Swedish Festival Organizers In Legal Hot Water Over MAYHEM's Bloody Stage Show

The organizers of the Swedish hard rock/heavy metal festival Gates of Metal may face prosecution over the stage show put on by the Norwegian black metal band MAYHEM last Saturday (August 5). Pig heads and other animal parts decorated the stage during the band's performance (Photo#1, Photo#2) — a violation of the Swedish animal by-product regulation.

"It's illegal to handle animal parts in this manner," Hanna Werthén, administrative officer at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, told the Swedish newspaper Östran/Nyheterna. "You may use animal by-products for educational purposes or in an artistic context, but in that case you need a permit from us first. We have not received an application from the festival promoters in Hultsfred. Therefore we will take action. Exactly what will happen I can't say at the moment, but it may very well lead to prosecution."

"The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries called me to inform me what regulations apply in a situation like this. I actually didn't know that these rules existed," says the festival organizer, Olof Wikström. "But the situation is what it is, and all I can is that it is regrettable. Now we await the pending investigation. It's very regrettable that it turned out this way, but at least we learned something new for next year's festival.

"If you just look at the artistic aspect, it was a good show," Olof continues. "The audience response was very positive to the MAYHEM show. It's a pity we hadn't secured a permit from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries."

Hanna Werthén explains that first you have to apply for a permit to acquire animal parts from a slaughterhouse. An additional permit is required if you want to use the animal parts for educational purposes or display them in an artistic context. "In this case, it will be difficult to take action against the bandmembers since they have obviously brought the animal by-product with them from Norway," she says. "I actually don't know what we can do with regards to the bandmembers. But we will look further into the festival organizers' part in the matter, since they have the overall responsibility for the animal by-products being displayed on stage."

The animal by-product regulation was introduced in 2002. "From an animal disease perspective, it's important," Werthén explains. "It was introduced because of the mad cow disease. The purpose is to be able to trace all animal by-products so that you know where they end up. Thus animal parts cannot be handed out in any kind of fashion."