UK Museum Cancels Gig over Fears it Will Bring House Down

Britain's prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum said Wednesday it had been forced to cancel a concert by "grind metal" band Napalm Death because of fears that the music will quite literally bring the house down.

The British band had been scheduled to play a daring concert at the museum on Friday through a ceramic sculpture which -- if all had gone to plan -- would have exploded under the force of their music.

But the museum has now concluded that not only would the ceramic sculpture explode, but chunks of the rest of the 150-year-old building might come down with it.

"It is with regret that we have taken the decision to cancel the one-off Napalm Death performance in collaboration with our ceramic artist-in-residence Keith Harrison," it said in a statement.

"This was due to take place in the Europe Galleries which are currently being refurbished and a further safety inspection has revealed concerns that the high level of decibels generated by the concert would damage the historic fabric of the building."

The V&A said that while it wanted to stage "exciting" events, "the safety of our visitors and building remains our priority at all times".

The band, whose albums include titles such as "From Enslavement to Obliteration", were not available for comment.

Vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway said before the cancellation that the band liked to explore the concept of "sound as a weapon".

"The noise element of music should never be understated and this exhibition at the V&A will hopefully demonstrate that music can do interesting things beyond the realms of clipped production techniques," he said.