Pretty much our entire lives, we’ve been told not to judge a book by its cover. After all, you never know what sort of wonderful things you miss out on because of judging something by its name. However, it seems some protesters aren’t giving a French music festival a second chance, as they rally against it due to the “satanic” happenings set to occur there.
As Metalsucks reports, the same protest group that attempted to remove Phil Anselmo’s Down from the Hellfest Open Air Festival lineup in 2016 has again attacked the festival, calling it “anti-Christian” and “Satanic.”
“This festival has several groups promoting anti-Christianity and Satanism and they do not hesitate to insult and say blasphemy, with overthrown crosses and real Satanic rites,” explained lead protester Thierry Barnole.
This year’s lineup, which takes place in Clisson, France, includes the likes of Avenged Sevenfold, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest, with other acts such as Deftones, Alice In Chains, Marilyn Manson, and Parkway Drive also attending.
While we can somewhat understand a conservative protest group who are somewhat uneducated in the world of hard-rock and metal being scared by a group such as Judas Priest based on their name alone, Metalsucks notes that it’s worth remembering that one band on the lineup, Megadeth, is in fact fronted by Dave Mustaine, an outspoken Christian.
Considering how flimsy their argument is, there’s a pretty good chance that nothing will come of this protest, but we really do have to wonder how the ‘satanic panic’ has managed to maintain its influence all the way into 2018.