Adler as well as group instruction, songwriting sessions and competitions, nightly jam sessions with the band and fans, band Q & A, the premiere of the LAMB OF GOD feature film scheduled for a fall theatrical release, and a full band concert the final night of the retreat. Long time band album designer Ken Adams will discuss the creation of LAMB OF GOD album and t-shirt designs and band tour manager and sound man Brian Griffin will instruct fans on the art of mixing a live metal show. Non-musical activities will include motorcycle excursions with bassist John Campbell, a seminar on primitive fire building by Randy Blythe, and a casino night. Also, all of the fans will enjoy all of the amenities available at the Full Moon Resort. For more information on the Metal on the Mountain retreat, go to metalonthemountain.com.“

Well that seems like a damn good time if that’s the kind of thing you’re into.  

This is probably the worst news anyone in the metal community has reported on/heard in the last few days, and it’s no different for us here at MR.  So here we go.  Lamb of God front man Randy Blythe has been formally charged with manslaughter by the Czech Republic and will have to go and stand trial.  Wow did that suck to write.  If you don’t know the deal click right here to find more but basically what they are claiming is that Blythe tossed a kid off stage and that he later died from injuries sustained.  There’s a lot of controversy on weather or not he ever even tossed the kid or if it was a bouncer and it looks like it might be up to the courts to decide now.

A Czech news portal called Novinky.cz is reporting that a Czech state attorney filed criminal charges against Blythe on Friday (November 30) related to the death of a fan in Prague two years ago. The attorney’s office spokeswoman Štepánka Zenklová told the Czech News Agency (CTK) the Prague City Court has three months to set the trial date or return the case to the police and state attorney for further investigation.

Blythe has always maintained that he would return to the Czech Republic to stand trial and unfortunately that may happen now.  To read several statements from Blythe on the incident click here because I’m running out of space here.

Not a whole lot of info is available and I’ll save explaining the whole situation because if you don’t know already…you pretty much suck, but a fundraiser is being held for Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe to help out with his legal fees.

So far, the show is going to be hosted by Dave Brockie, will take place on August 31 at the Canal Club in Richmond, VA, and confirmed bands so far are Cannabis Corpse, Kung Fu Dykes, Throne From Royalty, Gloominous Doom, Little Ozzy and a few others.

So basically, get your ass down to Virginia for a worthy cause!