Neo-nazism in metal and folk music... It's more likely than I thought
I'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.
This entry was originally posted at http://yuuago.dreamwidth.org/3356763.html. You can comment here or at the original entry.
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.
This entry was originally posted at http://yuuago.dreamwidth.org/3356763.html. You can comment here or at the original entry.