On February 10, 2026, Slaughter To Prevail were supposed to take the Turkcell stage at the Zorlu Performing Arts Center in Istanbul. Behemoth would have followed the next day. Tickets were sold, fans were ready. But instead came an official ban that didn’t just affect both concerts — it prohibited all events across the entire Zorlu complex for two full days. The official justification: the events were “incompatible with societal values.”

The Real Trigger: Akit TV and the Satanism Cudgel

To understand why two metal concerts in a metropolis of millions were banned by authorities, you have to look at the Turkish broadcaster Akit TV. The pro-government Islamist broadcaster had deliberately stirred up sentiment against both bands in the days leading up to the concerts. Host Erkan Tan described Slaughter To Prevail on air as a band that “preaches Satanism and robs young people of their faith.” Behemoth were portrayed as “obviously anti-religious with their satanic attire.” The campaign was launched, and the reaction came swiftly.

Istanbul’s governor, Davut Gül, provided the political backing. Gül, formally non-partisan but loyally devoted to Erdogan’s AKP government, publicly declared that Istanbul had never permitted activities “that corrupt society” — and would not do so in the future either. The governor’s office invoked Turkey’s assembly law and issued a blanket two-day ban. Not even a fan meet-up was possible: Alex Terrible reported that his suggestion of a small meet-and-greet was rejected on the grounds that it would be “too dangerous.”

Two Bands, Two Completely Different Stories

What makes the whole affair particularly absurd is that Slaughter To Prevail and Behemoth could hardly be more different in their relationship to religion.

Behemoth frontman Nergal is an avowed Satanist who has deliberately made religious provocation his artistic trademark for decades. He tore up a Bible on stage in Gdynia, Poland in 2007, publicly stepped on an image of the Virgin Mary, waved a wooden phallus with a crucifix, and called the Catholic Church “the most murderous cult on the planet.” Polish prosecutors have hauled him into court multiple times for this — and he was acquitted or had the cases dismissed every single time. In 2012, the European Commission even affirmed his right to artistic freedom of expression. Nergal knows the game of religiously motivated government overreach inside out — Turkey simply offered a new variation of the same old pattern.

Slaughter To Prevail, on the other hand, are simply a deathcore band with a brutal aesthetic. Vocalist Alex Terrible vehemently rejects the Satanism accusations. He emphasized in a video that he personally believes in God. Guitarist Jack Simmons wears an Orthodox cross on his chest during performances. With dry humor, Terrible remarked that he personally will “go to Valhalla” after death, while his guitarist “will probably go to hell because he’s an Orthodox Christian.” His appeal to Turkish fans was respectful but clear: “Don’t call me satanic.”

For Akit TV, of course, none of that mattered. Anyone who wears monster masks and plays breakdowns is automatically an agent of the devil in their worldview. Nuance isn’t part of the broadcast format.

Behemoth’s Statement: Disappointed but Defiant

Behemoth responded one day after the ban with a detailed statement. They confirmed they had exhausted all options and held intensive discussions with local authorities — to no avail. The band emphasized that music poses no threat, and that what should truly be alarming is when music is silenced. Addressing their Turkish fans, they wrote that Turkey has some of the most passionate and dedicated fans in the world, and that they hope to return one day without interference. Behemoth’s last concert in Istanbul had taken place in 2019 at the Volkswagen Arena — without any incidents whatsoever.

Istanbul: Europe’s New Concert Ban Zone?

The cancellations don’t exist in isolation. Turkey has become an increasingly unpredictable landscape for international artists in recent months:

In October 2025, Morrissey’s planned appearances in Istanbul and Ankara were canceled after an old video surfaced showing him carrying an Israeli flag at a concert in Tel Aviv in 2012. The outrage on social media led to the cancellation — a pattern that repeated itself with Behemoth and Slaughter To Prevail.

Muse postponed their Istanbul show in April 2025 after fans and artists protested against the proximity of concert promoter DBL Entertainment to the Erdogan government. The DBL CEO had called demonstrators who took to the streets following the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu traitors.

Robbie Williams was also affected — his Istanbul concert was canceled citing security concerns, preceded by politically motivated protests as well.

The pattern is similar every time: a targeted campaign in social or traditional media generates artificial outrage, the authorities seize on the supposed will of the people and issue preemptive bans. Whether the actual majority of the population supports these demands is never verified. The tickets sold — arguably the most concrete proof of demand — are irrelevant.

Slaughter To Prevail: Caught Between All Fronts

For Slaughter To Prevail, the cancellation in Istanbul isn’t the only politically charged controversy of recent weeks. Just eleven days earlier, on January 30, Swedish politicians had attempted to prevent the band’s Stockholm concert. The Nordic Ukraine Forum called for the cancellation, citing the band’s Russian roots, merchandise featuring the Russian state coat of arms, and alleged connections to Russian propaganda. Stockholm’s finance councillor Karin Wanngaard expressed personal concerns, and Stockholm opposition politician Christofer Fjellner called the performance “inappropriate.” The concert went ahead in the end.

Alex Terrible thus finds himself caught between all fronts: too Russian in Sweden, too satanic in Turkey — despite being neither a propagandist for Putin nor a worshiper of Satan. The band, which defines itself primarily through musical brutality and theatrical stage shows, has become a pawn of geopolitical and religious sensitivities — an irony unmatched in the deathcore scene.

Artistic Freedom Under Pressure: A Pattern That Goes Beyond Metal

The events in Istanbul are not an isolated metal affair. They are symptomatic of a global trend in which artistic freedom is increasingly coming under pressure — not through explicit laws, but through the mechanics of public outrage and political favors.

In Turkey, this dynamic becomes particularly toxic due to the entanglement of religion, nationalism, and authoritarian power politics. Akit TV doesn’t need a government order to incite. It’s enough to choose the right bogeyman, and the governor takes care of the rest with a reference to “societal values” — a term as elastic as it is useful.

Behemoth know this game from Poland, where Nergal has repeatedly faced blasphemy charges for nearly two decades. The difference: Poland has independent courts that regularly acquit him. In Erdogan’s Turkey, the legal process is artistic fiction.

For metal fans, the bitter realization remains that in parts of the world, their music is not merely misunderstood but actively instrumentalized as a threat to the social order. The Satanic Panic familiar from 1980s America has found a new home on the Bosporus — and this time, it carries a press badge.