Death metal-loving teacher learns to play left-handed after accident, celebrates with wild gig for elementary school pupils
All hail school teacher/guitarist Philippe Drouin who overcomes personal tragedy, drives schools kids crazy with death metal gig
Select the newsletters you’d like to receive. Then, add your email to sign up.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Every Friday
Louder
Louder’s weekly newsletter is jam-packed with the team’s personal highlights from the last seven days, including features, breaking news, reviews and tons of juicy exclusives from the world of alternative music.
Every Friday
Classic Rock
The Classic Rock newsletter is an essential read for the discerning rock fan. Every week we bring you the news, reviews and the very best features and interviews from our extensive archive. Written by rock fans for rock fans.
Every Friday
Metal Hammer
For the last four decades Metal Hammer has been the world’s greatest metal magazine. Created by metalheads for metalheads, ‘Hammer takes you behind the scenes, closer to the action, and nearer to the bands that you love the most.
Every Friday
Prog
The Prog newsletter brings you the very best of Prog Magazine and our website, every Friday. We'll deliver you the very latest news from the Prog universe, informative features and archive material from Prog’s impressive vault.
Not all heroes wear capes. Some teach elementary school, and perform technical death metal for over-excited pupils after overcoming personal tragedy.
We realise this may take a little explaining. So let us first of all introduce you to Philippe Drouin, frontman of Quebec death metal band Obvurt and elementary school teacher.
In December 2016, after being caught up in a car accident, Drouin found himself unable to play guitar, as he could no longer pick due to an injury to his right hand. Rather than abandoning the instrument he’d been playing for 15 years, Drouin simply taught himself to play left-handed, under the tutelage of guitar teacher Michael Angelo Batio.
Now, the inspirational metaller has played his first gig as a left-handed guitarist, performing with his death metal trio Obvurt at Saint-Albert-Le-Grand Elementary School, where he happens to be a music teacher.
To complete this tale’s happy ending, Drouin’s adorable pupils go wild in response to his playing, entering into the spirit of the gig with some uninhibited headbanging and proto-moshing.
Well done everyone.
Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!
Founded in 1983, Metal Hammer is the global home of all things heavy. We have breaking news, exclusive interviews with the biggest bands and names in metal, rock, hardcore, grunge and beyond, expert reviews of the lastest releases and unrivalled insider access to metal's most exciting new scenes and movements. No matter what you're into – be it heavy metal, punk, hardcore, grunge, alternative, goth, industrial, djent or the stuff so bizarre it defies classification – you'll find it all here, backed by the best writers in our game.

