Local rockers plan black Sabbath in Smyrna

Mike Malott hasn’t sold his soul for rock ‘n’ roll. And he doesn’t like it when others say that rock music - and rock musicians - are instruments of Satan. That’s why Malott hopes to round up as many of his tattooed, tongue-pierced brethren together as he can to attend services this Sunday at a nondemoninational church in Smyrna that Malott says is hostile to heavy metal.

“It’s a church that says all rock is Satanic, and that all people who listen to it are evil,” Malott says. “It’s 2000, and we fight for our rights.”

An administrator at the International Gospel Outreach Church on Windy Hill Road - who answered the telephone but wouldn’t give her name - said late last week that no one at the church was aware of the planned event, though Malott says he told the church about it weeks ago.

But Smyrna police are certainly ready. Officers were originally worried about the crowds they might have to contend with if, as rumored, Marilyn Manson or a member of his band showed up for the sit-in. E-mails to Manson’s management confirmed that the singer will be in California Sunday, but in any case the city will have extra officers on patrol Sunday morning, says Sgt. Keith Zgonc.

Malott says he doesn’t want to cause any problems or disrupt the service. He’s telling participants that they’re not welcome if they’re going to do anything loud or disrespectful. But at the same time, he wants people to show up in the death metal version of Sunday’s finest, with hair and make-up to match.

“People are coming out of the woodwork,” he says. “It’s going to be bizarre.”