“We support veterans and raising awareness for PTSD, but we can’t align ourselves with an event that’s turning into a platform for someone like Kyle Rittenhouse,” the band said in a statement on Facebook. “Even after they offered to remove him from the event, we found other entities associated with the festival that we just don’t agree with. It’s not what we signed up for.”

Following Evergreen Terrace’s departure, other bands soon followed suit, including Southpaw, Let Me Bleed, and American Hollow. Each group released statements expressing their dismay at the festival’s decision to include Rittenhouse, highlighting the growing tensions between the metal community’s anti-establishment roots and modern political controversies.

The backlash wasn’t limited to the bands. Fans of the festival took to social media, voicing their frustration with the event’s decision to include a figure like Rittenhouse. Twitter and Reddit threads exploded with debates over free speech, political correctness, and the role of controversial figures in public events. Many questioned why a festival that was supposed to focus on supporting veterans and first responders had turned into a political battleground.

“Dude, I bought tickets to see my favorite bands, not to get dragged into a political circus,” one fan tweeted. “Metal’s supposed to be a safe space for everyone, not a place where you have to pick sides.”

As more bands and fans voiced their concerns, Rittenhouse, perhaps realizing that his presence had become a lightning rod for controversy, decided to cancel his appearance altogether. His reasoning? Metal, according to him, had gone soft.

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