LAMB OF GOD's RANDY BLYTHE 'Wouldn't Mind' Playing In Czech Republic Again

LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe says that he "wouldn't mind" playing a show in the Czech Republic again if the circumstances were "right."

In 2012, Blythe was arrested in the Czech Republic and charged with manslaughter for allegedly pushing a 19-year-old fan offstage at a show two year prior and causing injuries that led to the fan's death. Blythe spent 37 days in a Prague prison before ultimately being found not guilty in 2013.

Randy addressed the possibility of performing in the Czech Republic during an appearance this past Wednesday (March 30) on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't rule it out. But it would have to be under the right circumstances. I mean, I'm [legally] allowed to go there. But unless things were worked out in advance with certain people, I think it would be rude to go back there. Because if I went back there to play a show, it would be huge news. And there's a family who's still missing a son there. So I don't wish them to be any more upset than they already are; they've suffered enough. So, if the circumstances were right and we had their blessing or whatever, I wouldn't mind going and playing a show and then donating the money to charity or something. But other than that, LAMB OF GOD really has no business going there, if the circumstances aren't right, 'cause I don't want to cause anyone any further emotional duress."

Randy previously touched upon the prospect of returning to the Czech Republic while answering fan questions during a June 2020 Reddit AMA. He said: "I would love to play in the Czech Republic again — I have nothing against the Czech people, and I was not mistreated there. Eventually I think we might play there again, but it will 100 percent have to be with the cooperation of the family of the young man who died, and I would want to give the money from the show to a charity they choose. If we played there, it would be a huge news story, and I do not wish to cause the young man's family anymore pain — they did no wrong, and were not cruel to me at all; in fact they showed me great kindness. But they have suffered enough, so it is out of respect to them we have not returned. I hope the Czech fans understand."

Blythe's prison experience inspired two songs on LAMB OF GOD's 2015 album "VII: Sturm Und Drang": "512", one of his three prison cell numbers, and "Still Echoes", written while he was in Pankrac Prison, a dilapidated facility built in the 1880s that had been used for executions by the Nazis during World War II. It also led him to write the memoir "Dark Days", in which he shared his whole side of the story publicly for the first time.

"I think artistically, it was a very valid choice to use those two songs because they come from a very real, very dark place," Blythe told the New York Post back in 2015. "I write about things that are impactful for my life that stir up emotion in me, that affect me, that have some sort of impact within my life. Not that going to prison has no impact in my life, but I was out of prison and I felt it would be disingenuous to use it as a creative well to draw from."

The 2022 leg of LAMB OF GOD's "The Metal Tour Of The Year" with MEGADETH will kick off on Saturday, April 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada and hit a further 21 cities before wrapping in Allentown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, May 15.

LAMB OF GOD recently entered a California studio with longtime producer Josh Wilbur (KORN, MEGADETH, GOJIRA, TRIVIUM) to record some of its brand music, tentatively due later in the year.

LAMB OF GOD's upcoming effort will be the follow-up to the band's self-titled album, which was released in June 2020 via Epic Records in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast Records in Europe. That LP marked LAMB OF GOD's first recordings with Art Cruz, who joined the band in July 2019 as the replacement for the group's founding drummer, Chris Adler.

"Lamb Of God" was recorded with Wilbur and included special guest appearances by Jamey Jasta (HATEBREED) and Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT).