New Wave of Anti-Fascist Black Metal
August 29, 2018 10:47 AM   Subscribe

Weeks advocates for direct action against metal fascists, and encourages others to “to hold them over the fire and push against them. Shut down their shows, write music, call out people in Burzum shirts. Be relentless.” Neckbeard Deathcamp have a song about drowning Richard Spencer in piss. It’s over-the-top, and gory, and a bit absurd—in other words, it’s very much in line with “regular” extreme metal, which, for all its flaws and foibles, is also very good at being very silly.
Kim Kelly looks at the New Wave of Anti-Fascist Black Metal.

For more background, Kim Kelly has also interviewed the person behind Gaylord and their motivation for playing antifascist black metal:
Why do you think extreme metal and black metal in particular skews so conservative?

I think it's a prison it's built itself. The scene revolves so heavily around counterculture that if you step outside of it's narrowly defined rules you are deemed a "poser.” [For example,] having long hair is a very metal thing, but not all of us can grow long hair. Genes, accidents, and work roles sometimes dictate if we can have long hair. But as soon as you cut your hair, the scene declares you a poser. If you don't play a riff just like this you're a poser, if you don't sing just like this you're a poser. So basically in being so vehemently counterculture ,heavy metal—especially black metal—has built itself a conservative prison.
For more properly political, leftwing black metal there's the RABM blog, as mentioned in the article, showcasing Red and Anarchist Black Metal.
posted by MartinWisse (27 comments total) 43 users marked this as a favorite
 
Good for you, metal fans!
posted by evilDoug at 11:00 AM on August 29, 2018 [2 favorites]


\m/ d ^ . ^ b \m/
posted by adamgreenfield at 11:03 AM on August 29, 2018 [4 favorites]


(That RABM blog is the good shit, cheers.)
posted by adamgreenfield at 11:04 AM on August 29, 2018


The Chicago Reader had a good interview with Neckbeard Deathcamp a couple weeks ago. "White Nationalism is for Basement Dwelling Losers" is one of the great album titles.
posted by torridly at 11:13 AM on August 29, 2018 [13 favorites]


"White Nationalism is for Basement Dwelling Losers" is one of the great album titles.

And up for grabs as a MetaFilter user name for any of you lurkers out there. ;-)
posted by Fizz at 11:23 AM on August 29, 2018 [5 favorites]


I think one of my problems historically with these types of metal is the misplaced aggression. Angry people all screaming about shit to no end besides anger itself. Antifa Metal seems superior in that there's a sensible and good outlet for that anger, there's actually something to be mad about specifically. "Rarr fuck fuck society fuck jesus blegh blood and thunder" only goes so far and frankly is pretty milquetoast anyway in today's climate. Screaming about drowning Richard Spencer in piss has an actual message people can relate to, feel some catharsis from. Lord knows I'm driven up the wall sometimes hearing about a political figure doing something blatantly fucked up and the public and media fail to even muster some tepid response when for fuck's sake we should have already been sharpening the guillotines a very long time ago. I wish I was not at work because I've just made myself angry and this music seems like it'd be helpful right about now.
posted by GoblinHoney at 11:31 AM on August 29, 2018 [2 favorites]


I think one of my problems historically with these types of metal is the misplaced aggression.

I've just made myself angry and this music seems like it'd be helpful right about now.

QED.
posted by rhizome at 11:43 AM on August 29, 2018 [8 favorites]


I think one of my problems historically with these types of metal is the misplaced aggression. Angry people all screaming about shit to no end besides anger itself.

I'm probably listening to different black metal than you, because most of the stuff I'm hearing isn't particularly angry and is more like something approximating "expressions of catharsis, transcendence, despondency, grief, etc"
posted by naju at 12:19 PM on August 29, 2018 [12 favorites]


I've been browsing the Red and Anarchist Black Metal blog for a few years, and they're not kidding- the amount of stuff there is staggering. Lots of it isn't black metal per se, but who cares.

The Woodland Tomb EP and the Redbait tape linked to in the article are killer.

Grim Kim rules!
posted by heteronym at 12:19 PM on August 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


As long as Portal doesn't get mikshake-duck'ed I'll be fine. Not mentioned in the blog, they may very well not be considered to be capital-B Black Metal. Conservatives!
posted by rhizome at 12:37 PM on August 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Shut down their shows, write music, call out people in Burzum shirts.

Varg is now a family guy making atmospheric music, so that's an interesting target to choose.
posted by 445supermag at 1:01 PM on August 29, 2018


Still a white supremacist, though.
posted by sagc at 1:04 PM on August 29, 2018 [20 favorites]


Hell, the list of topics his YouTube channel covers, via Wikipedia: "Vlog, Early Norwegian black metal scene, Role Playing Games, Survivalism, White genocide conspiracy theory". His channel name is basically a dog whistle, too - "ThuleanPerspective".
posted by sagc at 1:06 PM on August 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


I'm probably listening to different black metal than you, because most of the stuff I'm hearing isn't particularly angry and is more like something approximating "expressions of catharsis, transcendence, despondency, grief, etc"

Yeah I think maybe some black metal is angry but a larger proportion of it - even the Nazi stuff, actually, thanks to Varg, is more atmospheric and abstract. Similarly, death metal is seldom "rar rar society" - it's more horror movie violence.

Portal might have some black metal influence but spiritually they seem in the prog-death tradition.
posted by atoxyl at 1:46 PM on August 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


Varg is now a family guy making atmospheric music, so that's an interesting target to choose.

He was always making "atmospheric music" - not sure what that has to do with it. If anything he's way more openly and cohesively ideological than he used to be. It's not like Darkthrone who flirted with calling themselves "aryan black metal" early on but explicitly repudiated it later.

The reason Varg is the one named here is that his influence is such that he has a lot of fans among people who wouldn't necessarily seek out NSBM or consider their black metal fandom to be political.
posted by atoxyl at 1:58 PM on August 29, 2018 [2 favorites]


Speaking of Darkthrone, I would think the ideal musical form for "red and anarchist black metal" would be the black-metal-meets-crust-punk that late-period-doing-whatever-the-hell-we-feel-like Darkthrone has played with.
posted by atoxyl at 2:04 PM on August 29, 2018


This Isaac Hayes totenkopf shirt just really blew my mind.
posted by deadbilly at 4:22 PM on August 29, 2018 [3 favorites]


That shirt is fucking boss.
posted by rmd1023 at 4:41 PM on August 29, 2018


Every single band I've listened to so far has been completely amazing. Wow. Wow. This is the good shit.
posted by wires at 6:43 PM on August 29, 2018


Yeah, this is a really good list!
posted by TheCoug at 7:42 PM on August 29, 2018




Related: How Metal Became So Fucking Reactionary and What to Do About It

Wow, that article is totally amazing and deserves its own post!

It's revant to many things even if the reader has zero interest in heavy metal music and culture per se. The growth of various counter cultures in the 20th Century west, what they did and did not achieve, how they fit into cultural and political changes, the growth of far-right politics in the West, and what can be done about it.
posted by ethical_caligula at 10:28 PM on August 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Varg is now a family guy

lol wtf he's still a nazi, married to another nazi.
posted by Tarumba at 7:07 AM on August 30, 2018 [7 favorites]


Related: How Metal Became So Fucking Reactionary and What to Do About It

I would read that particular take with a metric ton of salt to be honest.
posted by MartinWisse at 9:24 AM on August 30, 2018


Do you want to elaborate? I grew up listening to punk so the history part isn't my area of interest but the analysis seems dead on. Metal values transgressiveness above all else, this opened the door to the fascists and racists long ago, and now we have a real problem on our hands. The metal scene never had it's moment of reckoning with white supremacists like punks did in the 80s. Punks fought the fascists off, metalheads shrugged and bought their records.

I have pretty much seen the reactionary blueprint laid out in that article play out with several (some now former) friends, straight down to the "but it's supposed to be offensive" excuse for even the most vile people.
posted by bradbane at 10:02 AM on August 30, 2018 [2 favorites]


I was pretty sure we'd previously discussed that article and yeah.
posted by atoxyl at 9:00 PM on August 30, 2018


Neckbeard Deathcamp is coming to Maryland Deathfest in May, 2019!

Because of them and a couple of other bands mentioned on the roster, I sprung for tickets to the festival. I can't wait to see them.
posted by spinifex23 at 10:00 PM on September 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


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