Delain bassist Otto Schimmelpenninck has ruptured one of his testicles after a stage mishap.
The Dutch symphonic metal outfit were performing at the O2 Academy in Birmingham when the incident happened – and it was because he was standing too close to a streamer cannon.
He says on Facebook: “They shoot silver streamers into the audience usually during The Gathering. We’ve been using this for ages without any problems at all, but in Birmingham things went wrong.
“In my enthusiasm I did not pay attention, and happened to be very close when the streamer fired. It hit me from the back, in my genitals. Although pain was pretty bad, I was merely pissed off at myself for not paying attention.
“During the next song, pain got worse, and I had the feeling I was bleeding. Pretty soon pain got to the point where I could barely stay conscious any more. I did manage to finish the show and even squeeze out some grunts.”
It was only after the show that the extent of the damage became obvious – and he says he came close to losing the testicle.
He continues: “My scrotum was the size of a big grapefruit and I was in a lot of pain. I was taken to the nearest hospital where, after hours and hours of waiting, I was finally operated around 8:30am. More than 500 ml of blood was removed from my scrotum and my testicle stitched up.
“I was very close to losing my left testicle, but chances are good it will be fine.”
And he says while it will take six weeks before he finds out more information about the injury, he hopes to be back on the road soon.
He adds: “It will also be a while before I am without the very uncomfortable pain, but sadly, it’s just the way it is for now. I should be OK in time for the European tour with Sabaton.
The band were on tour in the UK supporting the release of their fourth album The Human Contradiction which launched in April this year. The gigs were the first in the UK with full-time drummer Ruben Israel who replaced Sander Zoer in June this year.
The tour with Sabaton takes in 25 dates across Europe and they’ll stop off in the UK for one show at London’s HMV Forum on January 12.
