Christian metal band Demon Hunter unexpectedly found itself at the center of a debate about the military’s use of enhanced interrogation techniques following a recent Esquire magazine interview with the member of Navy SEAL Team 6 who killed Osama bin Laden. The SEAL, who is only identified as “The Shooter,” told the magazine that after Metallica requested its music not be used to “soften people up” before interrogation, the team turned to Demon Hunter. In the article, the SEAL said, “But we stopped using [Metallica’s] music, and then a band called Demon Hunter got in touch and said, ‘We’re all about promoting what you do.’ They sent us CDs and patches. I wore my Demon Hunter patch on every mission. I wore it when I blasted bin Laden.” Ironically, as fans of the band know, Demon Hunter’s logo features the skull of a demon with a bullet hole in it. Now, the band has released a statement saying it strongly supports the military and SEAL Team 6 but never gave specific permission for its music to be used in interrogation. The band said, “It’s been widely reported for years that heavy metal music has sometimes been used in these [enhanced interrogation] situations. We have no specific knowledge of our music being used for this, nor have we ever volunteered it to be used as such, nor are we commenting on it beyond that … We are honored, humbled and blessed that Demon Hunter was of any support or comfort to Seal Team 6 or anyone in the US military at any time” …
