The Worcester Telegram & Gazette just published the following article regarding the sudden cancellation of a number of metal shows on Disney property, including the opening night of The Black Tyranny Tour featuring MACHINE HEAD, ARCH ENEMY, THROWDOWN and SANCTITY:

Machine Head is disturbing The Mouse.

Twice this month, House of Blues concert venues on Disney-owned property - one in Anaheim and one in Orlando - booted long-booked Machine Head concerts just days ahead of the scheduled performances. The Orlando House of Blues also forced death-metal band Cannibal Corpse to change venues.

“It’s pretty disturbing,” said Machine Head singer Robb Flynn. “We are shocked that in this day and age, in 2007 America, that bands can be pressured, (and) that promoters can be pressured by a business and be removed from a venue because somebody doesn’t like what your lyrics stand for or think that your fans are crazy. We’ve played these venues before, and there was no indication that anything was going to be different.”

Calls for comment from the House of Blues in Orlando were bounced around three offices before falling into a voice mail belonging to Kendall Lee in the HOB’s operations department. In published reports, Live Nation, the concert-promoting giant that owns the House of Blues chain, conceded that the entertainment mix presented at its venues on Disney property will have to differ from what it typically offers elsewhere in the country.

Machine Head is heading to a safe harbor this week, though, as the band brings its Black Tyranny Tour to The Palladium, 261 Main St., Worcester, tomorrow. The package also features co-headliner Arch Enemy and support acts Throwdown and Sanctity (whose bass player Jared MacEachern is also subbing for Machine Head’s Adam Duce, who broke his leg just before the start of the tour).

To modify Flynn’s assessment of the situation a bit, things are a little different from previous Machine Head tours as the band is now packing “The Blackening,” the best — and darkest — album of its career.

“Once we started the recording process, it dawned on everyone that this might be something a little different, and that got us excited,” Flynn said.

Read more here.