A controversial storm has been brewing since Gloryhammer parted ways with vocalist Thomas Winkler over the weekend. What began as a vague statement, the split did not appear amicable as Winkler’s announcement alerted he received the removal notice via email. A Twitter account was conveniently created shortly after his disbandment, sharing alleged screenshots of a group chat between apparent band members revealing disturbing misogynist and racist conversational exchanges. While a Reddit thread has questioned the credibility of these screenshots, there have been additional speculations on a possible legitimacy.
Gloryhammer is connected with both Alestorm and Wizardthrone, mainly from Christopher Bowes, where members from these connections are starting to come forward urging Bowes to respond to these serious accusations. Vincent Jackson Jones of Aether Realm and Wizardthrone has decided he waited long enough for Bowes to issue a statement as he expressed his grave concerns on the matter:
“I know a lot of my friends in the metal world have been looking to me to say something. This is two days late, and I’ve had a lump in my throat the whole time. I hope you’ll understand that I’ve been spending all of my time outside of work speaking to everyone that’s going to be affected, and trying my best to chart the fairest course of action. I’m suspending my involvement with all projects including Christopher Bowes. Bands, tours, all of it. Chris is also my friend, and he has asked me for time to make his statement before I put him on blast. Chris, I can’t get up on a stage and pretend my shit is all fine without getting this off my chest and saying what I need to say. Every moment that I wait is painful to me, it’s painful to others, to your friends and fans that are looking to you for clarity in this situation. I know that it’s also painful for you. I know you want to do the right thing. I will give you as much time as i can bear. Please act with haste.”
Before Jones’ statement, Gloryhammer shared a message as they ask for patience while they thoroughly investigate the allegations against them:
“To our fans and the wider metal community, We know that many of you have questions relating to Thomas’s departure from the band and about allegations made and documentation recently circulated on social media concerning members of Gloryhammer. There are matters that need to be resolved arising from Thomas’s departure. We also need to deal with all issues arising in relation to the very serious allegations made and documentation circulated. This will all take time and we do not want to risk prejudicing the work that has to be done. We ask you to please bear with us. Dealing with this is taking all our time and energy. As a result we do not intend to make any further statements on Thomas’s departure or the allegations and documentation until all issues have been dealt with. We really appreciate your concern for all of us, including Thomas, and request that you give us all privacy to resolve these issues during this difficult period. For this reason and to prevent us from being distracted from what we need to do, we are turning comments on this post off. Thank you.”
All three bands are part of the Napalm Records family as the label has yet to respond to these allegations. We are confident these claims are taken seriously, as all parties are likely going through a thorough investigation. We will update as the story continues to unfold.
