Melbourne Metal Band Storm Off US Tour; Promoters Say They Were Dropped [UPDATED]

Melbourne thrash metal band 4ARM have walked off their American tour, blaming promoters of The Zombie Apocalypse Tour for "sub-standard arrangements and communications".

The band, who played the UK's Download festival earlier this year and are gaining a strong following after third album Submission For Liberty, posted a statement on their website to announce their walk-off and make the allegations against promoters Nemesis Records.

"4ARM have been forced to walk off The Zombie Apocalypse Tour owing to sub-standard arrangements and communications on behalf of the tour promoters, Nemesis Records," they wrote. "As an example, the accompanying photo is of an actual venue at which the band were expected to perform. Needless to say, this was the final straw triggering 4ARM's exit from a poorly organised and misinformed operation. 4ARM warn all bands to exercise caution in dealings with Nemesis Records."

Venue the band claim they were booked to play was the "final straw".

"4ARM apologise to fans who were planning on attending any of the US dates, but would like to assure them of a return to the US under better circumstances."

Deprivation, from Orange, NSW, are also on the five-band tour and they've come out in support of the tour and Nemesis, contradicting 4ARM's claims.

"A lot has been said about The Zombie Apocalypse Tour that are completely false," they've written. "The venue we played in Ceres, CA at the Workshop have had All Shall Perish, Dying Fetus, and a number of other incredible bands have played there.

"Myke of Short Fuse [another band on the tour] set up the show on a day off, and the place was insane! The bands tore it up and the fans in the pit went ape shit! Nemesis Records has been nothing but good to us!

"There is always more to the story... Dont believe the hype or gossip about this tour. We are fucking destroying this tour. Can't wait for the rest of this tour. We would hope that everyone would support Nemesis Records and post their support!"

Nemisis Records have been contacted for comment. Also on the tour are American acts Casket Of Cassandra, Prey For Sleep and Short Fuse.

UPDATE: 4ARM have issued a further statement to theMusic.com.au that explains their decision to pull out of the remaining shows.

"We pulled out because we had absolutely no itinerary and the communication with the promoter on our end was very poor if not non existent, we would find out venue addresses on the day, not be told load in times, set times, line up, or even be given any kind of idea of the running of any of the shows. We are a band that likes to have things very well organised and none of our performance needs were met in any way.

"We were promised certain advances to help financially and never received them. It is because of the total lack of organisation and professionalism in which the tour was expected to run that we were forced to re-asses the benefit to the long term interest of the band. We were accused of not showing solidarity toward the other bands on tour with no justification to the claims.

"Everyone claims to throw their arms in the air when they hear stories of bands having to pay to play. We spent in excess of $20,000 to come to the US for a run of shows where we never received what we were told we were going to receive. This is the bigger picture, not what venues we were told to play in. We are sorry to our US fans and promise we will be back."

FURTHER UPDATE: theMusic.com.au got in touch with Nemesis Records, the tour's promoters, this afternoon. They issued us a statement that took a very different point of view on what went down, saying that 4ARM were dropped from the bill due to them having a negative effect on the morale of the tour.

"It is unfortunate that we had to drop 4ARM from the Zombie Apocalypse Tour. It became clear to us that the band's refusal to play TheWorkshop, and their choice to leave the venue instead of supporting their tour mates would negatively affect the morale of the entire tour.  We strive to promote a culture of solidarity between the bands and with the club promoters we work with. We did not feel it was in anyone's best interest for the bands, promoters, managers, and most importantly, the fans to be finding out if 4ARM was playing each date as we rolled into the venue.

"With regards to the venues along the tour route, The Workshop has seen great metal acts including: Six Feet Under, All Shall Perish, and Dying Fetus. Also, there are a number of bigger name venues on the route including: The Dirty Dog Bar in Austin, TX, El Corazon in Seattle, WA, and The Oakland Metro in Oakland, CA (where the tour is set to end at the Bay Area Metal Festival).

"In addition, each band was provided proper directions, dates, times, and the contact numbers for both of the tour managers.  

"We wish 4ARM the best, and there are no hard feelings from our end. We would also like to thank CVDM (Central Valley Death Metal) for their hospitality at the Workshop, we are looking forward to the rest of tour with the remaining bands, and we appreciate everyone's hard work toward making The Zombie Apocalypse Tour a success."