Tom Geldschläger, also known as Fountainhead, was in Obscura from 2014 to 2015. During that time he recorded the band's brand new album Akróasis, which Geldschläger did not get to tour on due to being let go from the band.
Geldschläger has kept relatively quiet about his firing from the group since it happened, though now he's speaking out in a pretty professional way against the band's frontman and guitarist Steffan Kummerer. Here's what he had to say via London Metal Monthly.
“I wouldn’t want to view my time in the band as an all-negative experience, even though there was tension between me and Steffen. My departure, however, and everything that followed were (and are), a complete disgrace to everyone who worked so hard on the album and to the fans who support them.
“I never thought I’d see my name dragged through the mud like that, or have somebody publicly try to plagiarize my work. That´s not a great place to be in for sure, but at the end of the day, it doesn´t hurt me as much as it hurts the band itself.
“But let me say the following: everyone who played on the last three Obscura albums collaborated and continues to collaborate with each other in some other project, always with the exception of Steffen. Why do you think that is?
…“After I was vocal about that behavior being a problem, he fired me over the phone on the last day of mixing the album (which was not even legal, since the company’s contract directly requires a full company meeting and proof that a member is doing harm to the company in order for such decisions to be made). [This was] AFTER I found out that he had hired a session guitarist for the “Summer Slaughter Tour” (again, with no prior discussion), which was about to start a couple of days later.
“He then went on to have all my Obscura videos blocked on YouTube and dictate that the final mixes of the album be kept from me.”
Credit to Geldschläger for keeping his cool here and just explaining why he thinks the firing is complete bullshit. I can't imagine Kummerer will have a response to this, considering it's all been over for a little while now, but crazier things have happened.
