Cursed Earth Withdraw From Download Festival Melbourne

Cursed Earth will no longer be appearing at Download Festival Melbourne in March as they are "currently without a vocalist". 

After Cursed Earth vocalist Jazmine Luders was accused of abusing an ex-girlfriend in late 2017, not joining the band for their Unify Gathering set in January (Aversions Crown's Mark Poida filled in for her), them pulling out of both Perth's HyperFest and the Perth leg of Parkway Drive's recent 'A Decade Of Horizons' tour, the local heavy music scene has wondered how Cursed Earth would address the allegations aimed at their vocalist.

Ever since the accusations from Luders' ex-partner came to light, the rising metalcore band have maintained radio silence on the matter. (We reached out to UNFD and the band two weeks ago over email but did not receive a reply from either party). That is until today, at least. Officially addressing the issue for the first time in the public forum, Cursed Earth released the following statement earlier today over Facebook, writing:

"At this stage we have chosen to withdraw from Download Australia. We are currently without a vocalist and as such, unable to perform to the best of our ability. Statement regarding our vocalist to come over the next few days, we appreciate your patience in this matter. We sincerely apologize to anybody that was hoping to see us and we’ll be doing everything we can to make it up later in 2018."

With the very serious allegations of abuse hanging around her and the band, today's news of their withdrawal from Download Festival Melbourne is not at all surprising. Download also issued its own statement today regarding Cursed Earth (and Alpha Wolf), saying:

An ex-partner of Luders also anonymously spoke with Hysteria Mag last month, with the 22-year-old woman saying, "The entire relationship was fuelled on the fear of being attacked or hurt. When I finally realised I can walk away and her actions will have consequences, it felt good knowing I was safe again."

Also, as stated by the band themselves, the Perth group will properly address Luders' position or lack thereof within the band soon enough. However, I feel that "currently without a vocalist" means she won't be continuing on with Cursed Earth, and it's likely she's already parted ways with the band long before this statement arrived today due to the seriousness of these accusations.

The band's label, UNFD, have not publically made comment on this issue as of yet.

More to come on this story as it happens.