This week saw the surprising news that Tau Cross had been dropped by their label Relapse Records around a month ahead of the planned release of their new album “Messengers Of Deception“. The move wasn’t much of a shock when the reasons behind the decision came to light however.
As it turned out, the move to sever ties with the band came about following the revelation that their vocalist Rob Miller (of Amebix fame) had prominently thanked a noted holocaust denier in the album’s liner notes.
The label’s manager Rennie Jaffe further explained why they decided to drop the band in this statement, revealing that the lyrics and themes of the album left them uncomfortable given Miller‘s apparent inspiration. As Jaffe noted, the other members of the band, who include Michel “Away” Langevin of Voivod, were unaware of Miller taking inspiration from such materials. Thus, they have since issued the following statement on the matter:
“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 extend 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“
Similarly, Miller issued a statement of his own in response shortly before the band’s entire Facebook profile was pulled offline and remains unavailable as of press time. His statement reads as follows:
“I would like to second the sentiments of the other members of Tau Cross, i do owe them an apology for not explaining my lines of enquiry or the people who have influenced my view so dramatically over the past few years,they are not in any way to blame for anything i have written or read,and i understand the need to distance themselves from that subject.
i wish them all the very best in their futures and treasure the times we have shared together. The book ‘tell the truth and shame the devil’ by Gerard Menuhin is available on Amazon and Kindle,and also in good reads, where it gets a consistent 4.5 stars out of 5,so not exactly obscure or unavailable, unless you live in Germany where it is forbidden to engage in any conversation on some of the matters contained within those pages.
There are a number of people languishing in Prisons over there for expressing even a slight academic interest in the matter, so effectively all discussion is shut down and we live in a state of what can only be described as Religious obedience. it is a Religion,and anyone approaching the matter is in danger of being charged with heresy and publicly executed, so you can feel free to examine yourself and see if you believe this is a good thing or not.
As a singer in a band i have always been serious about the Truth, trying to refine the material and ideas to some kind of overarching theory, i cannot simply skim the material,i have to go into it and prepare to be changed by that journey. that has happened on a number of occasions, through reading Menuhins book,through John Lash and his work,through 9/11 research,through the Europa-the last battle video series that is constantly popping up and being pushed back down on youtube.
If I stop asking questions I stop being true to myself,so i have no choice. For 99 percent of people they have already made up their mind about me based on the words of another man written in a book they have never read, and that is enough to make a judgement,so on you go,join in the feeding frenzy of virtue signalling and outrage if you like but i stand by my endorsement of this book as it was such an important part of this journey, this is not to say that i like the Author as a person or even know that much more about him,the book is primarily a collection of quotes and original source materials, a book to study and not for salacious gossip. Others will see what is real in this situation and what is not.
Messengers of deception is probably our best album to date, it continues the enquiry and refines it through the lens of the Gnostic heresy and what that really was,why it had to be completely eradicated and what that means for our World today, the irony of having released a single about the inquisition and the suppression of speech should not be lost on anyone. Love and Light to all who want it, Rob Miller–Tau Cross…over and out.”
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