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yuuagoI've realized recently that with some of the genres I listen to, I need to be very careful about looking up information about bands before I begin listening to them in earnest. I already knew about this, but forgot. In European metal, and also in folk genres, and other genres like dark ambient, there is always the chance that you'll stumble over neo-nazi bands. I like music with pagan themes, and this is another factor that ups the chance of me running into this kind of bullshit.
With recommendations from trusted sources, I don't need to worry too much, but if it's a recommendation from a "similar bands" generator or from anonymous sources, then I need to be careful. About a week ago I posted about the generator Gnoosic, which recommends bands based on what you already like. Some of the bands that it linked me to were bands with neo-nazi/neo-völkisch/Odalist leanings, and I didn't realize that initially. It wasn't until I encountered some uncomfortable imagery in videos that I stopped for a moment and bothered to look it up... I don't normally think to screen for political leanings when I'm listening to something new.
In well-known cases, it's easy to find out this information because it's all over the place; for example, the Wikipedia entries about Burzum/Vark Vikernes definitely give you enough information to tell what his political inclinations are (... among other things. This guy is such a horrible trainwreck). But for very minor bands, this won't be the case, and finding out these things requires fishing through forums and such, some of which might not be in English.
Anyway. I'm disappointed and unnerved. And I don't like the idea of having to screen for that every time I encounter a good song by a metal/folk/dark-ambient band that I don't know about, but I might begin doing that, at least for things that I come across randomly. So far, in my cursory searching, I haven't come across anything questionable about Werkraum, the band that I linked last week. But now I'm paranoid, and I'm going to try digging a little further.
Of course, sometimes there are other factors to be considered; for instance, Sabaton has had neo-nazi accusations raised at them because some of their songs on their WWII-themed albums are about Germany. But these accusations are wrong, because they ignore the fact that Sabaton's songs about Germany are about how horrible and destructive the Nazi regime was. And I have plenty to say about this, but it's best suited for another entry. But for every Sabaton, I'm willing to bet that there's at least ten creepy neo-Nazi Odalist bands out there, and I need to be careful about what I listen to.
With recommendations from trusted sources, I don't need to worry too much, but if it's a recommendation from a "similar bands" generator or from anonymous sources, then I need to be careful. About a week ago I posted about the generator Gnoosic, which recommends bands based on what you already like. Some of the bands that it linked me to were bands with neo-nazi/neo-völkisch/Odalist leanings, and I didn't realize that initially. It wasn't until I encountered some uncomfortable imagery in videos that I stopped for a moment and bothered to look it up... I don't normally think to screen for political leanings when I'm listening to something new.
In well-known cases, it's easy to find out this information because it's all over the place; for example, the Wikipedia entries about Burzum/Vark Vikernes definitely give you enough information to tell what his political inclinations are (... among other things. This guy is such a horrible trainwreck). But for very minor bands, this won't be the case, and finding out these things requires fishing through forums and such, some of which might not be in English.
Anyway. I'm disappointed and unnerved. And I don't like the idea of having to screen for that every time I encounter a good song by a metal/folk/dark-ambient band that I don't know about, but I might begin doing that, at least for things that I come across randomly. So far, in my cursory searching, I haven't come across anything questionable about Werkraum, the band that I linked last week. But now I'm paranoid, and I'm going to try digging a little further.
Of course, sometimes there are other factors to be considered; for instance, Sabaton has had neo-nazi accusations raised at them because some of their songs on their WWII-themed albums are about Germany. But these accusations are wrong, because they ignore the fact that Sabaton's songs about Germany are about how horrible and destructive the Nazi regime was. And I have plenty to say about this, but it's best suited for another entry. But for every Sabaton, I'm willing to bet that there's at least ten creepy neo-Nazi Odalist bands out there, and I need to be careful about what I listen to.
Yuu. Fic writer & book lover. M/Canada.
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Date: 2014-12-05 10:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-05 11:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-06 02:16 am (UTC)I only listen to a few metal bands because a lot of time, I would research what is their deal is on wikipedia and usually a lot of terms like nazi and facist comes up... I want to listen to more metal because it has been a genre that I don't know much about but at the same time, I don't want to support people who are the types to be in Stormfront (some racist site).
Have you listen to Týr? I gave a couple of their songs a listen and I enjoyed those songs despite not being super wild about vikings. It helps that as far as political stuff goes, none of the members are stupid enough to express their views in public, the closest is just criticism of Christianity but considering that they sing about Norse gods that is to be expected but I don't know if you would be okay with it.
It happens the same in films with this Lars Von Trier guy. Apparently he makes interesting films but he proudly admit to be a nazi and there is a video on the internet with an actress with him where he said something positive about Hilter and the actress is trying so hard not to slap him....
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Date: 2014-12-06 02:52 am (UTC)Though partly it depends on the subgenre - with black metal and death metal I find that this thing is more common, but power metal is more likely to be safe. But folk metal/pagan metal, like modern folk music, sometimes has problems... sometimes even if it isn't neo-nazi, it's still white supremicist; I find this pops up most with Slavic folkmetal bands and it's so frustrating, especially if it takes me a while to discover the problem.
I love Týr! Their music is great! I love that some of their music is based on traditional Icelandic/Faeroese music; those tracks I find especially beautiful.
Are there any other metal bands you've found that you like? Here are ones that I listen to, and far as I know all of them are "safe": Sabaton, Rhapsody AKA Rhapsody of Fire, Luca Turilli, Kamelot, Symphony X, Nightwish, and of course Iron Maiden.
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Date: 2014-12-06 05:21 am (UTC)I love folk metal/pagan metal or at least I want to check out more of them but like you said, there is an uncomfortable tendencies for a lot of bands to be "super nationalistic".
Still, I think there is a way to be proud of one's origins without excluding others and that is what I like about Týr so far. They don't sing songs about hurting non Nordic folks... they stick to what they are passionate about and managed to educate some listeners about Faroese/Icelandic lore.