Dear Friends,

Just a quick follow-up to the Dimmu Borgir controversy over the last couple of issues. I appreciate your boldness in printing Mr. Bean's protest letter blasting your coverage of Dimmu Borgir. I, for one, do not find groups like this shocking in the least. Alice Cooper was doing this kind of thing in the 70's before some of these guys were out of diapers, and he was doing it with a lot better theatre than they'll ever hope to. However, while I see the sincerity in the letter you wrote in defense, I fear that following your argument to its logical end leads to a sharp precipice. True, few people are without flaws. True, no matter what you print, someone will disagree and be offended. It is also true that it is impossible to focus on one aspect of someone's process and avoid drawing attention to that someone in the process. Suppose an incredibly talented group of musicians with an entirely new way of recording sound took the music world by storm. Suppose they were also actively promoting and practicing pedophilia or cannibalism. How should we feel if EQ Magazine decided to feature an article about their recording process? To my way of thinking, this would be akin to publishing an article praising the organizational skills of Hitler and the Third Reich. e.g., "Regardless of what Hitler believes, his staff was friendly, forthcoming, and helpful in explaining particular methods of herding innocent people to their deaths."

Thanks for the opportunity to throw some more opinions in the mix.

Yours Truly,
John thomas Oaks