Guhn Twei's censorship: Criticizing Horn Foundry is useless!

Simon Turcotte is one of the founders of the metal group Guhn Twei. For him, music is his way of expressing himself. His words scream loud and illustrate his lifelong rage, but also his rage against an unfair situation.

“I've had five types of cancer. That's how I lost my leg,” he explained into the microphone of Sophie Durocher at the University of Queensland.

Could living five minutes from the smokestacks of Horne's foundry play a role in his illness? Did working in this factory make a difference? Even if he didn't want to throw the stone directly into the foundry, he was still full of questions. He unleashes his frustration on stage. But she won't be at Alienfest this year.

The lyrics of his songs do not satisfy any of the organizers. The man works for Métal Marquis, which deals with foundry. For him, singing lyrics like “Apology for ecocide / Mass gagging / Profits are more precious than our lives” on stage doesn’t work.

The regulator's email to Mr. Turcotte is clear: “We are a foundry supplier, and this is exactly where it gets sensitive. I have a complete conflict of interest and this is not working out with my management team.”

With these words Mr. Turcotte was informed that his group would not appear on stage this year. In the end, the festival was cancelled. The foundry says it was never involved in that decision.

Métal Marquis responded late Wednesday afternoon stressing that it “never proposed or participated in the decisions regarding the cancellation of the festival and its programming.”

The company added: “Neither Horn Foundry nor Glencore exerted any form of pressure on Mittal Marquis and the organization of the festival.”

However, in Mr Turcotte's eyes, this “just shows that there is a climate of fear about criticizing the Horn Foundry”.

“The biggest loser is freedom of expression,” Sophie Durocher concluded.