WEDNESDAY 13 Blasts Former MURDERDOLLS Bandmates Over 'Unauthorized' And 'Unapproved' Web Site And Merchandise

MURDERDOLLS' founding vocalist Wednesday 13 appears to have thrown shade at his former bandmates Acey Slade and Eric Griffin for launching a web site and staging an event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of MURDERDOLLS' first album, "Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls".

Earlier this week, it was announced that Slade and Griffin will take part in a signing on Sunday, August 28 at the Silver Scream convention at the Hilton Double Tree North Shore in Danvers, Massachusetts. The event will be livestreamed on several platforms, including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. Acey and Eric will also be doing a meet-and-greet after the announcement for those in attendance at Silver Scream Con. In addition, Acey and Eric have launched a web site, murderdollsofficial.com, that purports to cater to all of the MURDERDOLLS alumni and their legion of fans affectionally known as The Ghoulscouts.

On Thursday (August 25),Wednesday 13 took to his social media to write: "It's unfortunate that this has to be said, but here it is: MURDERDOLLS was created in 2002 by Joey Jordison and Wednesday 13. The name, the look, the lyrics, the music was all created by Joey Jordison and Wednesday 13. Anyone besides Wednesday or Joey claiming to be the Official MURDERDOLLS is NOT OFFICIAL. Any merchandise being advertised using Joey and Wednesday's original MURDERDOLLS logos, music and lyrics is NOT Approved or Authorized."

After the completion of the touring cycle for "Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls", MURDERDOLLS went on hiatus so that guitarist Joey Jordison could focus on his other band SLIPKNOT. In 2010, MURDERDOLLS released a sophomore album, "Women And Children Last", which did not feature Slade, Griffin and drummer Ben "The Ghoul" Graves, all of whom played on "Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls".

Just a few days prior to "Women And Children Last"'s arrival, Slade gave an interview to Blog Talk Radio's "Zombilly's Horror Hour" in which he said that he wasn't invited to take part in the making of the LP.

"We waited around a long time — myself, Eric and the Ghoul — we waited around a long time to do this record. And when Joey and Wednesday said that they wanted to do it by themselves, that was a bit of a... like, 'Really?! That's not what we discussed,'" he said. "But, quite frankly, it's like, okay, well, it's been seven years. You can't hold somebody to something they said seven years ago. It's like, 'Okay, cool.'"

Acey went on to say that he didn't like the material on "Women And Children Last". "I think it sounds like all the things that the band said that we weren't gonna be," he said. "When I was in the band, it was, 'We don't drop-tune — we tune standard 'cause we're a rock band — it's all tongue-in-cheek, nothing's serious. And now it's drop-tuned, it's serious subject matter, and it's not something I wanted to be a part of. It's like, wow, we were supposed to be a fun band that pissed people off, not a pissed off band that is writing... I don't know... It sounds like DISTURBED to me. It sounds like DISTURBED with Rob Zombie vocals. That was the other thing, too. [Laughs] Everybody was, like, 'You guys are like ALICE COOPER meets ROB ZOMBIE,' and we weren't. And it seems like all the negative things that people thought about us before they heard us, the band has now become. I'm not interested in that. I have a lot more creativity than that. And those guys do, too. So I'm a little disappointed for them. But you know, hey.... whatever. I guess they're happy doing it, but it's not something that I would wanna be a part of. And it's, like, weird, the whole Joey and Wednesday... They've got pictures of just Joey and Wednesday. I think it's pretty clear that they didn't want anyone else at the party; they want it to be an exclusive thing for them, I suppose."

Wednesday 13 reunited with Griffin and Slade on stage for the first time in over a decade in August 2018 at Lucky Strike Live in Hollywood. The event, which celebrated the life of Graves, saw the trio performing some of MURDERDOLLS' classic songs.

Graves, who also worked with PRETTY BOY FLOYD and DOPE, passed away in May 2018 after a year-long battle with cancer. He was only 45 years old.

The MURDERDOLLS did a number of major tours in support of "Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls". By the summer of 2003, the tenacity of the band was paying off. Tours with IRON MAIDEN, PAPA ROACH and the FOO FIGHTERS around the world and a Top 40 U.K. single with "White Wedding" made the band fan favorite in Metal Hammer, Metal Edge, Kerrang! and Rock Sound magazines.

Photo credit: Stephen Jensen at F3 Studios for Napalm Records