During a recent interview with Blabbermouth, ROTTING CHRIST frontman Sakis Tolis was asked if his respective towards MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine has changed since he ticked Greek metallers off the bill in Athens in 2005.
“You know something, I’m the kind of person who is not violent. It takes a lot to offend me,” Sakis responded. “[Mustaine] has the right to do whatever he wants. I didn’t like the idea. I don’t like censorship, but I have my own ideas on it. I’d never censor someone. I would never do the same myself, especially if he’s in the metal scene. We’re metalheads. We have chosen our own path. It’s against society, the system and everything. If someone from the metal community acts like this, I don’t give a s**t, but I will not respect them. That’s all. I will never say something else about him.”
After interviewer noted that Sakis “had every opportunity to make a big deal out of it,” but didn’t, he said: “No. Never. To be honest, I want to be myself. What you see from ROTTING CHRIST is one hundred percent. You know our ideas about religion. You know our way of life. You know everything. I could never act selfishly. That’s not what we’re about.”
Mustaine compelled ROTTING CHRIST to withdraw from a scheduled Athens performance in 2005. He subsequently explained that he preferred not to share the stage with a band he considered overtly Satanic, citing his personal transformation since his religious conversion in 2002.
“The concerts that I headline or I put together is usually my choice who I want to play with; festivals are different,” he said at the time. “If I don’t feel it is right for me to do something, then I [will] just respectfully decline. I would not ask that anyone be taken off if they were already confirmed.
“I have to draw the line and stand for my beliefs or they aren’t beliefs at all, are they?” he added. “I don’t expect anyone to fully understand this, but I know many of [the MEGADETH fans] do, and I thank [them] for [their] support.
ROTTING CHRIST will release their upcoming studio album, Pro Xristoy, on May 24th via Season of Mist.
