NEW UPDATE Fri Jun 29th 11:40amEST: Lamb of God’s publicist releases official statement clarifying the situation

Update Fri Jun 29th 1:20pmEST LOG guitarist Willie Adler released a statement with hopes that Randy will be released this afternoon. Original story as follows:

Some late breaking news to report. MetalSucks is reporting that Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe has been arrested in Prague on charges of manslaughter.

This serious allegation stems from an altercation at a May 2010 concert where a fan leapt on stage and got into a physical confrontation with Blythe. The injuries the fan acquired during the incident that resulted in the fan’s death are being attributed to Blythe.

MetalSucks was able to get in contact with a spokesperson for the band who had this to say:

A spokesperson for Lamb God says that Blythe is “wrongly accused,” that the band’s “lawyers are dealing with it,” and that “we expect him to be fully exonerated.”

Axl at MetalSucks was quick to point out that of all the footage available of the show, none features the altercation in question.

Update: Lamb of God have commented on the matter via tweet:

Update: Here is a local news report in Lamb of God’s hometown, Richmond, VA featuring quotes from Randy’s brother, Mark.

Update: An unconfirmed fan review of the show in question has surfaced. The Gauntlet posted a review found on a Czech blog called Sic Maggot, who detailed the incident (Note: the blog was written in Czech, and was roughly translated):

“[Randy] was very irritated when someone decided to join him on stage. At first Randy hit him a lot, then Randy jumped on him to hold him down while he continued singing? When the fan got up, Randy took him by the hair and threw down quite quickly. It was a good thing the fan was so dazed that he probably felt nothing. It took him a little while to realize what happened and as he struggled to get his breathe back. Randy does behave quite pretentious, but the performance was important to him.”

Obviously, the blog post was laced with personal opinion when reporting on what happened. There seem to be conflicting reports as to whether the fan was pushed or punched. There were comments on the page that corroborate this story:

“Everything OK with that guy who fell down after a stage-push? We saw ambulance late after concert”

“He came down with a thud, when he fell down. The kid died after 14 days in a coma for bleeding in the brain!”

“OMG impossible! The vocalist should be sued then… He pulled him really heavily.”

This is certainly shocking to say the least. While I’m not questioning if the incident happened or not, the question should be, was Randy acting maliciously or in self defense? Randy strikes me as one of the nicest/kindest people in the heavy metal scene. There had to be a reason for this altercation. Musicians can get quite defensive if they’re feeling attacked on stage, especially after the tragic shooting of Dimebag. Where was security in all of this? A band member should not need to have to defend themselves, they should be able to perform for the audience.

NEW UPDATE Fri Jun 29th 11:40amEST: Lamb of God’s publicist releases official statement clarifying the situation

2ND NEW Update: Read what musicians and industry figures are saying about the Blythe arrest on Twitter.

3rd Update LOG guitarist Willie Adler released a statement with hopes that Randy will be released this afternoon.

We will report on any further details as we get them.

Our favorite frontman‘s band is back. All That Remains have announced they have completed recording their new album, which will be called You Can Not Win. The band once again reunited with mega-producer/Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam D. to work on the record which will be released in September on Razor & Tie/Prosthetic. Who’s excited? Phil is excited. Here is an official statement:

So we’re gonna release a new disc in the fall and it’s called ‘A War You Can Not Win’. We really busted our asses and tried to do some new stuff (like we always do) and we’re really happy about what came out of it. Some of it is pretty different and is REALLY gonna blow you guys away. Some of it is gonna sound just like what you expect from ATR. And I’m sure all of it is gonna make the internet have a conniption fit! Release is gonna be this fall and we’re already working on a co-headline tour to show some of it off!

While I’m ready for Labonte to return into the news cycle, because, it’s fun to write about his conservatism and potential lunacy. To be fair, it was fun hanging out while incredibly drunk at Saints and Sinners Fest… but that was six years ago.

Devourment have just announced that they are in the studio recording a new album as a follow up to 2009′s Unleash The Carnivore which will be the band’s first for Relapse Records. What’s even more exciting is that the recording is taking place down in St. Petersburg, Florida at Mana Recordings with legendary death metal icon Erik Rutan. (Hate Eternal, Morbid Angel) Scheduled for an early 2013 release, tentative song titles include, “Fucked With Rats” and “Fifty Ton War Machine”

Devourment‘s vocalist, Mike Majewski, commented on the upcoming album saying,  “This will be the deepest album we have done for sure. Definitely expect the intensity, but also more thought out song structures. I would say a bit of a throwback to old school brutal bands, but with the signature Devourment elements.”

Sounds pretty damn good to me! No more details are available at this time but expect more information to trickle out in the upcoming months.

You may remember that former Decapitated bassist Filip “Heinrich” Hałucha was “over it” last year. The band had their friend, Konrad Rossa, fill in for the year but are now looking for somebody serious. The band posted this message on their social networks:

Decapitated is looking for bass player. If anybody interested, please contact: decapitatedband@gmail.com

So if you’re a master of the four-string, start emailing! I would assume it would help if you include a video of yourself doing a play through of a Decap song.

Don’t forget to watch members of Decapitated hosting the last episode of The FiX, picking their favorite videos.

“Back in August of 2011 we announced that we were beginning to write a new record. We had originally planned to record in January 2012, but as Jan grew closer we decided to push the recording back to July 2012. We had way more ideas than we expected and wanted to make sure we did everything we wanted. To put it simply.

After that, we moved recording to July. When March rolled around we started to get Summer offers for shows and tours. Including playing this years final Cornerstone Festival, and Lifest. (Check out the Tour Page) So we decided to push back our recording again, and we continued to write.

We set our sights for recording in Sept, but since recording that late in the year wouldn’t allow enough time for a proper 2012 release, we have decided to take a tour in Sept/Oct (To be announced) and record the new record THIS FALL/WINTER. Yes. We are definitely recording this Winter. Stop asking us to play shows, because we have a hard time saying no.

Other than that, we will continue to write and build something we think is going to be great. We are VERY excited for this record. It will not disappoint and will have some interesting collaborations coming with it. It WILL be heavy and it will be something new. We are pouring everything into it.

In the meantime. Listen to MERIDIONAL. Did you know it has two B-sides? (Distance to Planets & Kill More Presidents) ALSO, did you know that if you stack Occidental, Oriental and Septentrional that is actually one song? Just line up the clicks at the beginning in Garageband or something. Have fun.

We are also working on a DVD. The DVD will tell the story of Norma Jean and have lots of behind the scenes footage and interviews. Past and present members included.

Check out the shows and fests coming up in the USA and Europe/Russia and come hang at a show. You may hear a new song…

Tourma Jean.”