“This paper will focus on two case studies that examine the bands Spear of Longinus and Deströyer 666. Using paratextual analysis and readings of their song lyrics and interviews, we capture and understand what ideologies are held by these artists and how these are communicated to and received by fans. This analysis specifically explores how these ideologies are expressed through music, coded language and symbols, and the personae of black metal performers. Often, this coded language takes a form colloquially referred to as ‘dog-whistling’ which refers to speaking in a way that a target audience understands your meaning while others remain unaware of the implications of your speech and symbols (Haney-Lopez 2015). Later sections of the paper will consider the interaction between ideology and genre, using a range of frameworks such as Kahn-Harris’ reflexive antireflexivity (2007) and Lesourd’s black metal as Gesamtkunstwerk (2013). These frameworks allow us to examine how such ideologies operate within their respective scenes and how the social infrastructure of the Australian black metal scene produces and sustains those who hold far right-wing political views. We will conclude by demonstrating the connection between the musical and the social through an examination of how these performers’ views are deployed by their fans, reinforcing the link between alt-right political ideology and musical expression.”
“Whilst some sociologists have taken deep personal risks to interview neo-Nazis by infiltration (Hamm 1993; Hamm and Spaaij 2017), we follow the tradition of others such as Potter (2005), Cotter (1999) and Brown (2004), who focus on the lyrical and historical relevance of neo-Nazi and fascist music. However, where relevant, our reading of texts and paratexts is further supplemented by interviews with members of the Australian metal scene as identified by the authors and the authors’ own observations attending gigs and participating in metal and other alternative music scenes around Australia.”
“Most notable is the subgenre National Socialist Black Metal (hereafter NSBM), which typically connotes bands who explicitly advocate for fascist politics in their music (Olsen 2011). For example, the split CD release Unsere Krieg (‘Our War’) (Acclaim Records/Ancient Legacy Productions, 2008) between the bands 88, Iron Youth 88 and Moloch features two uses of 88, with 88 being a veiled reference to ‘Heil Hitler’ (the logic behind this is that the eighth letter of the alphabet is H, therefore 88 = HH = Heil Hitler). The band 88 stylizes their name with runes that resemble the flag of the Nazi Schutzstaffel (or SS), demonstrating how explicit NSBM bands are with their affiliations with neo-Nazi movements.”
“Olsen (2011) notes that whilst NSBM bands hold racist ideologies, they are not marginal but highly influential in global black metal scenes. Nazi symbolism is appropriated for a hyper-transgression, defining and redefining the boundaries of transgression within black metal.”
“While there are examples of proto-metal bands in Australia, such as Buffalo in the 1970s, the first true metal scene did not emerge until the 1980s, based in Melbourne (Calpakdijan 2014, Hillier 2019a). This scene gravitated around the Metal for Melbourne record store and consisted of classic heavy metal bands such as Taipan, S.A.S, and Ion Drive, who were heavily influenced by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (hereafter NWOBHM).”
“Extreme metal developed later in the 1980s, beginning with thrash metal bands such as Renegade, Mortal Sin, and Hobbs’ Angel of Death. Similarly, Armoured Angel are frequently credited as the pioneers of Australian death metal, whilst Slaughter Lord are heavily reminiscent of the first wave black metal in the vein of Swedish band Bathory (Calpakdijan 2014; Giffin 2015).”
“While there are musical, ideological, and personal links between these Australian bands and international metal scenes that have similar ideological frameworks, this article will only consider how these views manifest in Australian bands and how their manifestation affects the wider Australian metal scene.”
“Hoad (2016) extends Phillipov’s points regarding race in Australian metal, looking at how whiteness is constructed in Australian metal scenes. Australian metal is characterized as ‘banal nationalism’ that fetishizes ‘white sameness’ and enables the exclusion of ‘Otherness’ from (Australian) extreme metal.”
“An example of this is the expression of larrikinism within Australian surf culture, which is then embodied through metal, metalcore and hardcore bands such as Parkway Drive, who personify the ‘ideal’ image of the Australian male (Whiting, Klimentou and Rogers 2019).”
“The emphasis on larrikinism is especially problematic for bands that advocate extreme-right and fascist views in their music because this gives band members a means of deniability where they can argue that their music is not completely serious.”
“Many of these bands do not participate in mainstream music scenes or conventional underground metal scenes in their local area, creating a sub-underground scene, which runs parallel to local metal scenes. Our observations of the Tasmanian metal scene demonstrate that it is rare to see NSBM bands perform at mainstream community venues, due to genre crossovers with punk and metal (Hickam and Wallach 2011; Piper 2013; Kennedy 2018).”
“For example, one especially puzzling example of coded language in the Australian extreme metal scene is the insistence by some Australian NSBM groups on referring to Tasmania as ‘Van Diemen’s Land’, the name used for the state from 1825-1856 (Rattenkönig 2019). The reason for this is not presently clear, though it seems to be a deliberate attempt to ground these groups’ sense of place explicitly within Australia’s colonial past. Due to the insular nature of neo-Nazi and fascist groups, band members perform in several bands at once and perform together frequently or on neo-fascist music labels (Southern Poverty Law Center 2020). Larger festivals or performances, such as the annual Recrucify the Bastard festival held in Launceston, Tasmania, are comparatively rare.”
“The first case study is based around the band Spear of Longinus, who make extensive and explicit references to Nazism throughout their body of work, and are perhaps the most overt example of fascist and Nazi sentiment within the Australian metal scene”
“The cover of Spear of Longinus’ demo Nazi Occult Metal (1995) invokes several common NSBM tropes (beyond the title). The album cover recalls various NSBM aesthetics, using poorly drawn figures and a colour scheme dominated by black and red. Norse runes are appropriated to spell both the bands’ initials on the horizontal sides of the tape (here as S.O.L) and the title ‘Nazi Occult Metal’ on the vertical sides, a common reference in NSBM circles to Aryan heritage and appropriated Norse and neo-pagan religious practices (Olsen 2011).” “the vocals are remarkably clear by black and war metal standards such that the lyrics are fairly easily understood.” “Given the heavily ideological content of the lyrics, this seems a deliberate choice to make the lyrics more intelligible than other examples within their subgenre, allowing the ideological content to be absorbed by the listener more easily.”
“Following from this are Spear of Longinus’ albums The Yoga of National Socialism (hereafter TYONS) and …And the Swastikalotus. These albums make further references to various national socialist ideas in their titles and in their album artwork, demonstrating the ongoing pattern of infusing their political ideologies within their music”
“Beyond aesthetics, the lyrics of TYONS (Vinland Winds, 2002) introduce elements of Hinduism and Buddhism. This album draws heavily from stories and symbolism of Shiva, Vishnu and Buddha in addition to the references to Norse mythology.” Todo ocidental ultimado é um plagiário do Oriente.
“The Black Sun was used by the Nazis to represent divine salvation, an alternative for the swastika, carrying occult and Satanist connotations. (Goodrick-Clarke 2003). This collection includes the song World of Shit which references Nietzsche’s Thus Spake Zarathustra and concludes with the lines ‘The World has never sunk so low / Rome sank to whoredom and became a stew / The Caesars became beasts / And God a Jew’ (Vinland Winds 2004).”
“This manifests as a misunderstanding of many aspects of Nietzsche’s philosophy and Spear of Longinus’ references to Nietzschean ideas should be understood within this context.”
“The second case study is focused on the work of Deströyer 666. (…) While not as overt
with their fascist leanings as Spear of Longinus, several racist, nationalist, and sexist sentiments pervade both their textual and paratextual content. Notably, front man K.K. Warslut has faced several controversies for his conduct and comments at Deströyer 666 live performances. A performance in Denmark in 2016 prompted a public feud with magazine Metalsucks and their tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2019 was cancelled when their tour dates were protested. Protests arose following several magazines drawing links between the ideology professed by Deströyer 666 and that of the Christchurch Mosque Shooter (Hohen 2019; Mckenzie-King 2019)(*). In contrast to Spear of Longinus, Warslut consistently and vehemently denies that he holds or professes any views that could be considered racist, sexist, homophobic, or otherwise problematic, often immediately after detailing these views during an interview (Kristiansen 2015; Göransson 2016).
(*) The Christchurch Mosque Shooter (Brenton Tarrant), a 28-year-old Australian with no
previous criminal history who was active on extreme-right internet forums, entered the Al
Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he allegedly shot dead 50 people and
injured 48 (Besley and Peters, 2020; Macklin, 2019).”
“It depicts a large white wolf baring its teeth and standing over the corpse of a smaller brown wolf, which has troubling implications in the context of how wolves are used by the band. Wolves are a common theme in the artwork and lyrics of Deströyer 666. Warslut has stated in an interview that the wolf on this cover represents ‘the spirit of the white man’ (Alternative Underground 2014; ‘@ndy’, 2016; Hohen 2019). In between the researching and final writing of this paper, the online copy of this interview was deleted from YouTube and is no longer available to be viewed. Several sources that linked to this interview (Alternative Underground, 2014; ‘@ndy’, 2016; Hohen, 2019) mention the specific comment about ‘the spirit of the white man’ and the authors can confirm that they have heard this interview and attest that this comment was made by Warslut. The original source appears to be the 2014 blog post on Alternative Underground, which also provides a transcript of some additional comments made by Warslut and records the blog writer’s interpretations of the interviewer’s reactions to Warslut’s statements.”
“While Christian churches were certainly involved in the invasion and colonisation of Australia, it was not white people that they were targeting as organized religion was brought to Australia by British colonial forces. Indeed, many Christian organizations directly aimed to subjugate Indigenous Australians and participated in the systematic eradication of their culture and spirituality through forced assimilation on church missions (see Moses 2000).”
“The first defence often made by extreme metal bands with problematic politics is to designate themselves as being apolitical, regardless of statements that they have made which are deliberately political. Ideas of reflexive, unreflexive, and anti-reflexive practices are integral to understanding how these designations operate in metal scenes.”
“For example, the Facebook page of Spear of Longinus contains the disclaimer that ‘Spear Of Longinus is not politically or racially motivated’ (Spear of Longinus 2020). In effect, Spear of Longinus are attempting to construe themselves as somehow being apolitical while explicitly, deliberately, and intentionally advocating fascist views in their music. We interpret this statement to act as a token disclaimer to provide the band with deniability should they be accused of violating the Terms of Service of a platform like Facebook.”
“The second manifestation of reflexive anti-reflexivity within Spear of Longinus’ body of work suggests that the elements of Gnostic Nazism are satirical or otherwise non-serious. This includes not taking themselves too seriously, an idea seemingly supported by song titles like ‘YHWH Penis Abominator’ from …And The Swastikalotus.”
“One example is seen in how Warslut responds to criticism of the cover of Deströyer 666’s EP Of Wolves Women And War (Satans Metal Records 2002), which features a werewolf sodomizing a naked woman who closely resembles Australian singer Kylie Minogue. There is a range of problematic elements present on this cover, although we will focus on two. One is the issue of consent, as we doubt Kylie Minogue endorsed her likeness being used in the context of this album cover, as no mention is made of it in the liner notes and the cover puts her into an explicitly sexualized position; given these dubious issues of consent, we have elected not to include an image of this cover in this paper but instead describe the image sufficiently to explain our point. Secondly, given the previous context in which wolves have been used by Deströyer 666 to represent ‘the spirit of the white man’, this cover appears to be communicating that the white man as a wolf exists to sexually dominate women. Warslut defends this cover by arguing that such an act of ‘lycanthropic buggery’ would not be endorsed by Adolf Hitler (Göransson 2016). Warslut argues that such ‘degeneracy’ (itself a dog whistle used by fascist groups) would not be approved by the Nazis, therefore he and his band cannot be expressing Nazi sentiments at all in their work (Göransson 2016).”
“There is recorded footage of Warslut [olha o nome do panaca] in 2012 at Deathkult Open Air Festival yelling to the crowd:
This one is for all the Muslim immigrants who are invading – who are invited to invade our fucking continent: fuck you Allah! Yeah, everyone’s busy being anti-Christian. Fuck being anti-Christian, let’s be fucking anti-Muslim for once! This is our fucking land! (Warslut, in GronSS 2012)”
“the arguments deployed by these bands to excuse their extreme ideologies are so thin that they collapse with only the smallest interrogation, and are clearly only being accepted by fans so that they are not required to surrender music that they otherwise enjoy.”
“more than a genre of music, [black metal] is a complete form of artistic and aesthetic expression, requiring musicians and artists to be inseparable from their creations.” Discordo.
“In this case, the categorisation of NSBM as a separate scene and subgenre relative to normal black metal scenes suggests that the most problematic and overtly fascist bands are understood to some degree as ‘not us’ by non-NSBM black metal bands and fans”
(*) “The celebration of Australia Day on January 26th has long been controversial, though there has been increasing public awareness and discussion of the date in recent years (Morgan, 2019). January 26th commemorates the official declaration of British sovereignty in Australia in 1788 (though it is commonly and incorrectly thought to mark the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney Cove) and has been Federally recognized as a public holiday in Australian since 1994. For Indigenous Australians, in particular, this date represents a commemoration of British invasion, and is sometimes referred to as Invasion Day, with formal protests conducted on that date since 1988 (Morgan, 2019).”
“They also specifically align themselves against ‘leftist sooks’, who they construct as being the only people who care about Indigenous Australian culture (here reductively described as ‘painting dots in the dreamtime’).”
“A different response is possible. An international Red and Anarchist Black Metal (hereafter RABM) movement is steadily growing, following coverage of some of the more prominent bands gaining news attention, including a congregation of like-minded black metal musicians in dedicated RABM forums (Kelly 2018). Many of these bands are explicitly critical of the current international black metal scene, with bands such as Gaylord and Neckbeard Deathcamp releasing albums respectively titled The Black Metal Scene Needs to Be Destroyed (2018) and White Nationalism is for Basement-Dwelling Losers (2018). Other bands who operate within more mainstream or conventionally underground extreme metal scenes such as Iskra, Panopticon, and Dawn Ray’d are also associated with the movement (Kelly 2018).”
WIKI: “O RABM surgiu como uma resposta ao black metal nacional-socialista, pelo grupo argentino Profecium em 1993 (que era anarquista na época) e massificado pelo grupo canadense Iskra em meados de 2000. Nasceu das mãos de bandas radicadas no crust punk.” “O som das bandas RABM aparentemente também difere do Black metal comum, em muitos casos as bandas misturam o som do crust punk (principalmente anarquista) ou ambient black metal com elementos do post-rock (Panopticon, Wheels Within Wheels, All the Cold, Skagos, Adamennon), também há bandas que incorporam elementos do pagan metal e viking metal (Sorgsvart, Lake of Blood, Borgazur) e outras que incorporam elementos do shoegaze (Violet Cold) e do death metal (Hereticae, Vociferatus).”
Mais bandas do RABM:
BR
Pessimista
Vazio (DV)
A Plague
Caos Onipresente
Ioroque
Vermgod
Heteriah
Desista
Imminent Doom
Bleak Wind
Atéia
Gomorraa
Carniçal
EUA
Feminazgul
UCR
Trespasser
ESC
Order of The Wolf
PAÍS BASCO
Etxegiña
“While it is unlikely that far-right politics and NSBM will ever be completely removed from extreme metal, these are important steps in ensuring that fascist ideology within the scene is recognized and dealt with accordingly while developing a sense of social control and self-regulation within the scene.”
Seclusão Anagógica 