Yes, another theft. Again. I was already fairly disturbed by the fact that both Katatonia and Periphery have had their gear stolen in recent days, especially since I love Katatonia a lot and quite enjoy Periphery. Fortunately Katatonia did get their stuff back and it’s only a matter of time before Periphery does too, since their gear was a) instruments and b) completely custom-made. So I was slightly placated. That is, until I opened my email today and read Robin Staps’ Ocean fan subscriber email, which opened with the following under the heading “THE OCEAN Robbed in Spain”:

On Wednesday October 20th, we were robbed on the highway, 30 km from Madrid. 2 guys in a black BMW pulled us over with fake police IDs. They asked for our van papers and IDs and wanted to know if we had any money to declare. We were not skeptical at this point, as it is normal in Europe that you have to declare larger amounts of money when you’re crossing borders, so we told them we had merch money with us, and the guy wanted to see it. When we showed them the merch wallet, the guy reached through the open window, seized it and ran back to the BMW in front of us, where his colleague was waiting with running engine. Unfortunately our van and trailer don’t match the speed of a BMW, but fortunately it’s not allowed to carry guns in Europe, as otherwise we would be in jail now for shooting the guy in the face.

We are facing a loss of + 6000 euro of merch income of the last days and fees. The exact amount is still to be determined. As some of you may or may not know, conditions on support tours are usually grim. Fees are low and barely cover expenses for van, gas, highway tolls, ferries, etc. There is no accomodation arrangements, we’ve been crashing out on people’s floors for weeks. Losing more than 6000 euro is something we simply cannot afford at this point.

We are asking everyone who is planning to order “Anthropocentric” in the next few weeks through our shop to help out. You can do so by donating 5 Euro when you place your order. All income generated through this will make the loss smaller for us.

Everyone who donates 5 Euro will receive a copy of the police report and a Thank You-card signed by all band members.

We would like to thank you in advance for your support!

This is just so far beyond even those two previous thefts that I don’t know what to make of it. €6000 equals more than $8,200, and all of that was lost — not due to carelessness, not due to the band fucking around and losing money, not due to poor showings from the fans, but due to two assholes who thought it was ok to lie about their identities and rip off a touring band. The Ocean lost all of their merch earnings from their European tour with Dillinger Escape Plan. Katatonia found their guitars; Periphery will probably find theirs. But there’s simply no way The Ocean can make up an entire tour’s worth of merch earnings, and it’s almost near the end of the tour. The Ocean probably make less in a year than many of you make in a month.

PLEASE donate to them. They’re nowhere near well-known enough to make up this kind of money anytime soon. As a huge fan of the Ocean who lives in the US, I was devastated to learn that they lost this money. Do you US fans realize what this means? The Ocean now barely have enough to survive at home, let alone travel to the US. This theft probably ruins any plans that they had for touring the states in the near future. Unless we donate as soon as possible, they might not make it altogether. I’m loading my Anthropocentric preorder as we speak and both I and Robin Staps highly encourage you all to do the same. Even if you’re not an Ocean fan, donate — metal bands just need their support. There’s NOTHING ok about this whatsoever. I sincerely hope that these two thieving cunts are caught, apprehended, and rightfully punished. Thank you all.

-DM