Eyewitness: CRADLE OF FILTH Guitarist Could Have Been Killed

British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH were forced to cut their set short last night (Saturday, August 15) at the Bloodstock Open Air festival in Derbyshire, England after guitarist Paul Allender was hit by an object thrown by a member of the audience, resulting in Paul being unable to finish the performance and requiring medical attention.

A BLABBERMOUTH.NET user by the name of "metalfanBKP" has submitted the following eyewitness account from the event:

"I am writing in to say what happened during the CRADLE OF FILTH set last night at Bloodstock. I am still absolutely appalled at the incident and feel that the official statement from Bloodstock organisers issued last night does not full portray the seriousness of the incident.

"I was standing in the second row, just in front of the centre of the stage, so I had a clear view of everything.

"Even before Paul Allender got hit by the missile, the band already had to dodge bottles and cups thrown at them. Dani Filth [CRADLE vocalist] at one point remarked, that 'if you are going to throw things at us, make sure they are full!' Up to that point, this was nothing out of the ordinary, however unpleasant this must have been for the band.

"However, during the sixth or seventh song of the set, when the both guitarists were not playing and were standing at the back of the stage with their backs turned to the audience (as members of COF seem to always do when they are not playing),someone threw a large object that hit Paul Allender in the lower back. He grimaced and put his hand to his back, immediately leaving the stage. The rest of the band continued playing the song without him and, eventually, they all left the stage.

"After about 10 minutes of silence, the organisers had announced that a missile thrown at the band had injured one of the band members and that the band would not continue. This happened approximately 35 minutes into an 80-minute set that COF was expected to play.

"Having spoken to the security at the front after the crowd began to disperse, I found out that Paul was actually taken to hospital (which accounted for the sound of ambulance sirens that was heard) and that the object thrown was, in fact, a 'gobstopper,' which is like a giant golf ball. It is incredibly dense and very heavy; if it had hit someone on the head, one of these objects could actually be lethal. What is more, three or more of these 'gobstoppers' had been found on the stage, which would indicate that someone actually targeted the band and that the missile hitting Paul Allender was not just a one-off.

"I do not know if Paul Allender was targeted purposefully for whatever reason, but the missile hit him as he was standing far away from the edge of the stage, with his back turned, which would suggest that the object was at least thrown in his direction.

"In these circumstances, as the Bloodstock announcer had said, 'the band could not continue for security reasons.' As far as I know, as of yesterday evening, the culprit was not yet found. The festival security did seem pretty relaxed with no obvious checks or searches taking place of those entering the arena and it looks like COF might have paid the price for this."

Video footage of CRADLE OF FILTH performing at the Kobetasonik festival in Bilbao, Spain on June 19, 2009 can be viewed below.