Metal Frontman Recounts Dark Days in Prague

On May 24, 2010, 19-year-old Lamb of God fan Daniel Nosek sustained head injuries after being thrown from a stage at the band’s Prague concert. The injuries led to Nosek falling into a coma. 

Alleged videos of the incident showed the band’s frontman, Randy Blythe, and a member of the security team throw Nosek off the stage. 

Reviews of concert noted the aggressive nature of the band towards stage-diving fans. A month after the concert, Nosek died. 

When Lamb of God returned to play in Prague in 2012, Blythe was immediately arrested at Ruzyně Airport. Apparently, the band was unaware of the death of the fan or any criminal investigation. 

Blythe was detained at Prague’s notorious Pankrác Prison, but released on bail. Against the advice of others, he returned to Prague to stand trial in 2013. If convicted of the manslaughter charges, he would face 5-10 years in prison. 

On March 5, 2013, while the court found that Blythe was morally responsible for Nosek’s death, he was not criminally liable. 

The trial received extensive coverage in both the Czech Republic and abroad.

From the novel’s inside flap: 

“My name is D. Randall Blythe, known to most as Randy, and I sing for the internationally renowned, four-time Grammy losing, heavy metal band lamb of god. For twenty-two years I drank and drugged myself into a semi-legendary state of absolute reckless oblivion. I made people nervous.

“[Now sober], my life had been going greater than I could ever have imagined for the past two years, and I was a happy man for the first time in many, many moons. But when I woke up that morning, I had no idea all that was about to change.”