The Dark Skies Above Us

The Dark Skies Above Us

Τρίτη 5 Νοεμβρίου 2019

Interview With Wolvennest







Συνέντευξη με τους Wolvennest 

H κυκλοφορία του VOID των Wolvennest ήταν μια από τις καλύτερες BlackMetal στιγμές μου για το 2019.Θα φιγουράρει σίγουρα στις υψηλές θέσεις με τους δίσκους τις χρονιάς και έχουν στρέψει τους προβολείς πάνω τους. Σήμερα θα προσπαθήσω να ζορίσω τον κιθαρίστα της μπάντας VON BURTLE CORVUS και να ξεκλέψω καμιά απάντηση. 

1.Καλησπέρα CORVUS. Κατ’ αρχάς θα ήθελα να σε ευχαριστήσω για αυτή τη mini- συνέντευξη. Ξέρω ότι τις αποφεύγετε, και ότι προτιμάτε να μιλάτε με τη μουσική σας. Ας περάσουμε στα πιο πρόσφατα.  Πως πάει η κυκλοφορία του VOID?

Αισθανόμαστε τυχεροί. Ανάμεσα σε μεγάλες μπάντες που παίξαμε στο φεστιβάλ του Roadburn, στο tour με τους Wolves In The Throne Room και σε μαγικές στιγμές που βιώσαμε σε άλλες occult τελετές. Η όλη εμπειρία του VOID ήταν κάτι αναπάντεχο. Επίσης έχουμε ξεκινήσει έναν νέο κύκλο στον οποίο ελπίζω το VOID να είναι μια καλή ανάμνηση.

2. Μια εξαμελής μπάντα με ετερόκλητους μουσικούς, πόσο εύκολο είναι να συνθέτει? Δουλεύει καλύτερα να είστε αυθόρμητοι ή σχολαστικοί? Ειδικά για εσάς που κάποιος μπορεί να αναγνωρίσει oriental, folk, synth 70΄στοιχεία.

Η διαδικασία ηχογράφησης είναι αυθόρμητη για κάποιους από εμάς, άλλοι βέβαια πρέπει να δουν την συνολική εικόνα έτσι ώστε να υλοποιήσουν τις ιδέες σε ένα άλμπουμ. Ο κάθε ένας έχει διαφορετικές ικανότητες και όρια, αλλά κάθε μέλος δίνει την προσωπική του νότα. Συχνά ξεκινάμε με μια βασική ιδέα η οποία εξελίσσεται σε χείμαρρο. Το πιο δύσκολο κομμάτι είναι να γίνει μίξη όλων των διαφορετικών στοιχείων, γι' αυτό ο ρόλος του Deha (παραγωγού) είναι πολύ σημαντικός στην εξίσωση.

3. Θα ακούτε συνέχεια ότι η μουσική σας μοιάζει τελετουργική, Occult. Αυτό είναι θέμα φιλοσοφίας? Παίζετε έτσι επειδή πρέπει, επειδή το έχετε μέσα σας ,επειδή το νιώθετε?

Η μουσική είναι ειλικρινής. Το ίδιο είναι και όλα τα άτομα που απαρτίζουν την μπάντα. Φαίνεται χαζό να πούμε "ίσως", αλλά αυτό κάνει όλη την διαφορά. Δεν έχουμε ατζέντα, ούτε λίστα,ούτε οικονομικές υποχρεώσεις, ούτε όρια, ούτε πίεση, ούτε εγωισμό. Αισθανόμαστε ελεύθεροι και ανεξάρτητοι όσων αφορά τους Wolvennest. Επίσης έχουμε την τύχη να συνεργαζόμαστε με μια εταιρία με την οποία έχουμε κοινές βλέψεις.
Το βλέπω σαν ένα μέρος όπου μπορούμε να συνδεθούμε με κάτι αρχαίο, αγνό, συμπαντικό. Πιστεύω ότι μου επιτρέπει να αποκοπω πνευματικά απ' ό,τι είναι σάπιο στο σύγχρονο κόσμο: την έλλειψη αλτρουισμού και αξιοπρέπειας, απ' οτιδήποτε εκκωφαντικό (σε όλες τις μορφές) , από τον προσηλυτισμό, τον ατομισμό και τα ακραία συναισθήματα.


4. H Sharon έχει δώσει μια πιο κινηματογραφική αισθητική στη μουσική σας. Είναι πολύ θετικό που βλέπουμε όλο και πιο συχνά front womansστο ΒΜ.  Σε ένα κοινό που ήταν αφιλόξενο προς το γυναικείο φύλο μέχρι τα τελευταία χρόνια. Πιστεύεις ότι οι οπαδοί του BlackMetal έχουν αλλάξει- ωριμάσει?

Η Shazzula είχε αποδοχή σε όλα μας τα show, ανεξάρτητα του κοινού: Black Metal,Psyche,Stoner,Doom,Ambient,mainstream shows κτλπ.  Ποτέ δεν μας έτυχε κάποια επιθετική ή χαζή αντίδραση σχετικά με το φύλλο της frontwoman. Πιστεύω ότι οι άνθρωποι έρχονται στις συναυλίες-τελετές με σκοπό να αποδράσουν από την σύγχρονη κοινωνία. Οπότε δεν έχει κανένα νόημα η διάκριση μεταξύ ανδρών και γυναικών στη μουσική, μόνο η αύρα του μουσικού και του καλλιτέχνη.

5. Επειδή το blog μας είναι πολιτικοποιημένο δεν θα μπορούσα- ήθελα να μην σας ρωτήσω αυτό. Πως βλέπετε τις εξελίξεις στο στρατόπεδο των Mgla μετά τις τελευταίες αποκαλύψεις περί διασυνδέσεων με άλλες φασιστικές μπάντες? 

Θα κρατήσω την γνώμη μου για εμένα, γιατί δεν θέλω να τροφοδοτήσω τις φήμες και τα trolls.

Καλή συνέχεια με τις περιοδείες θα θέλαμε πολύ να σας δούμε στην Ελλάδα.Α! και περιμένουμε νέο δίσκο από τους Cult of Erinyes, έτσι?


To νέο άλμπουμ των Cult of Erinyes θα κυκλοφορήσει στο τέλος του χρόνου από Amor Fati Productions. Οι Wolvennest θα κάνουν tour τον Φεβρουάριο με τους Saturnalia Temple και τους Dread Sovereign. Θα ανακοινώσουμε και άλλες συναυλίες αλλά και νέα σχετικά με επερχόμενα projects σε σύντομο χρονικό διάστημα.


Corvus


Interview with Wolvennest

The album release “VOID” of Wolvennest was one of my best black metal moments in 2019. It will certainly be on the top albums of the year and they are in the limelight. Today I’ll try to pressure the band’s guitarist VON BURTLE CORVUS to steal some answers.

1.Hello CORVUS. Firstly, I would like to thank you for the mini interview. I know you’ve been avoiding them and that you prefer to talk through your music. Let’s move on to the latest. How is the release of the VOID going?

We feel lucky. Between the special set we played at Roadburn, the tour with Wolves in The Throne Room and magic moments we experienced at other occult ceremonies, the whole VOID experience was quite unexpected.  But we have started another cycle in which I hope VOID will become only but a good memory.

2.A band of six members including diverse musicians, how easy it is to compose? Is it better to be spontaneous or meticulous? Especially for your band that someone can recognize oriental, folk, 70’s synth elements.

The recording process is spontaneous for some of us (especially for the lead elements), while others are gate keepers who have to see the big picture in order to transform ideas into an actual album. We all have our skills and limits, but each member brings something personal to the table. It often starts with a basic idea that will evolve into a swirling beast. The hardest part is mixing all the different elements, which is why Déhà(producer)’s part of the equation is crucial.

3.I am sure you will be told every time that your music seems like a ritual, it is occult. Is this a philosophy? Your music is like this because it is supposed to be, because of what you have inside of you or because you feel like it?

The music is honest. So are all the people involved in (and around) the band. Seems stupid to say maybe, but that makes the whole difference. No agenda, no to do list, no financial obligation, no limits, no pressure, no ego. We feel free and quite detached when it comes to Wolvennest. We also have the chance to collaborate with a label that totally shares our vision.
 I see the entity as a place where we can connect to something ancient, pure and universal.  As far as I’m concerned, it allows me to mentally cut from what’s worse in today’s world: lack of altruism and  dignity, noise (in all its forms), proselytism, individualism and binary emotions.

4.Sharon has added a cinematic feeling to your music. It is great to notice that front women in black metal exist more and more frequently these days, although until recently black metal’s audience was hostile to the female gender. Do you believe that black metal fans have changed –matured?

Shazzula has been welcomed at all our shows, whatever the type of the audience. Black Metal, Psyche, Stoner, Doom, Ambient, mainstream shows etc, we never witnessed aggressive or stupid reactions about the gender of our singer. I think people are coming to shows and rituals in order to escape what  “modern”society is based on. So, the difference between men and women in music is pointless, only the aura of the musician or artist matters.

5.Because our blog is politically active, I couldn’t forget to ask you this, how do you see the latest news about Mgla, after the revelations of having connections with other fascist bands?

I’ll keep my opinions out of the virtual kraken, as I don’t want to feed the trolls.

6.I wish you the best about the tours! We would love to see you in Greece and we are waiting for the new album from Cult of Erinyes, right?



Thank you,
The Dark Skies Above Us

Cult of Erinyes new album is coming at the end of the year, via Amor Fati Productions. Wolvennest will go on tour in February, with Saturnalia Temple and Dread Sovereign. We’ll announce other shows and news regarding  new music and our other projects in due time.
Regards,
Corvus

Παρασκευή 24 Μαΐου 2019

Steelfest 2019: Nazi bands in Hyvinkää city facilites

A comrade from Collective kindly translated this article from Finnish to English :


"The largest black metal festival in Finland, Steelfest, will once more be held may 17th-18th 2019 at the Hyvinkään Villatehdas premises, owned by the city of Hyvinkää (a city that is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area). The festival has been arranged since 2012 and attract about 1500 daily visitors. Throughout the years, the festival has booked several NSBM bands and groups with far-right connections, such as Goatmoon, Kroda, Temnozor, Nokturnal Mortum and Peste Noire. This year they have booked Seigneur Voland, Evil, Kroda, Marduk, Mgla, Horna, Antimateria, Morgal and Kalmankantaja.
Steelfest is arranged by Steel LS Oy, a firm run by metalhead Jani Laine. Steelfest have also been arranging a smaller festival called Steelchaos since 2016, held at the Nosturi club in Helsinki. Steelchaos has also been notorious for booking bands with far-right connections; Bizarre Uproar, Marduk, Ride for Revenge and Deströyer 666. Steelfest also co-operate with distros, record labels and shops that represent NSBM and the far-right subcultures of Finland – Horror Shop, Werewolf Records and the KVLT Shop.
By continuously booking NSBM bands, artists and actors that co-operate with Steelfest are supplying fascist subcultures, actively legitimizing their politics and bringing them into the mainstream. It is time to say no to this. Contact Hyvinkää city council and the other business partners of Steelfest and tell them that this normalization of far-right ideology and economical support to open fascists cannot continue.
The business partners of Steelfest are:
  • The city of Hyvinkää (the city council decide who can rent and use their facilities)
  • Hyvinkään Villatehdas. (the festival area)
  • Hotelli Sveitsi and Scandic Hotel Hyvinkää (accomodation for bands and visitors)
  • Pohjoispuiston koulu & Tapainlinnan koulu (accomodation for bands and visitors)
  • Bar Crafters (a Hyvinkää pub where the preparty is held)
  • Kulkukoira (a bus company that arrange the festival transportation)
  • ELMU ry. (a Helsinki music association that run Nosturi, the venue where the Steelchaos events are arranged)
Do you have previously unknown or unpublished info about the Finnish nazi music subculture, their secret venues or central figures within the scene? Please contact us on varistoimitus (at) riseup.net"

Δευτέρα 20 Μαΐου 2019

Well done RABM

Sadly we are here on these lines with a very bad new.
It takes us to get focus on what happened to rabm.blogspot.
Rabm closed and moved to reddit.
People that had it in time succeded and the one who get on now decided, without telling anything to the others, to close it.
This is a proprietaristic behavior that nothing has to do with us, cause some of us are writer on rabm blog and we don't have no more access to our blog.
 Years of contents fade away.
A lighthouse for everyone, a space to start conflictuality.
Reddit is a social and doesn't have the autonomy of our blog, like it was in the past before deleting it.
Bands continue sending mails cause they still believe in it.
We don't give up and don't draw back anything. Rabm blog lives in our hearts and we will continue on this journey

The Dark Skies Collective



Κυριακή 12 Μαΐου 2019

"We can pay tribute to Hitler properly": in Milan a gathering of the Nazi black metal scene.



M. runs his hand through his long brown hair. The tall man with a black leather jacket looks his girlfriend in the eyes and kisses her. 
Right beside them a group of men yells “Sieg Heil!” and raises their right arm to the stage. The love-blinded couple does not seem to mind at all – they’re not here by chance.
As the glorification of national socialism is not forbidden by law in many European countries (in contrast to Austria), many right-wing extremists pilgrimage to other countries. 
On 13. April 2019 one hundred right-wing extremist metal fans met up in Milan, celebrated the “Third Reich” and made fun of the (homicides of the) Holocaust. Along them many Austrians – on the stage, a Viennese.
The design-week shapes the townscape of Milan during these days. Furniture and home interiors are displayed throughout the town, the streets of the city are full of tourists despite of the bad weather. It's hard to imagine what is happening a few subway stations from the centre away. Since years, the right-wing extremist scene organises neonazistic events without second thoughts. Often, Italian Nazis keep by themselves. During the last weekend, right-wing extremists Metal-friends travelled from all over Europe to Italy, to live out what they cannot in their homecountry: "Mal ordentlich abhitlern.", "at last we can pay tribute to Hitler properly".
Who listens to Metal with a political consciousness, knows about disputes about the right-wing part of the genre, about bands like Böhsen Onkelz or Frei.Wild. The German band Rammstein, which provokes with NS-allusions, brought up discussions with their latest Holocaust-Fantasy-Video. In the broad spectrum of metal right-wing extremism might be an edge-phenomenon but in the subgenre of Black Metal antisemitism and racism are not a problem one could ignore.

Bernhard Weidinger of the Document Archive of the Austrian Resistance (DÖW) says, that the musical supply of the right-wing got more diverse in the last decades. "Earlier there was mostly right-wing rock, but today Neonazis find products in almost any musical genre." This serves as recruitment of new people, but also to finance fascist projects.

[Subtitle: "Total annihilation": Commercial subject for a neonazi musical project from Austria.] [The text in the picture says: "Eight new songs of Total Annihilation; as limited 444 Edition Digipack. "Burial by fire" and the crematorium awaits you! The first 44 copies come with a shirt* and a patch.


The "Hot Shower Festival" in Milan is held regularly. The title deliberately triggers associations with National Socialistic gas chambers. The festivals advertisement brims with references to the erstwhile Naziterror, be there a collage of a PoC-athlete who follows a sign in the direction "Hot Shower", comic strip figures which raise their right hands for a Roman salute or drawings of Ku-Klux-Klan-men in white robes.
To take part at this Festival isn't difficult. The event is publicly advertised on Facebook yet the location is kept a secret after the announcement. Only a few hours before the beginning of the event, the locations address is revealed through an encrypted chat. During the days which precede the festival, the organizers post pictures of swastikas and antisemitic jokes. The relatively easy access to the festival is a particularly rewarding formula for the success of the neonazi event, as Moritz Eluek observer of the right-wing scene knows. The "Hot Shower" is less conspiratorial than similar concerts in Germany or Austria, producing a kind of excitement for a bigger event, says the correspondent of the "Anitfaschistischen Infoblatts" (antifascist information paper). Even outsiders of the scene find a possibility to join the scene. At the entrance of Via Vincenzo Toffetti nr. 75, in the southern industrial part of Milan, attendees have to show the contents of their bag and they are checked for cameras: taking pictures or videos is strongly forbidden.
The inside of the venue shows why there are no pictures allowed: Hundreds right-wing extremists celebrate ear-splitting loud black metal and National Socialist activities**. On the line-up there are eight pertinent bands; their names are explicit: "Sturmführer", "Blutkult", and "Gestapo666". Also "Rostorchester", the project of the Vienesse Vedran M., is well-known in the scene. M.s skills on guitar are praised but his ability to write lyrics is criticised even by his bandmates. Years ago his Black-Metal-Soloproject "Totale Vernichtung" generated some noise - not because of the music, but because of the lyrics. Short example: "Soon the time has come, when your breath seizes quickly and you run up the chimney. The cleansing Zyklon [cyclone, but he really means Zyklon B] follows an ashy wind." With lines like this, in 2015 M.s’ album got put up on the index for youth-endangering music in Germany. Eluek knows the scene well, he says: "Everybody in the scene knows neo-nazis are playing the instruments." In fact, Vedran M. calls himself "der Stacheldrahtzieher" (“barbed wire puller”). The promotional material for for his albums portrays the barracks and fences of concentration Camps.
Just before 8 p.m. M. enters the stage with high-laced boots. His hair covers most of his face, he’s focused while playing the guitar. Beside him his bandmate Sven B, singer of "Rostorchester", a well-known neo-nazi from Switzerland. The music is loud, the sound is bad. With their bandmates M. and B. they psych the audience up, which shows their approval with loud "Sieg Heil!"-shouts, instead of applauses. Vedran M knew what could expect from the festival, as he attended it as part of the audience in 2016. Videos of the 2016 edition showed what happened there, until they were removed from Youtube probably because of the apology to Nazism. As insiders reported recently, at M.s first gig in Switzerland, similar "celebrations" were held.
Covering the role of security to the left and right of the stage, a group of "Hammerskins" (member of “Lealtà Azione”, an italian neo-nazi organization n.d.r.) keep up law and order - or what they think it means. The "Hammerskins Italia" are recognizable by their uniform shoulder-patches: two crossed hammers in front of a cogwheel in the colours black, white and red - the flag-colors of the German Reich. The "Hammerskins" are a worldwide acting neo-nazi underground organisation, with strict hierarchical organisations, and a devotion to the "Pureness of the White Race". Bernhard Weidinger (Austrian Resistance/DÖW) calls the "Hammerskins" as a "party with a high readiness to be violent and plenty of criminal activities". The audience sticks to the ban of photos and movies. Moritz Eluek says that promoters of neo-nazi concerts in Italy can't get around the "Hammerskins". "It's like with racketeering: If you don't share, you'll get harassed and attacked." The promoters of the "Hot Shower Festival" do not only finance themselves, but militant neo-nazi organisations as well.
Only a few meters from the stage there is the merchandising area where you can find records and printed merchandise, patches or jewellery. Almost every table has articles with Swastikas. A shirt portrays the slogan "Refugees welcome" above the view of the entrance to the concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. There you can buy pictures of Adolf Hitler and other Nazi-leaders, as well as neo-fascist magazines, flags and CDs titled "Rassenhass" or "Antisemitex". A flag is hoisted after the appearance of Vedran M.s band in the audience: the red flag with a swastika. Some people carry it around for about 15 minutes and incite the drunken pack to shout together "Sieg Heil!". The "Hammerskins" watch.
While such behaviour would draw hard penalties in Austria, there are no consequences from Italian authorities. The DÖW thinks that Austrian citizens who practice such activities abroad should be persecuted by Austrian authorities if they become aware of it. Vedran M. do not have to fear such persecutions. Contacted online he refused to comment on his neo-nazi activites.


Πέμπτη 2 Μαΐου 2019

Good news

Good news for you!

Temnozor singer and known nazi died hitten by car! metallum


Mgla and Deus Mortem got two days cancelled being accused greyzone


link


Updates will follow.

Σάββατο 3 Νοεμβρίου 2018

[IT] Fuori i TAAKE dalle nostre città - Morte al fascismo!


[scarica questo contenuto in PDF per la stampa]

La band norvegese Taake è in tour in Italia e suonerà il 7 novembre a Roma, l'8 a Bari, il 9 a Bologna ed il 10 a Vercelli, dopo la data del 19 ottobre a Milano.

Questa band black metal nel tempo si è resa famosa per varie iniziative disgustose¹: in Germania nel 2007 il cantante Hoest (mente del progetto) si è presentato sul palco con una svastica dipinta sul petto; allo scandalo che ne è conseguito, Hoest ha risposto dicendo: "noi non siamo nazisti, era una provocazione" per poi aggiungere che "quel subumano" dell'organizzatore dell'evento "poteva fare un pompino a un mussulmano" dal momento che costui aveva interrotto il concerto.
Più recentemente Hoest si è presentato a più concerti con una maglia che mostra la luna e la stella islamiche barrate.

Orkan, un brano del 2011², contiene un passaggio in cui invita Maometto e i mussulmani ad andare all'inferno. Nello stesso brano si riferiscono alla cristianità come a un disonore che avrebbe indebolito "i nostri popoli pagani", come da luogo comune del genere. Questa farsesca aria super partes viene tradita nel giro di pochi secondi, dato che per Hoest i popoli europei sarebbero un blocco compatto di pagani dormienti che deve scrollarsi la cristianità di dosso per difendersi dall'invasione "covata dopo i tempi di guerra" di un altro popolo, quello orientale e mussulmano. L'occidente deve "affilare di nuovo le asce", perché il sole d'inverno sorge ad ovest per i "maiali che bruciano la nostra bandiera": "Ferro contro ferro Norvegia svegliati presto".

Strano vedere sventolare la bandiera norvegese da “non nazisti” che invocano la guerra etnica.

Per aggiungere schifo allo schifo nel 2015 i membri di "Young and in the Way", una band in tour con i Taake, sono stati accusati da 3 persone diviolenza sessuale³ e la loro presenza esclusa da vari festival. Una delle vittime ha scritto ad Hoest chiedendogli di riconsiderare la lorocollaborazione nel tour⁴. La sua risposta: “non ce ne frega un cazzo, tieni queste stronzate fuori da Internet". La band incriminata si è successivamente sciolta, travolta dallo scandalo.

Ad organizzare il concerto, oltre alla Nighttime Production, abbiamo un'etichetta nostrana: la Nihil Production, da sempre in prima linea nel proporre eventi legati all'NSBM (national-socialist black metal). Si è fatta promotrice di varie edizioni del «Black Winter Fest» (che ritornerà il primo dicembre a Parma) e dell’«Hammer of the Gods», festival che hanno visto la partecipazione di band conclamatamente fasciste o ambigue, quali Graveland, Nokturnal Mortum, Satanic Warmaster, Ad Hominem.

Noi che ascoltiamo black metal vogliamo che i concerti e i locali nelle nostre città non accolgano la feccia razzista, sessista e fascista. Desideriamo al contrario che i bigotti non trovino spazi e che la scena musicale accolga le persone di qualsiasi etnia e le persone di qualsiasi genere e orientamento sessuale.
I locali quali il Traffic di Roma, l'Alchemica di Bologna, il Demodé di Bari e le Officine Sonore di Vercelli devono assumersi la responsabilità di sapere a che genere di band e persone stanno dando spazio.
Allo stesso modo le band di spalla quali Enisum, Selvans, Dewfall e Kyterion non potranno difendersi dietro alla bandiera de "la musica è solo musica": se suonate con dei misogini razzisti e nazisti, state collaborando con loro.

Nel 2018 una mobilitazione in Nordamerica ha prodotto la cancellazione⁵ dell'intero tour statunitense dei Taake, a dimostrazione del fatto che muovere contro i nazi che appestano la scena e vincere è possibile.

[scarica questo contenuto in PDF per la stampa]

Fuori i TAAKE dalle nostre città

Morte al fascismo!