The Liberal Party’s beleaguered 21-year-old candidate for Melton, Braidy Kean, is embroiled in another controversy surrounding his membership of progressive metal band Ill Omen, after a YouTube video arose featuring his bandmates engaging in an homophobic rant referencing necrophilia.

The damning video, which was taken down this morning following Crikey‘s queries, but quickly re-uploaded by our technical department, shows Ill Omen’s bassist, drummer and guitarist being interviewed by an unidentified fourth party.

The pre-show banter then leads into footage of vocalist Kean laying down a brutal version of Ill Omen track ‘Blood Ritual’ live at the Waterloo Cup Hotel in Moonee Ponds.

The conversation proceeds thusly:

Cameraman: “Hey man, are you a f-ggot?”
Drummer: “yeah man, I’m a necro f-ggot”
[laughter]
Cameraman: “Only f-cks guys when they’re dead”
Drummer: “Dead guys”
Cameraman: “Dead guys, dead guys he only f-cks dead guys”
Bassist: “Are you filming us? On that sh-t? I can’t waiiiit to play”
Cameraman: “so are you a f-ggot as well or? Apparently [the drummer] only f-cks dead guys, only guys..”
Bassist: “I dunno about that but all I know this is going on the DVD, this is why we’re doing this sh-t”
Guitarist: “I’ve been known to catch him a few times, a couple of stiff ones”
Bassist: “Ha, there’s been a couple of stiff ones”
Cameraman: “that’s like a double entendre there!”
Unknown: “how you choose to interpret that is…”
[laughter]

———–

On the Ill Omen Facebook page, there is a link to Kean’s official Liberal Party page spruiking his candidacy and promising to “fight for a better deal for Melbourne’s West and to Make Melton Matter.”

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Ill Omen is selling a blistering demo for $5, featuring tracks including the aforementioned ‘Blood Ritual’, ‘Silent Demise’, ‘The Forthcoming’ and ‘For your Ignorance’. According to the band’s MySpace page, a follow-up EP is expected to include “an untitled Dying Fetus inspired black metal reminiscent song” and a “freeform jazz” improvisation. The group lists Coal Chamber successors Devildriver, Deicide, The Faceless, Obscura, Necrophagist, Cynic, Testament and Evile as influences on its MySpace page and describes its live shows as “intense, insane, awesome, brutal and f-cking crazy!”

Lyrics include this thought-provoking stanza on ‘The Forthcoming’:

Beneath the Destruction,
Lies a hate with no function,
Before us lies death with no chance of redemption.

This is not the first time dark clouds have threatened to derail Kean’s bid for Melton residents’ hearts.

Last weekend, The Sunday Herald Sun trawled over his Facebook page, revealing his membership of the group “Melton needs a 24-hour-bottle-o!”. On the page, Kean also slammed Police Commissioner Simon Overland as a “d-ckhead”. Last week, the youngster was the victim of political vandalism, with unnamed locals defacing one of his campaign signs.

In media interviews published in local newspapers, Kean has claimed to be a relative of Jeff Kennett, saying his grandmother’s maiden name was also Kennett and that the former premier was her cousin. He has previously made an unsuccessful bid for a seat on Melton council.

The sitting Labor member Don Nardella, who holds Melton by 13.5%, told Crikey that the references in the video were “absolutely inappropriate” and that his local constituents would be repelled by Kean’s association with Ill Omen.

A spokesperson for the Victorian Liberal Party denied Kean had played any role in the video, despite his three bandmates’ comments and his presence in the room.

“Mr Kean has indicated that he was not the person in the YouTube clip operating the video camera and asking questions.”

Crikey asked whether the Liberals would continue to fund Kean’s campaign, and what Liberal leader Ted Baillieu thought of his membership of Ill Omen, however no response was received before deadline.