confronting Kim Kelly about her clients' racist, homophobic past
Writer Kim Kelly took Dragonforce to task over offensive lyrics. Is that really fair of the person who once handled PR for Anal C*nt?
Thursday, August 7, 2014 6:49 AM PT / 40,601 viewsFine, Demoniac had some vile lyrics and Kelly called them out. It's not the end of the world and Dragonforce will survive.
However, as I was perusing the comments to our news item on the Noisey piece, an astute Lambgoat reader pointed out that Kelly recently handled publicity for Anal C*nt. Wait, what?
Yes, it's true. In addition to her various writing gigs -- she has an impressive resume -- Kelly heads Catharsis PR, a competent public relations firm for a handful of bands, including Wolvserpent, Coffinworm, and Fight Amp. It was Catharsis PR that handled the final Anal C*nt album, released shortly before the death of frontman Seth Putnam. In fact, it was Kelly herself who publicly confirmed Putnam's untimely demise.
If you're not familiar with Anal C*nt, the controversial grindcore act is responsible for some of the most sexist, racist, and homophobic lyrics in existence. I could regurgitate them here for you, but I wouldn't want to offend our sensitive readers. If you're curious, you can check out the lyrics to the very A.C. album that Kelly and Catharsis PR promoted here. It's not pretty, but certainly consistent with A.C.'s past offerings. It's what they were known for.
So, Kelly took money from A.C. and Putnam to promote some of their lyrically offensive catalog, but then later publicly confronted Dragonforce over offensive lyrics?
Kelly is good at what she does, both writing and PR, but this whole thing is absurdly hypocritical on her part.
[responding to question regarding our piece]
"No, I haven't even read it; just thought it was worth saying. It sucks to be 'called out,' but just goes to show. We all fuck up."
Related: Demoniac, Seth Putnam, Anal Cunt, Dragonforce
^ Demoniac was "tongue in cheek" too, as they've said. Besides, they let an Asian into the band. What more proof do you need?
Should also be pointed out that Grim Kim helps organize the Martyrdoom fest which booked the band Bestial Mockery last year, a band she's interviewed and quoted approvingly before (https://www.facebook.com/Martyrdoomfest/posts/47588 5955821343?stream_ref=5) What kind of things do they have to say about women? "Beat the bitches, beat 'til death" - http://www.darklyrics.com/ lyrics/bestialmockery/gospeloftheinsane.html#11 Okay then.
Hilarious and repugnant having someone who makes money off coddling Black Metal bands to preach to the internet about social injustice. Didn't realize Black Metal was a force for good...
From Demoniac's "sageslut" "Eating your heart out in the high heavens We have heaviest beats of all time We worship Satan and we're f*cking evil " VERY serious obviously
consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, right guys?
still the larger hypocrisy of a person working in music PR and "music journalism" simultaneously goes unmentioned
well maybe she listens to a little too much Hypocrisy U GUYS EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THAT
black metal takes shit from all corners of metal press for the same kind of lyrical content all the time. burzum cant sell merch on ebay anymore even, why should dragonforce be immune if that's how the game is played?
Kim kelly is actually mediocre at what she does. she will probably get a pass for her hypocrisy by tons of undersexed metal dudes white knighting for her.
I think the anyone calling Kim Kelly a good writer is the most alarming revelation here.
Who gives a shit Dragonforce sucks a whole lotta dck. Worst band ever.
You forgot to mention Seth Putnam's truly racist band, creasel Jesus. rear c*nt lyrics are modest compared to creasel Jesus. She also gave a pass to the guy from Bolzer with the white power tattoos in this interview: http://www.stereogum.com/1 695074/qa-bolzer-on-psyche delic-drugs-st-anger-and-w hats-up-with-those-swastik a-tattoos/franchises/inter view/
Someone mentioned this on the NWN board but on her facebook profile, KK's wearing a Demonic Christ Shirt. Have a laugh at what kind of person is behind THAT band: http://www.mourningtheancient.com/demonic.htm "If there were one single thing you could change about the world, instantly, what would it be? Why? I would get rid of all the sages and spics - to make this world a prettier and happier place. It would have a domino effect and rid the world of many of it's problems."
You guys are being ridiculous... You're leaving out the time Kim Kelly praised the Greek neo-nazi party because they had a guy in a black metal band involved, the time Kim Kelly interviewed Bolzer about their swastika tattoos and shrugged off their lame excuse, and all the times she's listed Morbid Angel as her favorite band without ever mentioning that Dave Vincent left the band in the 90's because he was outwardly NS.
Kim Kelly also has a Swastika shirt, what a progressive minded crusader for racial equality https://phillymetal.com/topics/RELAPSE_TALBE_AT_THE_ HAVOK
she loves misogynistic pornogrind bands too: http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2012/03/microgenres- pornogrind-a-primer/
The swastika t-shirt thread. Holy f*ck. Pot, meet kettle.
Article should be "Kim Kelly confronted on being a complete hack with few journalistic ethics and less talent."
How does anyone even take this dumb c*nt seriously after she got duped hook, line, and sinker by those posers on Facebook claiming to be an Iraqi black metal band? If these horse shit magazines gave a f*ck about metal, they'd laugh her out of town.
Carnivore was even more racist, misogynistic and homophobic in the 80s. Pete Steele was one hilarious dude. I guess the fact that 12 year olds across the country love the Dragonforce guys. Theyre being marketed towards kids. The band they were before was just a terrible business move on their part.
So her attitude toward AxCx has changed so much in the 3 years since the 2011 release of their album, but she goes after Dragonforce members for something they did in the 90s?
Anyone save the content of the "swastika shirt" PhillyMetal thread? Kim or one if her friends deleted it. No, she's TOTALLY not reading this article.
Kim Kelly also collects NSBM records. "look at my record collection and tell me girls can't hang. Have you got a first pressing of Necros Christos's Trivune Ipvrity Rites LP? How about Graveland's In the Glare of Burning Churches on blood-red wax (a limited edition of 666), a signed copy of Saint Vitus's Born Too Late, or Drudkh's first three albums on picture disc? No? Then suck my dck"
"We all need racial segregation to preserve our own culture and spirituality that is the anvil of our characters and will." - Rob Darken, Graveland
LOL @ anyone who thinks Seth Putnam wasn't a sincere bigot just because their lyrics sound like a 12-year old wrote them. Anyone who ever talked with him offstage knows exactly where he stood.
That post is still there—I think the URL is just screwy. https://phillymetal.com/topics/RELAPSE_TALBE_AT_THE_HAVOK Seriously though, someone screenshot that posthaste.
the thread/comments on the philly metal board are still there. xaidsx Posts: 496 Sep 25, 2009 - 12:59 PM i'm going to need you to wear the swastika shirt again...racism = alcohol!!! subvertallchris Posts: 2160 Sep 25, 2009 - 1:08 PM Kim has a swastika shirt!? Edit: Wait. XXX Maniak show. Right. Post pictures. kimkelly Posts: 1116 Sep 25, 2009 - 6:05 PM I totally still have it dude; if I can't find it, I'll wear my Skyforger shirt just for you ;)
Go back to West Philly and bang a black dude while wearing your Burzum shirt
^ Theeeeere's the lambgoat we know and loathe.
All of this PC witch hunt crap is sooooo lame everywhere. PEOPLE: you are not saving the world. Its like everyone is ASKING for censorship. Most Jewish and Gay people I know aren't even offended by stuff like this....it's just PC people causing issues. Making minorities uncomfortable is not cool...but free speech must reign.
Anal c*nt. creasel Jesus. sages. gays. Interesting.
She works the door at venue that recently tried to get away with booking a white power concert by not advertising it but playing dumb when called out. http://www.brooklynvegan.c om/archives/2013/09/achero n_apologi.html
This is what happens when women are allowed to go out to work. Thanks, feminism
The saddest thing here is that old crab hand Kim isn't even a controversial writer, she's just a mediocre writer who does poor research and has articles blow up in her face constantly. Whatever pays your bills I guess. It feels really good to see a hypocritical piece of shit journalist take some shit for a change.
Oh btw Webby, the album Kim handled PR for wasn't f*kcin' A, it was Wearing Out Our Welcome. The song titles alone are worse than anything on f*kcin' A.
Dragonforce is a flaming cheese wheel. Bunch of hair farmers doing Cirque De Soleil finger tricks on each other's buttholes. I am glad they used to be in a racist band, it makes their clown shoes even bigger!
Kim Kelly is a tryhard who gets a pass because she's a chick. This whole "girls can be just as metal as guys" shit is really tired, especially when the "PC social justice warrior for attention" thing comes into play... her blog must not have gotten too many hits this week or something.
LOL she associates with people who have been in NSBM bands for chrissake
Kim Kelly passed off a hoax band as "Iraq's very first female-fronted, black-metal band" on the Atlantic blog. She did no research and simply vanished when the water got hot. NOT A REAL WRITER, ONLY THE NSBM IS REAL http://www.theatlantic.com /entertainment/archive/201 2/07/when-black-metals-ant i-religious-message-gets-t urned-on-islam/259680/
served biiiiiitccccchhhh. massive hypocrite. love it
that was the only AxCx album I really liked. Cop Calling F aggot rips.
She's now claiming she did this because a member groped her during an interview when she was 16. Seems convenient.
Here's how this shitshow got started: https://twitter.com/GrimKim/status/495240681640960000
You're all overlooking the greater point here, webby did some investigative journalism.
Kim Kelly is a mediocre writer at best who generally finds it hard not to "Bro" up her features...so this Dragonforce one is just a cheap attempt to appear that she can actually challenge a band. She's false as f*ck and embodies the industry's nepotism tenfold.
Sometimes people get a free ride in the metal world, despite having no talent. That ride can only go so far up before it comes down. This is the start of her decline and we are all hoping that she fades away from the scene quickly.
Kim is an admitted fan of David Allan Coe: http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/185-my-year-in-music-kim-kelly/ DAC has a song called sage f*cker: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Album
Pretty obvious now this had nothing to do with racism and was an opportunity to shame them as payback. Still hilarious how full of shit she is.
You know, the guys in Dragonforce have to get up every gd day and look at themselves in the mirror for being in drgonforce. it was tight that she brought up all that cool shit they used to do.
Kim should be blackballed for all the biased crap she spews
I wonder if this article was her application to TMZ. Bands, labels, PRs, etc: take her name and email out of your database. It's only a matter of time before you blow a gust of wind up her crusty panties the wrong way and she decides to play "gotchya" journalism with you.
the hipster taco thats editor @ noisey released this statement: "This is a piece about Dragonforce, but on a larger level, its a piece about shock rock. The point of the piece, to me, is "know your motives" and "there are repercussions to everything" which I think it makes clear. Dragonforce has cultivated this image that is OK for kids, which is false."
The hipster taco is correct in saying "there are repercussions to everything." Just ask Kim Kelly...
kim kelly, always in such desperate need of attention. but you're a hypocrite and you know it. thanks for finally putting up this dumb ass piece that only shows your real colors. i bet you were wearing a moonblood or burzum shirt. just stop. please. you're not as special as you think you are.
Pretentious hypocrite poser. Thinks she's some kind of metal authority, what a joke. Trve Cvnt not Trve Kvlt
alright, alright, everybody calm down. Our intent wasn't to incite a witch hunt. She made what we perceived to be a mistake (as did Dragonforce). Let's not go overboard with personal attacks.
It's not a witch hunt, it's crowd sourced journalism where a number of commenters are establishing Kelly's history of questionable journalism, hypocritical support of racist bands and lack of ethics. The posts that call her names are definitely uncalled for, but the discussion about her lack of integrity is something that deserves examination.
If "Kelly" was a male there would be like 3 comments. Kind of discgusting how eager you all are to attempt to bring down a female
Right, like there was zero controversy over Stephen Glass or Jayson Blair because they're men. Wait, what?
To the people complaining that Kim is being criticized unfairly – not attacked or name-called – but that no one would dare criticize a male writer this way. Like, sorry you don't have an ACTUAL, real-life example to use as comparison just "wah wah if KK was a man..."
Male writers covering metal at Vice and Pitchfork are terrible, but none of them have been interviewed as often or done as much self-promotion as Grim Kim over the last few years. There have been 6 features just on her in the last two years according to her about.me profile. For young girls especially, she's probably a role model, but it's OKAY for her to promote the band of a racist nutjob by wearing their t-shirt across all social media? Or helping book bands that sing about raping women?
Also 0 male writers who can brag they were given cover story of Terrorizer at 21. For some, this is supposed to be an example of what a go-getter she is, not how easy she's had it because she was a novelty, pretty metal girl. Because of this, KK gets a pass on a lot of sloppy, unethical shit, like the Iraqi black metal band thing, publishing reviews in Terrorizer (1 with Huntress on the cover) for bands she was the PR rep for (busted: http://invictusproductions .net/?p=438) and now this.
There's no way an actual journalist would NOT be reprimanded or criticized publicly for failure to disclose something like that they were once sexually harassed by the person they're writing a hit piece on. As horrible as what she says happened is, that article was done completely in bad faith. Why leave that out? Because it was the only reason to bring up some dated, 15-year old dirt.
I'll just add that, as much as she's memorized metal-archives, she brings absolutely nothing new to her writing game, uses the same format every time and fills every piece with cliche after cliche after cliche. Compared w/ writers who know less about metal, she's actually pretty lazy and only about getting her name on as many articles in as many different pubs as possible. Won't even call her a hack, because that insults other people who are actually more transparent and entertaining about it.
OP is a Boston Public School teacher who runs a misogynistic page that is veiled as pretentious art journalism. OP was busted for trolling a Jewish wedding page a few weeks ago. He's also married to a SSBBW who runs a webcam. McCormick is obviously jealous of the success of a woman in a field he spent thousands of dollars studying in college.
She spent time at her door working gig slamming Letlive. while they were playing. Really professional. Sorry they weren't "kvlt" enough for you, Kim.
nice smokescreen. journalistic ethics are hard. deflecting attention is easy!
What the webmaster said. f*ck, if you guys wanted to really take her down, you could just stick to her journalistic and ethical failings, and not go after her for personal reasons. It'd make more of an impact, and it doesn't seem like you're lacking for material. I know this is Lambgoat, but have some class.
No One f*ckin Cares About BlackShirMetal Anyways.And Who The f*ck Is Kim Kelly?And If You Are Homopohobic These Days You Must Be Gay Inside.And who Cares About Burzum?Burzum Albums Are Free to Download.I Prefer Greekblkmetal Than Norwegians.Just Listen To Rotting Christ And See What I Am Taliking About.All Kinds Of Hate Are For Losers.Iron Maiden And Metallica Best Metal Bands Ever On This Planet.And and Dont Talk Shit.Salute To Immortal,The Only Worthy BlkMetal Ever.
who cares? I'm more concerned about how you idiots survived this long, worrying about dumb shit.
God metal heads all need to be murdered. Left right and center. You are all f*cking talent-less gays.
Kim Jong Un aaahm, Kelly, why talk about her? she´s a nobody. her write-ups are hillarious, her cause is bigoted, and she shouldn´t mingle with stuff she has no clue of, namely, Black Metal.
The difference being that even the smallest brain should be able to realise that rear c*nt are a tongue in cheek band. A vague satire if you will. The name rear c*nt being the dead give away that nothing about them is serious.