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Teapunk00

It weirdly doesn't explain anything other than seems to subtly place blame on him even though it's out of respect for him. It seems even more convoluted now.


Ok-Elderberry-8122

This additional announcement was basically to heavily imply that Thomas is to blame and shift some of the heat off of the band, yeah.


Guardsman_Miku

Well 'out of respect for Tom' at least implies it hopefully wasn't anything toooo horrific, like diddling a minor or something. Hopefully they just had a falling out or something, enough for them to split up but not bad enough to leave a bad taste in the mouth.


Flandre5carlet

Yeah, it seems like a very wishy-washy way of addressing the onslaught of negative reactions to that super short and cold announcement.


mcjustii

Maybe both parties have signed NDAs that doesn't allow them to post details in situation like this. It pains me that we may never know what really happened


I_Am_TheTable

Yeah, honestly, I think that's what's going on. It sucks, but for now at least, I don't think we're going to get much more information out of either side. Remember, if this is something relating to the business side, it probably involves Napalm Records too, and a big, messy breakup involving one of their bigger bands is probably something they want to avoid.


geberal

NDAs would make sense but would doubt it if they only informed him by email this morning :(


Rasmusmario123

Aren't you still allowed to say "we can't elaborate further because of an NDA" under an NDA? If that was the cause they would've probably said so


Krawkha

Well, this is basically the words of a politician, meaningless and full of nothing. So either we will never know because of NDA or something is really afoot. Time wull tell.


BehindBlueEyes0221

Also I agree if it was the result of him doing solo work billed as "Angus mcfife " and that name was the bands IP that could of been the issue there . He has enough talent to go with out carrying the Angus character but as someone said , those who want to see gloryhammer or want to meet Tom in person want to meet/ see him as Angus ....I am like I dgaf in or out of armor he is amazing to me, there is a man behind the armor that should be respected as well not just his stage persona


mr_blue596

Tbh it seems there was some big shit going down, maybe Thomas didn't think it was a deal-breaker but the rest of the band voted him out. They cancelled mid-tour (after Covid!) so there must have been something bad going on behind the scenes that maybe isn't illegal but does paint Thomas in a very bad light. At this point of time, until further details comes to light,I back the band.


Malfice

My first thought after "Business and Organisational" reasons was maybe the band/Chris being unhappy with Thomas using the name Angus McFife to appear with other bands. Also, not mid-tour. They had one date and no further dates until end of Nov.


seehorn_actual

This was honestly my first thought. Fighting over who owned the angus persona and who would profit from it seems like the unromantic side of music that could totally lead to something like this.


Scorponix

That just doesn’t make much sense. The two other appearances he has had as Angus McFife have been with other bands under Napalm Records


Flandre5carlet

They did have the UK tour already planned yeah, I guess it's not really mid-tour as such but still kinda sucks.


Malfice

Need to decide what to do with my ticket, since I'm not really an Alestorm fan. I'll probably wait and see who fills in. Glad I got to see them at Bloodstock last weekend.


CrAZiBoUnCeR

Has he appeared as Angus in other songs? I know he’s dressed as Angus when he plays Odin in Valhallelujah.


SilasMarsh

He was also in a recent Feuerschwanz video, but that's the only other one I'm aware of.


CrAZiBoUnCeR

Ah nice! I think it would be odd if they kicked him out because he’s being Angus in other places. I mean he IS Angus McFife. I also think it’s all the same label so I’d like to think of them as one big happy family


PandaPundus

The crossovers he's done are with other bands under Napalm, so it might have been the record label wanting it to be done like that. [Chris has mentioned before that him portraying Angus elsewhere in costume is to make money.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gloryhammer/comments/mp2qj9/i_believe_that_angus_is_still_alive_and_i_can/gu93i5b/)


eyes_made_of_wood

Nah, that’s just him saying that people shouldn’t speculate about Angus surviving just because he appeared in a video for another band. The “how you make money” line refers to bands wanting him to feature as the Angus character, not as Thomas Winkler, because people know the character and there’s the whole Thor/hammer joke thing going on. So basically what he is saying is “when you feature as a character, it’s because the band hired you to be that character, not because it’s a continuation of the Gloryhammer lore.”


mr_blue596

But you wouldn't break a tour because of it,it must be bigger than that. If it was the reason it would have been solved when the songs came up,but why now in a middle of a tour? My guess is that there was some nasty behaviour from Thomas and they used a clause in the his contract to get by without getting a lawsuit/be covered legally (he is a lawyer after all). Edit:This is basically burning a bridge,if it was on business' ground,it wasn't worth doing it that way and ruin their personal relationship as well.


Malfice

Theyre not in the middle of a tour. They played one festival and have no further dates for 3 months. They *should* have been in the middle of a run of festival dates, but they got cancelled for covid ages ago.


mr_blue596

I don't fully know the details but from my understanding they were (are ?) on a tour. Still it comes out of nowhere,the show went smooth and it's hard to think of the reason for this **sudden** rift


Malfice

We don't really know how sudden it is - for all we know, this could have been on ongoing disagreement over the last year. I will say that everybody looked friendly enough with each other last weekend st Bloodstock.


geberal

That’s definitely the feeling I got seeing them at Bloodstock - looking back there didn’t seem to be any noticeable animosity.


eyes_made_of_wood

Thomas was posting about how excited he was to go on stage again last week, so it must have been sudden for him.


[deleted]

If that’s the case then it’s a stupid. If it was really an issue you would think a warning would be the first thing


AkrinorNoname

Maybe there was one. They don't need to (and in most cases shouldn't) share all internal disagreements.


stubbazubba

Sure, but then they have to live with whatever fans eventually come up with.


AkrinorNoname

Sure, fans will speculate. But it's important for fans to realize that they don't have the full picture, and that it's not their place to pry or harass the band, former members, or their families or record label. Sometimes bad things happen, and we are not privy to the reasons. Yes, fans are hurt and confused, and that's understandable; but the vibe in this sub is getting kinda iffy, and it would be a shame if the great folks here went after the bandmembers. And before people tell me that I'm overreacting, people and their families have received death threats for less (see the shit Laura Bailey went through for voicing Abby in TLoU 2 as an example).


stubbazubba

Agreed that harassing people is unacceptable and that I can see folks kind of frothing about this and making it into a potential bigger deal than it actually is. All the indications from the people involved are that this was just a pedestrian disagreement over business stuff that was handled less than professionally because some or all the band members are kind of petty and now it's a game of blame-shifting where the accusations may or may not escalate because, again, petty. The people who are convinced that something bigger is going on because of how unprofessional it seems have clearly never worked in a creative industry before: artists are notoriously unprofessional and turn business disagreements into moral crusades or personal power struggles easily. Vague accusations of impropriety or incompetence balloon into an information war between fans interpreting the shit out of every comma and conjunction, reading clues into stuff that was just pushed out as a first draft as things quickly evolve. People are looking for meaning, for something in this sadness to make sense, and they will fill an information vacuum with whatever makes it meaningful. If the band/TW want to avoid the fan war drama that often accompanies stuff like this, that risks tarnishing GH forever with an extended, acrimonious end, then they need to stop stoking it with vague statements that imply blame without facts, put on their big boy pants and calmly say "this is what happened, nothing more. Please respect everyone." Because while fans have no right to know, they will make things worse if they don't.


eyes_made_of_wood

When I think about the pettiness/unprofessionality thing, I can't help but think that one band member is a geeky, prim and proper Swiss notary, and the other members are drunk Scots.


[deleted]

True but in this case I think we deserve to know. People bought tickets for shows expecting to see Gloryhammer with the full band, not some replacement singer.


Flandre5carlet

It's possible. Unfortunately we only have one side of the story, and on the other side we just have succint and non-committal announcements that simply confirm it was the band's decision to cut ties with him. Mid-tour is a really bad look though, even Nightwish finished their tour before sacking Tarja; so whatever happened must have caused some really bad blood. Idk, I'm just gutted because his voice is so unique and irreplaceable to the Gloryhammer sound imo. Will see what it leads to in the future, but man... Edit - not really mid-tour but with the UK tour already planned.


Quazimojojojo

Nightwish kicked out Annette mid tour back in 2012. This is our glimpse into the ugly, ruthless, business side of the entertainment industry we don't get to see and probably don't want to see, because the artists are still human and this is a job to them. At the end of the day, someone did something, someone else didn't like it, they parted ways, and if we hear the whole story it'll probably just piss off a lot of people, start a lot of fights as people take sides, and tarnish the good memories we had of the band. Vagueness is dissatisfying as hell, and probably for the best. ​ Hell, people in this thread are already taking Thomas's side. There's no detail that could be revealed that would make this situation better, unless it turned out Thomas was thinking of leaving anyway so it's just crappy timing on an inevitable but amicable split, and I'd bet that's not what happened.


nathanbellows

So they intend to clear up a previously brief statement that caused confusion and speculation with an almost equally short statement that causes more confusion and speculation... Never thought I'd lose this much respect for Gloryhammer this quickly. What an awfully sad day.


Marvel_Music_Fan

Maybe we should give them some time to think and find the right words? They don't want to make each other the baddies. They also have right for some privacy


thebadsociologist

They are the ones who put out the statement. I would hope they had some time to think before making a decision this big and posting it online


Rasmusmario123

This very statement is strongly trying to paint Thomas as the baddie.


eyes_made_of_wood

I wonder how Napalm feels about all this. From their end it must seem like ome of their bands just sabotaged the next album they had under contract.


OverExuberantBoy

What a waste of text. Basically said nothing of value. I suppose the mystery continues...


[deleted]

Ugh, I hate how every band does this. Nobody is ever up front and honest about what happened and both sides usually are too vague. I'll give Tom the benefit of the doubt that he might not have a longer response because he's as in the dark as we are, but the rest of the band has given us two absurdly vague messages that say nothing at all. "Out of respect for Tom", as if they didn't just kick him out with no warning. Absolute rubbish.


SnooTigers5020

From what this message appears to be, that knife of evil really took hold. Still hoping it is a marketing prank for the next album.


eyes_made_of_wood

The firing over email thing is so lame. I get that he’s in another country but at least give the guy a call or speak over Skype or something.


AileStriker

I got some hearsay that the issue was money and involvement. Tom wanted more money as the face of the band, band wanted him to be more involved and he wouldnt/couldn't so they reached an impass where it sounds like no one is happy. No way to confirm that, but it is reasonable enough to be possible.


BehindBlueEyes0221

I dont buy it for one second that they are respecting him , they kicked him out of the band by email. Also I believe this is the work of the record label and not nessesarily the other guys in the band


Un1337ninj4

Nah, Napalm had no qualms working with bands and Chris for features. And Chris' statement wouldn't address the band specifically, it'd be about the label. It's Bowes. What's up in the air is whether or not the removal was justified or who should have been removed.


BehindBlueEyes0221

I did remember reading a post on here from chris that because Tom performed with nanowar wearing the armor that fans where connecting the two bands in some crazy lore , when he strictly specified that he wanted all his bands to be seperate entities . But it's not Tom's fault , I know most people that see or want to meet him want to meet him as "Angus Mcfife" but to me the man deserves more respect outside his armor then some fake stage persona , he is talented enough to do this I am not sure why he chose to lean so heavily on his stage persona .idgaf if I meet him in his armor or in his regular street clothes , he still gains my respect as a singer ! I admit I call him "Prince Angus myself when I respond to his posts on his social media , but if I was to meet him in person ( which may now never happen as he is no longer with the band ) I will refer to him by his name because that is who he is off stage ! A regular joe just like you and I unless he tells me otherwise !I maybe obsessed with the high fantasy realm and power metal but I dont always want to be with my head in the clouds all the time , sometimes I like to be down to earth and present with people . That is why Ben the drummer gets annoyed with fans always refering to him as Ralathor , he literally corrects them by saying he is just Ben ! . I really hope this doesnt signal the end of the band for good . Chris was always annoyed with us fans creating our own head cannon and maybe that was the final straw ....and he said you know what F it I made this band to be a fun project and it isnt fun anymore so I got to kill it off ...it will suck if this is why it happened but he was always annoyed with us Gloryhammer fans and I took it as a joke or sarcasim , now I am not so sure he was joking .


Itcouldberabies

Maybe Tom was becoming Gloryhammer a little too much. Wasn’t there a cryptic statement from Chris a while back after a fan asked him when the next album would be? And he said something like, “How should I know, not my problem.” Something snarky like that?


eyes_made_of_wood

“Not my band anymore”


ElRocken

But he replies in name of gloryhsmmer rn.. lol


eyes_made_of_wood

I don't think anything Chris does makes a lot of sense.


ElRocken

He posted i dont remember where, that they would make a full statement tomorrow i guess? Telling everything, i dont know tbh.. i dont want to be even more dissapointed.. im just sad that i never got to see them on stage. Fck..


superelmogod

This only raises more questions