If you have annoying neighbours, take note. If you are the annoying neighbour, be warned. It seems residential revenge is a dish best served cold, and with a healthy soundtrack side of thrash metal.
As reported by UPI, an elderly couple in Stockholm, Sweden became tired of the loud “whistling sound” coming from their neighbour’s property, which forced the 71-year-old woman into taking sleeping pills just to catch her beauty sleep.
Fed up and seething with anger, the pensioners began to brainstorm a revenge plan for their pesky neighbour’s noise. Teepee-ing? Toilet paper is too expensive. Knick-knocking? They wouldn’t be able to flee in time.
Out of ideas and feeling defeated, the elderly pair were presumably rocking back and forth on their favourite chairs until they saw it: the holy grail of revenge and the nuclear bomb of neighbourhood warfare: Iron Maiden’s 1992 album Fear of the Dark. They set it to track three, pressed play and the rest, they say, was history.
The elderly couple allegedly blasted the track ‘Afraid To Shoot Strangers’ at full blast throughout the cold winter night until 4am and could only be stopped with police intervention. “We wanted to give a taste of their own medicine,” said the 81-year-old husband in the couples’ defence.
When officers arrived at the home and the source of deafening heavy metal, they found two subwoofas – one on the balcony and another in the basement – aimed directly towards their neighbours’ home. The (fun) police then charged the elderly masterminds with harassment.
“We wanted to give a taste of their own medicine,” said the 81-year-old husband in the couples’ defence. And that they did. As The Star reports, another neighbour reportedly tried to mediate the situation, saying the high-volume Iron Maiden bombardment was causing “pure terror.”
“The volume in the basement is crazy high,” the unidentified neighbour told press. “You can hear the music from the street. The whole situation is extreme.”
Meanwhile, the victimised whistling neighbour had clearly learnt their lesson when they spoke to police about their torturous ordeal. “The harassment has just carried on, I am completely broken down. How can I keep living here?” You know what they say: that’s when good neighbours become good friends.
It’s not the first time rock’n’roll has been utilised by cheeky fans in acts of noise terrorism. Last year, a 54-year-old woman in New Hamsphire was arrested four times in 26 hours after repeatedly blasting AC/DC’s ‘Highway To Hell’ at an ear-popping volume from her home. News that followed another Acca Dacca diehard, who created a computer virus that infected nuclear facilities in Iran which would blast ‘Thunderstruck’ at maximum volume between shutting down their operating systems.
In related Iron Maiden news, the band are still mourning the loss of their original drummer Clive Burr, who passed away last month at 56 after a long battle with multiple sclerosis.
Burr’s former Samson and Iron Maiden colleague, Bruce Dickinson, said that “even during the darkest days of his M.S., Clive never lost his sense of humour or irreverence.” Though it’s not Burr drumming on the track used in the elderly couple’s aural assault, having departed Maiden after recording the band’s first three records, there’s no doubt he’s smiling down in appreciation from whatever rock heaven he’s passed into.
