The whole event in recent weeks with Terror Universal, a masked band said to include members of Ill Nino, and Otep, has been pretty uncomfortable. To recap, Otep dropped off the Civil Unrest tour because she claimed that the singer of Terror Universal groped her crotch while the two bands were on tour together. While Chad Armstrong didn’t initially deny the accusation, the first defense was from his wife. The festival issued their own statement, and it seemed like it was pretty much a he said/she said situation, except the “he” didn’t say much of anything and had a mask to hide behind and the “she” was an outspoken feminist and activist. Last night, however, Terror Universal have decided to move on without him. In an all caplocked statement on their Facebook page, the band explained:
FRIENDS AND FANS, THANK YOU FOR ALWAYS SUPPORTING TU. WE WANT TO INFORM YOU, THAT DUE TO PERSONAL DIFFERENCES, AND THE COURSE OF EVENTS THESE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS, “CHAD ARMSTRONG” IS NO LONGER THE LEAD SINGER FOR TERROR UNIVERSAL.
WE WILL DEBUT TERROR UNIVERSAL’S NEW SINGER THIS WEEKEND AT THE “TEXAS INDEPENDENCE FEST”. NEXT WEEK WE WILL POST LIVE VIDEO, SO YOU CAN ALL HEAR AND SEE OUR NEW KICKASS SINGER. WE PROMISE, OUR NEW FRONTMAN IS EVERYTHING YOU WOULD EXPECT FROM TU!!
WE WISH CHAD GOOD LUCK, AND THANK ALL TERROR UNIVERSAL FRIENDS & FANS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT.
While their decision to let Armstrong go doesn’t mean necessarily that he did assault her, it would seem to suggest that. Or at the very least, he’s behaved in such a way after the accusations that the band can’t continue to work with him. It’s interesting to see they’ve not only moved on, but have a new singer. Then again, as a relatively unestablished band that wears masks, it could be argued that replacing any member in the band can be done pretty easily.
[via theprp]
