As metalheads, we know our choice of aggressive, frightening, and violent music is simply an outlet for our negative emotions so we can be perfectly level-headed, chill guys the rest of the time.
Except for when some of our favorite artists absolutely confirm the stereotypes and act like unhinged lunatics. You could disavow the artists entirely and stop supporting them, but let’s face it, you’re not going to do that.
Instead, I devised a system that will let you determine if the guilt of listening to some of your favorite artists is worth it. It’s a little intricate, so try to keep up: I give each artist a scumbaggery score (my sources for what they did are “bro trust me,” I ain’t linking all this crap) and a brutality score (brutality in the good way, that is. See, I told you this would be intricate). I then subtract the scumbaggery score from the brutality score to get the artist’s verdict. If the verdict is too high, I will no longer support the artist. It’s like golf except way more interesting and way less sophisticated.
How high is “too high?”
What will these ratings be on a scale out of?
Uuuuhhhhhhhhh…let’s get on to the list:
Tim Lambesis (As I Lay Dying, Austrian Death Machine)
The inspiration for this list given recent events. Lambesis is the sole founding member of influential metalcore band As I Lay Dying, and currently the sole member of any kind of the band as well (more on that later).
What did he do?
His first wife filed for divorce in 2012 on account of his neglect of her and their children as well as his admitting to an extramarital affair. In 2013 he plead guilty to attempting to hire a hitman to kill said wife, who was actually an undercover cop, and was sentenced to six years in prison, but only served three before being released.
As I Lay Dying returned from hiatus in 2018 with the pre-conviction lineup (with the “newest” member having joined in 2007) still entirely in tact.
However, after releasing a new album and going on several new tours, the classic 2007 lineup started to drop off throughout 2021 and 2022, leaving only Lambesis and guitarist Phil Sgrosso. The band hired new members in 2022, but they, along with Sgrosso and their manager, all quit in fall 2024. Not to mention the drummer of Tim’s other band, Austrian Death Machine.
Now a couple videos have surfaced showing him getting into heated verbal altercations with his third (now ex) wife, engaging in aggressive body language, and hitting himself.
Although these events are still developing and I’ll probably never know the full story about Tim’s relationships with his now ex-wife and all of his now ex-bandmates, I can identify a common denominator. If 11 years, three of which were in prison, three divorces, multiple lawsuits, and losing all of your bandmates multiple times over isn’t enough to make you reconsider your choices, I don’t know what will.
Scumbaggery score: 6
Hiring a hitman to kill your estranged wife (with whom you have two adopted kids) is an objectively shitty move, but hey, there was never a real hitman involved here. Intent matters, but that woman was never in any danger (well, from a hitman, anyway).
How brutal is he?
Okay, I know this won’t be winning the top brutality score on account of As I Lay Dying being metalcore and therefore not deserving of “true metal” status blah blah blah.
They’re not my main go-to these days, but what they lack in elitist approval they make up for in being my first metal concert ever, and that counts for a lot. However, I feel like despite the lineup changes, they’ve been doing more or less the same thing for about twenty years now. You’d think after their hiatus the changes they’d gone through as people would be reflected in their music, but we got more true-to-form AILD.
Austrian Death Machine is also a pretty enjoyable listen, with plenty of funny references to Arnold Schwarzenegger movies and gym culture that makes for a good workout jam. I’m surprised the gimmick has lasted for four records, but given how much content fitness influencers can recycle for decades on end, I guess I shouldn’t be.
That said, both bands released records this year. The new Austrian Death Machine is decent, with several guest appearances (including now ex-wife number three), but the new As I Lay Dying fucking rips!
The fact that Tim was able to replace three of his longstanding bandmates, record some of their best material yet, have another scandal, lose his wife, all of his bandmates, and his manager, and still have the label release the record is nothing short of incredible. That’s a setback that would crush less-brutal musicians for good.
Brutality score: 6
Verdict: 6-6=0
Lambesis gets a pass. I think I’ll go jam the new As I Lay Dying record again.
Bobby Liebling (Pentagram)
What did he do?
In 2017, Liebling plead guilty to “abuse and neglect of a vulnerable adult custodian,” his 87 year-old mother. According to Pentagram’s bassist, Greg Turley, this was “drug induced.” He served 18 months in prison.
Scumbaggery score: 8
It doesn’t get much lower and pathetic than assaulting your own elderly mother.
How brutal is he?
Despite doom metal being my favorite sungenre, I could never quite get into Pentagram’s music. Part of this is my preference for younger doom bands like Pallbearer and Warning, but even Pentagram’s contemporaries like Pagan Altar and Witchfinder General always had much better replay value for me.
Brutality score: 4
Verdict: 8-4=4
Pentagram will never be amongst my top-played artists but if they came up in my shuffle I could still listen without skipping and not lose any sleep over it.
Vince Neil (Mötley Crüe)
What did he do?
Neil got into a head-on crash while driving drunk in 1984, killing his passenger Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley of Hanoi Rocks and seriously injuring the two people in the other vehicle. I saw on some VH1 documentary ages ago that the two in the other vehicle suffered permanent brain damage from the accident, but I can no longer find a source corroborating this.
Neil was fined $2 million and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, but only served 18.
Scumbaggery score: 9
He is directly responsible for a man’s death.
How brutal is he?
Mötely Crüe and the entire glam subgenre has never been my cup of tea, but even I can’t deny that they wrote some bangers. Well, I don’t know exactly how much Neil contributed to the writing process and I’m not going down the rabbit hole to find out, but the dude had pipes before he ruined his voice with booze and drugs (and excessive fried food later on).
Brutality score: 3
He has an impressive musical legacy to be sure, but no one, let alone him, would ever claim music was his first priority. Especially now since he can’t even sing.
Verdict: 9-3=6
Mötley Crüe wouldn’t even show up in my shuffle, but I’d still sing along to “Shout at the Devil” if I heard it come on while shopping at Walmart.
Pat O’Brien (ex-Cannibal Corpse)
What did he do?
On December 10, 2018 the guitarist broke into a neighbor’s house (whom he did not know), shouted “the rapture is coming,” and pushed a female occupant to the ground when she told him to leave. When the cops showed up, he charged at a deputy with a knife and was tased and arrested. All while the house he rented was on fire.
The day after, fire marshals found a large cache of weapons in O’Brien’s home, including 50 shotguns (one of which was an illegal sawed-off shotgun), 20 semiautomatic rifles, two Uzi-style firearms, 20 handguns, two flamethrowers, and thousands of rounds of ammunition (many of which exploded in the fire).
Oh, and three human skulls.
Scumbaggery score: 5
I can only imagine how terrifying it must have been to have a tweaking stranger break into your house and assault you, or have a tweaker rush you with a knife. But ultimately no one was seriously injured, including the tweaker. The homeowner even said O’Brien seemed scared, claimed “someone was after him,” and hid in his closet at one point, which is more sad than anything.
Some might argue the situation could have ended way worse given the arsenal O’Brien had at his disposal while he was tweaked off his ass. But considering whatever he was tripping on made him think a knife was a suitable alternative to any of those guns, I’d argue the situation could have ended even better if he had taken even more drugs! He may have even forgotten the knife! There, I just simultaneously solved both gun violence and the War on Drugs. You’re welcome, America.
I just hope O’Brien’s landlord had some good insurance.
How brutal is he?
The dude was in Cannibal Corpse for over two decades, during which he played on 10 albums with songwriting credits on some of the band’s most technical songs to boot.
Brutality score: 10
Verdict: 5-10=-5
The dude can shred and is even a responsible gun owner while high as giraffe balls. What more can you ask for?
Dagon (Inquisition)
What did he do?
I’m not sure how this will affect my SEO, so I’m going to say he was charged with possession of ild-chay ornography-pay in 2008. He ultimately pled guilty to lesser charges of “Unlawful Display of Sexually Explicit Material” and “Obstructing a Law Enforcement Officer” as part of a plea bargain in 2009.
I don’t know the reasoning behind the prosecution offering a plea bargain, but when the authorities subpoenaed his computer, they found “as many as” 2,000 files that had been deleted. However, the files they were able to recover included ild-chay ornography-pay according to court documents.
Maybe that evidence was thrown out. Maybe it was flimsy evidence to begin with. It clearly wasn’t enough to convict him on the ild-chay ornograpy-pay charge alone. Does that mean I believe the whole scandal was a witch hunt with zero truth to it?
Scumbaggery score: 9
Take a guess.
How brutal is he?
I could let Inquisition’s lack of bass pass if they at least made up for it with everything else. The rest of the instruments are fine, but Dagon’s vocals entirely ruin it for me. When I first listened to them, I distinctly remember thinking his vocals sounded like “one long, drawn-out fart.” I still stand by that evaluation.
Brutality score: 2
Verdict: 9-2=7
I’m just as much of a believer in due process as the next guy, but if the police were still able to recover ild-chay ornography-pay on a computer you owned even after you deleted a crapload of files I want nothing to do with you.
If he’s going to make a career of his voice, I guess it’s better used for sub-par black metal than playing a stereotypical old lady on kids’ shows.
Ivan Moody (Five Finger Death Punch)
What did he do?
He was arrested in Sydney for drunkenly assaulting a female flight attendant in 2014, although what became of those charges never became public.
Just over a year later, Moody got into an argument with his girlfriend or wife (depending on whom you ask) in a Las Vegas hotel room when she accused him of cheating. His girlfiend/wife eventually went to sleep, but allegedly woke up with Moody’s arms around her neck in a jiu-jitsu stranglehold. She claimed he said “I’m going to fucking kill you” before repeatedly punching her and choking her with a blanket.
Moody himself was allegedly too intoxicated to comment on the altercation when the authorities confronted him. They arrested him for domestic battery by strangulation, although he made bail and the charges were later dismissed. His “wife” later filed for divorce from Moody on account of a history of physical abuse, but FFDP’s manager claimed this made no sense as Moody was never married to this woman.
However, Moody’s sister claims to have a restraining order filed against him on account of Moody’s history of violence toward women, especially when drugs and alcohol are involved. She also claims to have two other restraining orders against Moody protecting each of her kids.
Scumbaggery score: 6
Given Moody’s level of success, it wouldn’t be crazy to believe that his accuser(s) had their own ulterior motives, especially since there is no public evidence he was ever convicted of any violent crimes. But two arrests for similar charges, with two different alleged victims, in two different countries, and at least three restraining orders from members of his own family start to paint a picture.
How brutal is he?
Five Finger Death Punch is, ironically, one of the favorite punching bags of metalhead elitists, being called “commercial wannabe tough guy pop metal,” or some other such variation. These accusations aren’t without their merit, since even as an up-and-coming metalhead tween I found the lyrics of their first album to be rather contrived.
However, that didn’t stop me from buying it with my limited allowance money. Or their second album. Or their third. Moody’s lyrics somewhat improved, but his powerful and unique voice needed no improvement as he sounded great record after record.
I stopped paying them much attention after that third record, having moved on to relatively heavier stuff like the first scumbag on this list. A few short years later I found myself listening to the scumbags listed below. And I doubt I’m the only one with a similar story.
Like it or not, mainstream bands like Five Finger Death Punch are usually the entry of the metalhead pipeline, which eventually reaches the cold, bleak depths of the underground where strange creatures like pornogrind dwell.
You might let nostalgia cloud your opinion and argue that your first metal band in the 80s was so much better than these stupid new bands; in which case see above for “Vince Neal,” pops.
Brutality score: 4
Verdict: 6-4=2
I won’t defend any of his alleged crimes, but War is the Answer is worth a listen.
Second-wave black metal (all of it)
What did they do?
This article is already getting way too long and this particular scene has already been covered by countless other blogs, books, documentaries, and movies (to varying degrees of accuracy), so I’m just going to give you the rapid fire:
Multiple church arsons, torture, threats of murder, actual murders (both of complete strangers and bandmates), alleged attempted mail bombings (I kind of doubt this ever happened), alleged successful venue bombings (this happened, but they never caught the culprit), suicides, making necklaces out of the skull fragments from one of said suicides.
Scumbag score: 666
How brutal are they?
Their mission was for their music to reflect how they actually lived.
Brutality score: 665
Most of them succeeded.
Verdict: 666-665=1
You may feel mildly uncomfortable enjoying this as much as you do.