The bassist in Dutch symphonic metal act Delain has given new meaning to the term "busting your balls" — but in this case, it's no joking matter.
The group were performing in Birmingham, UK, earlier this week when a routine stage gimmick went horribly wrong. Typically, a streamer cannon shoots out silver ribbons into the audience, but on Monday night (November 29), bassist Otto Schimmelpenninck was in the wrong place at the wrong time — or rather, his left testicle was.
Despite the injury, Schimmelpenninck continued to play, finishing the set before being taken to the hospital to have the gruesome injury tended to.
He detailed the experience in a Facebook post, which explains that the band were positioned differently than usual onstage due to the addition of an added guest musician. The explosion from the cannon hit the bassist from behind, in the genitals, and his immediate response was pretty stoic. "Although pain was pretty bad right away, I was merely pissed off at myself for not paying attention," he writes.
He goes on to graphically detail the injury with the disclaimer that "you might want to read this another time if you were planning on having sex within the hour or so." The message reads as follows:
After the show the damage was more obvious: my scrotum was the size of a big grapefruit and I was in a lot (yeah, really a lot) of pain. I was taken to the nearest hospital where after hours and hours of waiting, I was finally operated around 8:30 in the morning. It appeared here my left testicle had been ruptured as well as some arteries. More than 500 ml of blood was removed from my scrotum and my testicle stitched up.
I stayed in hospital for the rest of day and night, and was discharged on Friday afternoon. From there I took the plane to Glasgow where I was reunited with my girlfriend and the Delain family. Fortunately we had had a very comfortable nightliner and top-notch driver, so I could travel quite comfortably and get some rest until we got home.
I was very close to losing my left testicle, but chances are good it will be fine. It will take about 6 weeks until I can find out though, when I have an ultrasound scan. It will also be a while before I am without the very uncomfortable pain I am in now, but sadly, it's just the way it is for now.
He seems pretty optimistic given the circumstances, and can rest up and recover knowing that he is potentially the most metal bassist ever after this one.
Watch footage of the performance in question below.
The group were performing in Birmingham, UK, earlier this week when a routine stage gimmick went horribly wrong. Typically, a streamer cannon shoots out silver ribbons into the audience, but on Monday night (November 29), bassist Otto Schimmelpenninck was in the wrong place at the wrong time — or rather, his left testicle was.
Despite the injury, Schimmelpenninck continued to play, finishing the set before being taken to the hospital to have the gruesome injury tended to.
He detailed the experience in a Facebook post, which explains that the band were positioned differently than usual onstage due to the addition of an added guest musician. The explosion from the cannon hit the bassist from behind, in the genitals, and his immediate response was pretty stoic. "Although pain was pretty bad right away, I was merely pissed off at myself for not paying attention," he writes.
He goes on to graphically detail the injury with the disclaimer that "you might want to read this another time if you were planning on having sex within the hour or so." The message reads as follows:
After the show the damage was more obvious: my scrotum was the size of a big grapefruit and I was in a lot (yeah, really a lot) of pain. I was taken to the nearest hospital where after hours and hours of waiting, I was finally operated around 8:30 in the morning. It appeared here my left testicle had been ruptured as well as some arteries. More than 500 ml of blood was removed from my scrotum and my testicle stitched up.
I stayed in hospital for the rest of day and night, and was discharged on Friday afternoon. From there I took the plane to Glasgow where I was reunited with my girlfriend and the Delain family. Fortunately we had had a very comfortable nightliner and top-notch driver, so I could travel quite comfortably and get some rest until we got home.
I was very close to losing my left testicle, but chances are good it will be fine. It will take about 6 weeks until I can find out though, when I have an ultrasound scan. It will also be a while before I am without the very uncomfortable pain I am in now, but sadly, it's just the way it is for now.
He seems pretty optimistic given the circumstances, and can rest up and recover knowing that he is potentially the most metal bassist ever after this one.
Watch footage of the performance in question below.
