Report: Dutch Heavy Metal Bands To Rock The Heck Out Of Religious Town

March 20, 2007

The Associated Press reports that organizers of a heavy metal rock festival in the Netherlands have been granted a permit for the open-air concert this summer on one condition: no cursing.

The Elsrock festival caused an uproar last year when it was held for the first time outside the small, heavily religious town of Rijssen, 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Amsterdam — in an area known as the Dutch Bible Belt.

Two religious political parties complained that heavy metal "is typified by lyrics about death and decay, and vocals that change between a hellish wail and deep grunts."

Churches protesting a new concert this year were pacified only by "the stated readiness of the organizers to make sure that no blasphemous words are used, and that the honor of God's name is not besmirched," Mayor Bort Koelewijn wrote in a letter granting the permit.

"Should there in practice be any blasphemy, I'll ask the district attorney to prosecute."

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