Heavy metal frontman charged with manslaughter during concert film, creating 'searing' legal drama
The plan was to create a concert film focusing on fans as heavy metal band Lamb of God toured Europe in 2012.
But then, when the group reached the Czech Republic, frontman Randy Blythe was arrested, charged with manslaughter and jailed for over a month before his lawyer could obtain bail, recounts the New York Daily News. So the documentary crew following the band’s activities focused on this new topic.
The result is the documentary As the Palaces Burn, which opens Thursday.
Initially accused of pushing a young man off the stage to his death during an earlier concert tour, Blythe was acquitted by a three-judge panel when he returned to the Czech Republic to stand trial in 2013. The film, which focuses on the case both from his perspective and that of the dead man’s family, is described as “searing” by the Los Angeles Times (sub. req.).
“What’s important about our movie is that it comes to a positive resolution. And it treated the family of this young man, Daniel, with respect and his memory with respect,” Blythe told the Times. “It was hugely important that he not get lost in all this.”
PennLive.com and Richmond.com also have stories.
