Tau Cross, the band consisting of vocalist Rob Baron (ex-Amebix), drummer Michel Langevin (Voivod), guitarists Andy Lefton (War//Plague) and Jon Misery (Misery), and bassist Tom Radio (Frustration), announced today that they were not releasing their new album Messengers Of Deception this August. The band was severing ties with Relapse Records, who had already taken down all their music and removed all pre-orders and existing merchandise from their webstore.
It then came to light a short time after that the reason the band was severing ties was because Miller thanked Gerard Menuhin in the album's liner notes, who Relapse Records label manager Rennie Jaffe adds German magazine Ox pointed out is "a far right conspiracy theorist, focused specifically on Holocaust denial." Jaffe says the rest of Tau Cross were unaware of who Menuhin is, "and were as shocked by these references in the record, as we at the label were."
The remainder of Tau Cross has now issued their own statement, saying they were just as shocked as everyone else about the news, and that they are extremely disappointed in what happened. "It is truly beyond comprehension to see it take this very unexpected turn," they add.
This is a statement from Michel, Andy, Jon and Tom regarding the recent events with Tau Cross and Relapse Records.
On Monday, July 1st, the four of us received a very concerning e-mail from Relapse stating that they will not be releasing our upcoming album and severing all ties to any previous work. To say that we were blindsided by this news is an understatement.
During initial production of the album, we were asked individually to provide our thanks list, which for us consisted of family and friends.
Now, the four of us were informed that Rob Miller has submitted a thank you to a notorious right-wing author who none of us are familiar with. We promptly researched this author's history and we are adamantly against anything relating to this kind of ugliness. We've been vigilant in our attempts to get answers as to why this has happened and, frankly, how it could possibly happen considering our background and beliefs.
We are all crushed. We've worked so hard on this album—to have something of this nature destroy it is absolutely devastating. For the many of you who know us, you're aware that we are sincere and honest with ourselves and with the world. Tau Cross was an outlet for us to experience the love and passion we all have, while staying true to our beliefs and ideals. It is truly beyond comprehension to see it take this very unexpected turn.
With that, we want to extent our love and appreciation to Relapse Records and all our friends and family who have supported us.
With love and light,
Michel, Andy, Jon and Tom
