In what’s either a brilliant runup to their third Sumerian album and stint on this summer’s Mayhem Fest or something much more disturbing, Upon a Burning Body posted the following message on their Facebook page:
Breaking News: Danny Leal (singer of Upon A Burning Body) has been reported missing. He was last seen in his home town of San Antonio TX on Monday, June 30th.
Alert fans have noted that the last two tweets he sent out, on July 30th and July 1st read “the same sketchy car had been driving past my house over and over for the past 3 days straight” (on June 30) and “Wide awake now… I could’ve sworn I heard someone in my house!!!” (on July 1).
This foreshadowing seems almost too suspect, and given the Texas/Mexico gangster persona the band has cultivated throughout their first two albums, we wouldn’t be surprised if this is just hype before the band winds up on the Mayhem Fest starting on Saturday. And you’d think that if this was genuine, there would be something about it in the San Antonio press in addition to their Facebook page. However, if it’s for real, we wish UABB the best. We’ll keep you updated.
UPDATE: Sumerian Records head Ash Avildsen is claiming that this is a publicity stunt, and he’s not happy about it. From Sumerian’s Facebook page:
I woke up to a ton of missed calls and just saw all this stuff about Danny Leal of UABB posing as that he’s been abducted or kidnapped. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing since. As a child, we all learn the story “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” and it sticks within our consciousness for a reason. I do not condone this type of publicity stunt. This was done behind my back and I am not OK with it. In my eyes, there’s never a time to use the possibility of real-life abduction, injury or murder of someone you care about to promote anything, especially an album. If you need to resort to that, then you have lost the plot. We as a society should have evolved past that way of thinking by now and especially within the rock/metal community, given all the tragedy that has happened in our world over the past few years. There are some people who owe us an apology. -Ash Avildsen, Creator & CEO of Sumerian Records.
There are still a lot of questions here, and with the band’s label chiming in decisively, it’ll be interesting to hear UABB’s side of the story once it comes out. Stay tuned for further updates.
