Disney Forced Empyrean to Censor Video at Release Show

The House of Blues venues located in Disney theme parks are far from friendly to metal bands. Though the chain of venues are not owned directly by the company, by just being on their property the cartoon giant enforces rules of the cute and cuddly variety. This has left touring bands unable to play their own shows, despite approval months before. In the case of Florida's Empyrean, their video release show -- filled with over 1,000 people -- was nearly canceled, which would've left them unable to show their 'Le Retour De Mere-Terre' video.

According to guitarist Mike DeLancett, when the unsigned band showed up for the show they were told the video could not be shown due to graphic scenes of knives, blood and a noose put to use. "After much negotiation of myself and [director Steven Shea of Abyssmal Entertainment] and moving through multiple ranks of House of Blues officials, a compromise was met to avoid disappointing our fans that the video would be shown if we edited 45 second of it out on the specific timestamps provided to us," DeLancett told Noisecreep.

Drummer Drew Brome went back to his house, making the edits by management's guide to return 45 minutes before the band was to take stage. Disney was still not happy. 'Le Retour De Mere-Terre' then went on to five more reviews,

Including one while the band was on stage. "It was pretty hilarious, the crowd flipped out and booed the edits (some as long as 10-15 seconds)," says DeLancett. "All in all, it went well though, and the House of Blues staff was very helpful in at least letting us try to get something played."

Since the show, the band has discovered a true-life death that may be the cause for the mega-conglomerate to censor the band. "We just found out this morning that apparently someone was found hung from a tree on Disney property Saturday night, so we've been speculating whether or not that was part of the reason their reaction was so extreme. It's unfortunate that people go to such lengths, and particularly creepy considering the content if they didn't know."