Texan black metal band Martyrdom have issued an apology after footage of a pig’s head being thrown around in their moshpit went viral.
The band performed at the White Swan venue in Houston, Texas, on January 19, supporting the hardcore acts Devoured Trachea and Accosted.
“there is a pigs head in the swan,” the user wrote as a caption.
They later added: “its real and it stinks”
The footage went viral and quickly proved controversial, with several observers criticising the act.
“this is how new diseases start,” one reply says.
“tbh i would’ve cried if that touched me,” states another.
Another user replies: “biggest yikes from me on this one personally”
However, others reacted more positively to the stunt, alluding to the fact that other black metal bands, such as Watain and Mayhem , have previously used pig’s heads and pig’s blood as part of their act to generate shock value.
“Dude that’s just so black metal 😂” one user argued.
Amid the controversy, Martyrdom issued an apology, seemingly confirming that the head was thrown around during their performance and that it was real.