PURIFIED IN BLOOD Frontman Breaks Heel During Concert; Video Available

Vocalist Hallgeir Skretting Enoksen of Norwegian metallers PURIFIED IN BLOOD crushed his heel after jumping off a nine-foot riser during the band's October 2, 2010 concert in Ås, Norway (see video footage of the incident below). Asbjørn Slettemark of the the Norwegian music blog Lydverket spoke to Hallgeir and got the exclusive details of what happened that night.

Lydverket: Hallgeir, what happened on stage Saturday?

Hallgeir: "They have a really cool stage in Ås, with nine-foot-tall risers behind the drums. It works for playing guitar solos and stuff, so when I got up there I decided to jump instead of using the stairs. Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing my shoes, and when I landed, I hit something that holds the stage together. I walked a couple of steps before I realized something was wrong. I loked down, and the flesh on my heel was just hanging semi-detached from the rest of my foot. I had to get off the stage, went to the hospital, and had an operation at 9 a.m. the next morning.

Lydverket: Is this the first time something like this has happened to you?

Hallgeir: "No, no, no... I've broken legs and arms before… but it's actually the first time something like this has happened at a concert. I actually did a jump at the Hove festival that was far worse, but then I had my shoes on. I felt that one, too, but the shoes absorbed the worst part of the hit.

Lydverket: So the moral of the story is: do jump from nine feet, but not without your shoes?

Hallgeir: "Yeah, damn right! I will jump again, but not without shoes.

Lydverket: You're in the middle of a tour with KVELERTAK. What's happening with that?

Hallgeir: "A physiotherapist and some doctors are gonna look at the foot, I hope they have some positive news. About the band and the tour, Glenn (PURIFIED IN BLOOD previous co-vocalist, who quit the bands six weeks ago to concentrate on his carreer as a tattoo artist) will do the shows this week, and I might join in a wheelchair at the Oslo show Thursday. We'll deal with stuff on a day-to-day basis. There's always a solution, but we'll always take the circus to town!

"Under Den Svarte Himmel", the new video from PURIFIED IN BLOOD, can be viewed below. The song comes off the group's sophomore full-length album, "Under Black Skies", which was released on June 7 via Spinefarm Records. The CD was produced by Ashley Stubbert (a U.S. producer/engineer/mixer who moved to Norway two years ago) in the band's hometown of Stavanger, and mixed by Matt Bayles (MASTODON, ISIS, BOTCH) in Seattle.

Since first coming together in 2003, PURIFIED IN BLOOD has toured throughout Europe and the U.S., shared stages with the likes of SLAYER, MASTODON and IN FLAMES, and picked up the occasional award along the way (i.e. the Alarm award for "Best Live Act" in 2006).

Video footage of heel-breaking incident:

PURIFIED IN BLOOD's "Under Den Svarte Himmel" video: