When now-defunct Boston metal band ISIS posted a Facebook tour update for Palms, a new band featuring three of its members, comments linking them to the Islamic terrorist group of the same name started to pile up.
One person asked if a beheading would happen on the tour, while another joked if “any heathens” would show up. One person, unaware of the band’s 13-year history, ignorantly asked: “Strange you picked the name ISIS?”
According to a report yesterday by ABC News, the band ISIS, which formed in Boston in 1997 and were active until splitting up in Los Angeles in 2010, have recently been confused with the extremist group in online forums. Some fans have reached out to the band and told of a reluctance to wear ISIS t-shirts, especially after the gruesome beheading of journalist James Foley.
From the ABC News report:
The name of the militant Islamic group ISIS is probably one of the most reviled names in the country at the moment. It is also the name of a defunct post-metal rock band with the same name that is getting “off color comments” on its Facebook page.
The rockers may be hard to confuse with Islamic militants, but some have managed it. “It certainly caught us off guard,” Aaron Harris, the band’s former drummer, told ABC News.
Even some of their fans have decided to put some distance between themselves and the music. “Fans have emailed us that they’re reluctant to wear our T-shirts now and we’ve also gotten some off-color comments,” Harris said.
Though the band is no longer together, the ex-members are being inundated with posts from individuals who believe they are associated with the Islamic terrorist group, which recently claimed responsibility for beheading American journalist James Foley. The group has also slaughtered Christians, Yazidis and other Muslims who aren’t members of the Sunni Islamic sect.
“Just like our fans, we’ve been watching the news in disbelief. We haven’t commented on it because we haven’t been an active band since 2010, even though our music does live on. We maintain our Facebook page to keep people up-to-date on our current musical projects,” he said.
One of those projects is Palms, which also features Deftones singer Chino Moreno. The band ISIS has changed their Facebook page name from simply “ISIS” to “Isis the band.” It also appears they dropped the all-caps stylization, which the Islamic group uses.
A rep from Ipecac, the band’s label, told ABC News the whole thing was “an unfortunate situation” but merchandise sales have not been affected. “Of course a few less than enlightened people are not seeing the distinction between an inactive band of musicians and a band of terrorists involved in current world affairs,” the rep told the news group.
Watch ISIS perform live in 2009 at the Middle East in Cambridge (ironically enough) below.
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