PESTILENCE Mainman Says It Was Not His Intention To Offend Anyone

Guitarist/vocalist Patrick Mameli of resurrected Dutch death metallers PESTILENCE has released a statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET clarifying some of the more controversial comments he made in a recent interview with Blistering.com and apologizing if he offended anyone with his previous remarks.

Regarding PESTILENCE's plans to tour the U.S. in support of the band's latest album, "Doctrine", Mameli told Blistering.com, "I love the States and I embrace it with all of my heart. But I think with coming over to the States, it's almost like giving birth to a child. You guys were there on the moon before the Russians, yet you can't get a [good] show going. [What I mean by that] is the promotions are bad, the equipment is bad; touring there is bad because of bad promotion. It's bad promoters, really. I really want to come over there but we need good promoters who will promote the shit out of shows so there can be a good crowd going. I know there's a ton of people over there who want to attend a PESTILENCE show. I mean, I really, really want to come over to the States because I love 'em, but goddamn, make sure you get your promoters right so we can come over there."

When asked by Blistering.com what is more annoying, when the metal media asks him questions about former PESTILENCE vocalist Martin Van Drunen or why he brought PESTILENCE back after all these years, Mameli said, "I think it's more annoying to talk about Martin Van Drunen because he's a fucking douche bag."

During the same interview, Mameli was asked, "If you could beat up one person, who would it be?", to which he replied, "Any fucking person on Blabbermouth," before clarifying, "The fucking chat room people who make all those fucking comments."

Earlier today (Wednesday, July 20),Mameli sent the following written statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET in response to the criticism that he received for the Blistering.com interview:

"To all the Blabbermouth readers:

"First off, some people can really see the actual joke behind this. Of course Martin isn't a douche bag. He's one of the best death metal vocalists out there. I haven't spoken with him in years. So no need to bash him. The interviewer asked me a question and I replied what he wanted to hear, just to get a reaction.

"It's too simple. They always want to talk about the past and hope that I say shit.

"And, of course, I ain't beating up people that post on Blabbs. There's too many of you guys, hahah. I'm a father and have two sons. I would never lower myself into fighting. The fact is, with this headline, it shows once more how messed up this Internet journalism is.

"Did you not think that I knew this was going to go on Blabbs? It shows how fora like this work and want to stir up shit. That's my point. And we can see that some guys that always bash PESTILENCE and me on Blabbs now get the opportunity to ventilate once more. Always the same guys.

"The people around me that really know me personal, including the band, know that I never take myself and this music industry too seriously. That's how we can survive in this scene.

"Also, I stated that I love the U.S. Nothing wrong with the metalheads out there. We just got bad routing, promotion and transportation. Great to be travelling through the whole U.S. with an RV. Once more, that shows that we're in it for the love of the music and not the money.

"So sorry if I offended anyone. This was really not my intention."

PESTILENCE's new album, "Doctrine", was released in North America on July 19 via Mascot Records. The eleven-track CD was recorded and mixed at Woodshed Studio in southern Germany with engineer Victor Bullok (TRIPTYKON, DARK FORTRESS). The artwork was designed by Marko Saarelainen.

PESTILENCE 2011 is:

Patrick Mameli - Guitar/Vocals
Jeroen Paul Thesseling - Fretless Bass
Patrick Uterwijk - Guitar
Yuma Van Eekelen - Drums