Delain bassist: “My scrotum had swollen to the size of a grapefruit”

Otto Schimmelpenninck, bassist with Dutch metal band Delain, has been speaking of his recent onstage injury.

Schimmelpenninck ruptured his testicle whilst on the stage of Birmingham’s O2 Academy after being hit in the groin by a streamer cannon. Despite the pain, he continued with the show and finished the gig.

Speaking to Noisey, the bass player said: “It was different from being hit or kicked in that area, in that it was a very sharp pain, like I had been cut. After half a minute or so the pain started to get worse, changing into the kind of pain you have when you’ve received a kick in that zone. I also had the feeling that I was bleeding, as I felt something flowing. When I got the chance to feel inside my trousers that appeared to be correct. I had been bleeding internally, quite heavily, and my scrotum had swollen to the size of a grapefruit.”

“Even now, one-and-a-half weeks later, it’s very painful and swollen,” he continued. “Although apparently that’s normal. If recovery goes as planned, things should start to heal pretty soon… If recovery does not go as planned (i.e. it remains swollen and I remain in pain) chances are it will not be alright. I’m not sure yet what the consequences of that will be.”

Explaining the incident in a lengthy Facebook post, Schimmelpenninck said that an extra musician playing on stage with them at the Birmingham gig had caused him to be out of line of his usual standpoint when the cannons fired.

Delain’s most recent album, The Human Contradiction, was released earlier this year.