Earlier this month the event Dimebash was held in honour of the guitarist who almost everyone in the Metal community know after his tragic death on stage. In celebration of this lovely man a show was held where things did not go as we might expect them to.

After having performed Pantera songs with Robb Flynn and others Phil Anselmo was caught on stage screaming out “white power” whilst also giving classic Nazi salutes. Chris R, a Youtuber uploaded the video after apparently it was edited to not contain the final section of of the track where Anselmo was seeing screaming the words.

Many of the people in the Metal community have spoken out over the incident however none are more pertinent that Machine Head‘s Robb Flynn. Uploading a video of himself speaking about the incident. Stating that the phrase used was in conjunction with a joke that was going around backstage about the band drinking white wine. Flynn disproves this theory by saying that Anselmo was never drinking white wine at all. Then going on to speak out about Anselmo’s place in the Metal community where he is seen as a legend and has been doing the same kind of gestures as what was caught at Dimebash for quite a long time.

Calling the man out on not only what he said but how many times he has actually gotten away with it and ensuring that the man doesn’t continue to easily brush it off. Putting it in the perspective of other genres of music the likes of Pop where if Justin Bieber had said something similar the entire media would be in total uproar and would have condemmed the singer in a moments notice. His video has incited a lot of different Metal heads to begin to actually think about racism within the the community, something that is often overlooked and far too quickly swept under the rug.

Since then Anselmo has uploaded a video where the singer looks fairly sincere offering an apology to fans and anyone that might have been offended. It’s quite clear that Anselmo has been caught red handed and knows he has indeed completely screwed up. Had this been some form of an accident, I’m unsure how it might have been but there might have been a small room for understanding. Personally I feel it is as black and white as it is made out, whether or not we should forgive the singer is another matter, who knows that it wouldn’t happen again…