Austrian Death Machine: Brutal Ripoff?

Yesterday Noisey posted an interesting blog entry in which they contemplated how fans of Austrian Death Machine should treat the outfit's new release, Triple Brutal, in the wake of the whole Tim Lambesis murder-for-hire saga. Obviously, many of those quick to spend money on Austrian Death Machine's music in the past may now be concerned this time around regarding their money's ultimate destination (i.e. the Lambesis defense fund). To proactively combat these reservations, in February Austrian Death Machine revealed that proceeds from the album would be donated to charity. At the time, the only details provided were as follows:


Some fans are still apparently confused, however, with one posting the following on the band's Facebook page on April 2nd, the day after the album's street date: "Sorry. Not paying someone's legal fees." On April 3rd, the band's camp responded: "Proceeds from the album go to charity. Artery owns the record now and they're good people."

This all sounds great on the surface, but the devil may indeed be in the details. Exactly what are "royalties" and "proceeds" in this context? For starters, Triple Brutal was crowdfunded via Indiegogo. The entire take for the Triple Brutal campaign was $78,120 (less Indiegogo's fees). We're guessing that none of that money will be going to charity (to be fair, Lambesis never claimed that it would).

So what is going to charity exactly? Artery Recordings is handling the official release, and if they're not benefiting financially, why are they involved? Are they going to donate everything left after production costs? Let it be known that I have no information to suggest that Artery is acting inappropriately here. They are likely doing the right thing. But again, what are "proceeds" relative to Triple Brutal? Is it possible that there won't be any?

Moreover, Peter Holslin, author of the Noisey piece, discovered that to date neither Tim Lambesis nor Austrian Death Machine has established any sort of formal relationship with World Vision, the stated recipient of Triple Brutal profits. Sheryl Watkins, World Vision's senior communications officer, told Holslin the following via email:


Watkins did note that "Lambesis can still make donations to the organization under the radar," but given all of the circumstances at play here, this seems highly unlikely.

Further casting a pall over the proceedings is the fact that many of those who originally contributed to the Indiegogo campaign aren't getting what they paid for. Thirty-three fans paid $250 each for an "All Snaccess Pass," granting them and a friend free, one-time access to any Austrian Death Machine or As I Lay Dying show in addition to dinner with Lambesis afterwards. For a slew of reasons, the chances that any of these people will get anything in return are beyond slim. And the three people that paid $500 for personal training from Lambesis? Right.

Fine, Lambesis is currently unavailable, and those perks will have to wait for logistical reasons (that's the best possible spin anyone can put on the matter). But what about the hundreds of people who paid for an early digial download or exclusive digipak of Triple Brutal. If Austrian Death Machine's Facebook comments are to be believed, many of those campaign contributors haven't yet gotten their money's worth (you can see some evidence below).

Perhaps miscommunication is to blame. It's possible that some charity is already benefiting, and that most ADM fans have in fact gotten the Indiegogo perks they paid for (sans the aforementioned ones involving Lambesis personally). But until more information is released and/or some facts come to light, you can expect that most of the music community will not be giving Lambesis the benefit of the doubt on the matter.





UPDATE: In response to this piece, Artery has sent Lambgoat the following information, which we thoroughly appreciate.