Randy Blythe (Lamb of God) released from Czech prison

[Snowboarder_Bo]

This story has been THE hot news item in the metal community since he was arrested June 27. The fucked up thing is that he was arrested, but wasn’t charged with a crime; he was merely being “investigated” somehow while he sat in prison. A court finally ordered him released on bail (US$400,000).

[

The frontman of the U.S. heavy metal band Lamb of God has been released from a Czech prison on $400,000 bail as police investigate him for allegedly pushing a fan off a stage who later died of his injuries, an official said Friday.

A Prague court on Thursday dismissed a prosecution request that Randy Blythe be banned from leaving the country. Blythe’s lawyer, Martin Radvan, said the singer had flown out of the Czech capital for the United States on Friday.

“I’m relieved to be out of Pankrac jail,” Blythe told the private Czech Nova television at Prague’s international airport. “It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t exactly fun.”

](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_CZECH_US_METAL_BAND_ARREST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-03-16-49-37)
I’m sure there’s plenty of Twitter traffic about this, and Metal Hammer magazine already has a story up on their website.

Kudos to the court for releasing him, and extra kudos for allowing him to leave the country. Now we just have to wait and see how things play out with the police and any possible later trial. Both Randy and his Czech lawyer have stated he will return for a trial if necessary.

The band’s summer tour with Dethklok and Gojira has been canceled, but it looks like they hope to regroup and tour in the fall.

Personally, I hope they do a fall tour and come my way. I’ve seen Lamb of God twice and seen Dethklok once, but have never seen Gojira live. Seeing all 3 at one show would totally fucking rock!

Welcome back, Randy!

[WordMan]

Bo - did he push a guy off stage who later died??

[Snowboarder_Bo]

The best information I have comes from the Summer 2012 Metal Hammer, but I can’t find a link to that story now because all I get for any search are stories about Randy being released.

According to that article, a Prague guitarist named Daniel N. is the guy who died.

It’s a long article, but here’s what they wrote about the situation that preceded the arrest:

@Metal Hammer

While not confirming the exact details of what was going on, it gave credence to growing rumors that the arrest had come about as the result of an altercation with a fan - later named publicly as local guitarist Daniel N. - that took place on stage at a gig in the country two years before. According to a number of Czech news sites and TV stations, Randy had been accused of throwing the 19-year-old offstage at the gig, which took place at the Abaton club in Prague in May 2010, which in turn led to the fan suffering serious head trauma, slipping into a coma and passing away two weeks later.

Understandably shocked, Randy’s brother Mark Blythe told Richmond, Virginia news station CBS-6 that the Lamb of God camp were in no doubt that the charges we “bogus and outrageous and [would] be dropped immediately”, with a new statement from the band’s representatives emerging the following day, adding “Management wished to address one false piece of information that has been included in many of the news stories released so far. Under no circumstances was there a fight of any kind involved.”

The statement also stressed that the fan in the alleged incident had “three times during the concert jumped the barricade and rushed Randy during the performance” before being pushed offstage as a measure of precaution.

So from that it’s hard to tell if Randy pushed the guy offstage or if a security person did. I’ve gone ahead and assumed that Randy did, since I don’t see a point-blank denial of that, but I have a hard time thinking that anyone is responsible for the poor guy’s injury other than himself.

I do wish there was more information, but from all accounts the Czech police didn’t contact Randy, the band or it’s management until they entered Prague in late June for a show.

[WordMan]

There was a two-year delay? Weird.