Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
It appears that the splits that have emerged within the ranks of the Dogma side have spread to the upper echelons of the contentious organization, as theprp reports. This past October, the dam broke, with a slew of former members of the band coming forward with charges against the band’s management. These allegations varied from mistreatment, falsehoods, and manipulation to being underpaid and unfairly sacked. Claims of excessively unfavorable contracts and other allegations were hurled against the band’s management.
When it came down to it, the recurring thread among the many charges was that the all-female hard rock band had been puppeteered to some extent by management, who were believed to have called the shots and oversaw who played in the band. The charges also called into question Dogma‘s high turnover rate, with various musicians cycling through the band to take on established personas. Alvaro Rabaquino (aka The Dark Messiah), one of Dogma‘s architects, has spoken out. In a statement made on December 3rd, he decried the acts of a former co-founder of the group.
Rabaquino acknowledged himself as one of the major songwriters and musicians that helped lay the framework for Dogma. However, he confirmed that he is no longer a member of the group. In the statement below, he details an internal power struggle while denouncing the activities of the outfit’s current leadership.
The narrative was being shaped by someone who was not a musician, not a writer, and not a woman, someone outside the musical, creative, and lived experience of the performers, and that dissonance became impossible to ignore.
His statement also reveals that he and three former Dogma members — vocalist Grace Jane Pasturini (Lilith II), guitarist Amber Maldonado (Lamia II), and guitarist Patri Grief (Rusalka) — have formed a new band called VindictA. Their debut single “The Face Of The Clown” is now available below. That group intends to effectively’reclaim’ some of the songs they participated in while a member of Dogma, while also working on their own new music together.
