Death metal and controversy have long enjoyed each other’s company. Be it through jarring, boundary pushing lyrical content or grotesque visual imagery, the genre and its many outrageously named artists have long been intent on offending the masses.
While that sense of outrage and shock may have abated as the genre grew in size and the internet as a whole desensitized us to far more chilling horrors on a daily basis, Columbus, Ohio outfit Sanguisugabogg have set out to push the needle once again with a very topical new merch item.
In allusion to the recent assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the the man arrested and charged with murdering him, Luigi Mangione, Sanguisugabogg have announced the limited release of a new shirt that will likely not only rile up the masses, but also the notoriously litigious Nintendo as well.
The shirt depicts a hooded Luigi from the popular Super Mario Bros. franchise firing bullets into a freshly assassinated Bowser — aka the main villain in the long-running aforementioned video game, etc. series. The phrase ‘Free Luigi’ is emblazoned atop the shirt, which can be pre-ordered through deadassshirts.com.
Pre order this one of a kind shirt here < https://t.co/cwXVKFeCGq pic.twitter.com/sLwTqXM3JT
— Sanguisugabogg (@sanguisugabogg) December 11, 2024
That shirt’s reveal follows the below photoshopped picture and story the band posted on their social media earlier today, December 11th:
Free Luigi who on December 4th around 6 AM helped us load our trailer and drive with us to play a secret set in California which is about 2.8k mi from Manhattan and at the show he bought merch from every band except for the hoodies because he said he hates them and 3D printed 9mm pic.twitter.com/FU4O20yxp6
— Sanguisugabogg (@sanguisugabogg) December 11, 2024
Since posting the shirt this afternoon, the band have also engaged in several conversations regarding it, including the following exchanges:
