Antifa Strikes Again: Marduk's Show in Oakland Shutdown

  When I wake up in the morning, I wake up with the hope that black metal bands can play concerts without having to worry about dealing with Antifa, or any other extremist group who thinks they are fighting for some supposed glorious cause. Unfortunately, I wake up and see that once again these ignorant humanoids have forced the cancellation of yet another black metal concert based off of bogus claims.

  Marduk was supposed to play in Oakland, CA at the Oakland Metro Saturday February, 18th along with Incantation and Svart Crown. However, due to safety concerns the show was canceled. The Metro issued a statement explaining the reason for the cancellation and stated how they were informed by the Oakland Police that canceling the show would be highly recommended, especially after what happened in Berkeley with the Milo event. I won’t blame the Metro for the cancellation, as they were making a decision based off of a recommendation from the Oakland Police Department. Also, I would not want the Metro to be besieged like the University of Berkeley campus. I know people who work at the Metro and I would not want their place of business being potentially destroyed.

  As it should come as no surprise, Antifa is the main driving force behind this cancellation and the group who deserves all the blame. The group Anti-Fascist Action Bay Area posted a bogus list of reasons why the Marduk should not be allowed to play on their Facebook Page. The post I believe has been taken down, but for the most part they claim Marduk is a black metal band with, “known white supremacist ties from Sweden that profits off of glorifying Nazi imagery and songs about Nazi SS officers and anti-semitism” (Anti-Fascist Action Bay Area).

  Overall, they used really weak evidence to make the case that Marduk is a white supremacist band that promotes Nazism. If anyone took the time to actually look at the band’s history and past interviews, they would find that Marduk has never advocated for the mass genocide of any race. Marduk’s lyrical themes deal with World War Two, so there have been songs written about Nazis, because...Nazis were involved in World War Two! Writing songs about the history of the Third Reich is not enough evidence to justify the claim that these guys go around glorifying Nazism. I think certain people forget World War Two history is a fascinating subject and can be explored further in extreme music. I mean, Slayer’s, “Angel of Death,” is not advocating for another Holocaust. Should Antifa call for the cancellation of Slayer shows since Slayer writes songs referencing Nazi history?

  Another point I saw brought up against Marduk is that their guitarist Morgan "Evil" Steinmeyer Håkansson knew Varg Vikernes back in the day. Since Varg has made some anti-semitic remarks in the past that means by association that Morgan “Evil” is anti-semitic. Yes, in their sick and twisted minds having past association with someone automatically makes you connected to that person’s exact ideology. Seriously, I can’t understand their logic and will just leave it at that!

  At the end of the day I can only repeat to everyone that Antifa is creating a fascist environment based off of extremely weak claims. What world do we live in where people can go around using fear and lies as a tool to silence people? Where have we seen this before? Nazi Germany? Well, to those Anti-Fascists who are celebrating the cancellation of the Marduk show, congratulations as you are now on the path to actual fascism...you hypocrites. One day hopefully more people will see them for who they really are... One day we might be able to go to our black metal concerts without the fear of them being canceled... One day...



Here is an article from Metal Injection that gives some good info on what happened and also served as a basis for my rant. It also contains the statements by the Oakland Metro and Oakland Police:

http://www.metalinjection.net/latest-news/marduks-show-in-oakland-got-cancelled-because-people-think-theyre-nazis-were-pretty-sure-theyre-not

Antifa: The New Fascists and New Enemies of Rob “The Metal Guy”

Graveland "Thousand Swords"

    I guess you could say I am late pertaining to the whole Graveland and Messe Des Morts music festival situation, however, after seeing some more anti-fascist activity that in my opinion looks pretty darn close to actual fascist tactics, I am finally expressing my thoughts on the subject. If we can all be honest with ourselves, throwing rocks and resorting to terror like tactics to shutdown a concert because one band is accused of having a certain point of view, comes across as more fascist than anti-fascist.

    Since the Graveland show cancelation in Canada has past, I will try not to dwell too much on it, but the main points of the situation should be discussed. If you do not know what happened here is the quick rundown: Graveland is a Polish black metal band that has been labeled a national socialist black metal band(NSBM), which is false since the band constantly denounces any affiliation with NSBM, so people need to get over this false narrative. A bunch of Canadian Antifa(anti-fascist psychos) protestors used their terrorist like tactics to shutdown an entire black metal festival the band was playing at, and screwed over fans who paid money to see some good black metal acts perform that night. In the end, their actions were childish and Graveland was not going to put on a pro-Nazi performance like those Antifa jerks claimed would happen.

    See, I am worried that this is not just a metal related issue, but a societal one. I am not afraid if I lose readers over this piece, because I honestly think that I am speaking from my heart. Racism is wrong and supporting Nazi ideology is wrong, but you can’t go around covering your faces and throwing objects to silence others for having an extreme point of view. In this world you have to deal with different points of view no matter how silly or outrageous they might be to you. Using aggressive force to silence them is no different than what the Nazi party did when Hitler was around. Also, to reference the Graveland case again, we can point out how the protestors were acting on false information about the band being NSBM. Now that is scary, because people are jumping to action without knowing the entire facts!

    Again, I worry about how the metal community and society will be able to move forward if people are going to be running around acting like the gestapo because one band is “accused” of having a certain extreme point of view. If a band actually advocates for the physical harm of a group of people, I can see where that is serious matter that should be looked into right away. However, that is not what happened with the Graveland situation and most of the Antifa incidents involve the anti-fascist protestors doing most of the physical harm.

    In conclusion, I am a fan of Graveland and will not stop supporting them because some Antifa whack jobs believe they are a racist band. If you want to believe the false narrative of them being NSBM, you can choose not to support them. One day I would like to see everyone put on their big boy/girl pants and just do what they want to as long as it does not physically hurt someone else. Now, go listen to Graveland my people!...or write a comment insulting me. Either way, you have the freewill and option to do so.