BOOK REVIEW: On “Dark Days: A Memoir” by D. Randall Blythe
By Travis John Wolfkill, Iowa State Penitentiary
About Travis:
I was given a sentence of Life Without Parole while still a teenager. Something that continues to keep my mind liberated is reading and writing. In 2012, my first collection of short stories titled Diary of a Satanist was released. Since then, my work has appeared in Lessons of the Game by Mike Enemigo and Bleak Walls Bright Minds by Sue Hutchin,s as well as several magazines and newspapers. I also enjoy chess, movies, and eclectic art.
“Books break the shackles of time. Proof that humans can work magic.”
This book really grabs your attention and doesn't let go. It was written by the lead singer of the metal band, Lamb of God. Even if you don't appreciate that genre of music, he is a master story teller. The term “memoir” may be a little misleading as it primarily covers his time in a Czech prison. His childhood and personal life aren't really investigated. You will learn a lot about his character and how he thinks. Some of his early rants can be off-putting as he complains about various personality types. However, once he begins to cover his time in a cell, you will be thoroughly engrossed.
This nightmare-made-reality started with Lamb of God going on tour in Prague. As is typical at metal shows, unruly fans will sometimes try to come onstage. This is what happened at a crappy venue during a live show, resulting in the lead singer ejecting a young man from the stage. Two years later, while touring once again, Randy (Blythe's preferred name) is arrested by Czech authorities and charged with manslaughter.
Every self-described abolitionist should read this book. His experiences in prison make our American dungeons look like Disneyland by comparison. One surprise was the sense of solidarity among the convicts there. Instead of dividing themselves based on nationality or politics, the men held a common grudge against their oppressors. Randy was not in danger from the other inmates, who ranged from Ukrainians and Jamaicans to Mongolians. Instead he endured the sadism of staff and the confusion of a Kafka-esque system.
This book will give you hope and make you yearn for the day when prisons being closed down become the trend rather than the exception.
Write to Travis
Did you appreciate Travis’ review? Let him know by addressing a letter to him at the address below:
Travis John Wolfkill, #6188588
Iowa State Penitentiary -1110
P.O. Box 96777
Las Vegas, NV 89193
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Join Travis in reading Dark Days by D. Randall Blythe! You can buy a copy here.
About the Book
Dark Days: A Memoir
Lamb of God vocalist D. Randall Blythe finally tells the whole incredible story of his arrest, incarceration, trial, and acquittal for manslaughter in the Czech Republic over the tragic and accidental death of a concertgoer in this riveting, gripping, biting, bold, and brave memoir.
On June 27, 2012, the long-running, hard-touring, and world-renowned metal band Lamb of God landed in Prague for their first concert there in two years. Vocalist D. Randall "Randy" Blythe was looking forward to a few hours off--a rare break from the touring grind--in which to explore the elegant, old city. However, a surreal scenario worthy of Kafka began to play out at the airport as Blythe was detained, arrested for manslaughter, and taken to Pankrác Prison—a notorious 123-year-old institution where the Nazis' torture units had set up camp during the German occupation of then-Czechoslovakia, and where today hundreds of prisoners are housed, awaiting trial and serving sentences in claustrophobic, sweltering, nightmare-inducing conditions.
Two years prior, a 19-year-old fan died of injuries suffered at a Lamb of God show in Prague, allegedly after being pushed off stage by Blythe, who had no vivid recollection of the incident. Stage-crashing and -diving being not uncommon occurrences, as any veteran of hard rock, metal, and punk shows knows, the concert that could have left him imprisoned for years was but a vague blur in Blythe's memory, just one of the hundreds of shows his band had performed over their decades-long career.
At the time of his arrest Blythe had been sober for nearly two years, having finally gained the upper hand over the alcoholism that nearly killed him. But here he faced a new kind of challenge: jailed in a foreign land and facing a prison sentence of up to ten years. Worst of all, a young man was dead, and Blythe was devastated for him and his family, even as the reality of his own situation began to close in behind Pankrác Prison's glowering walls of crumbling concrete and razor wire.
What transpired during Blythe's incarceration, trial, and eventual acquittal is a rock 'n' roll road story unlike any other, one that runs the gamut from tragedy to despair to hope and finally to redemption. While never losing sight of the sad gravity of his situation, Blythe relates the tale of his ordeal with one eye fixed firmly on the absurd (and at times bizarrely hilarious) circumstances he encountered along the way. Blythe is a natural storyteller and his voice drips with cutting humor, endearing empathy, and soulful insight. Much more than a tour diary or a prison memoir, Dark Days is D. Randall Blythe's own story about what went down—before, during, and after—told only as he can.
About the Author
D. Randall Blythe
D. Randall Blythe is a writer, photographer, actor, and musician best known for fronting the metal band Lamb of God. He lives in Richmond, Virginia, with his wife Cindy and their cat, Salad. Dark Days is his first book.