METALSUCKS IS PUSHING A HOAX

METALSUCKS IS PUSHING A HOAX

op/ed by Mr. Wolf


If you are into Extreme Metal then by now you've heard about the website MetalSucks publishing a letter from some anti-fascist group that calls on the record label and distro HELLS HEADBANGERS to stop distributing merch by labels they deem to promote nazi propaganda. Here's the full text of the article:


An Open Letter to Hells Headbangers Records to Stop Releasing and Distributing Metal by White Supremacists
AUGUST 24TH, 2017

MetalSucks was recently contacted by a group of metal musicians identifying itself as The Anti-NSBM Working Group to ask if we’d publish an open letter they’d drafted addressed to metal label and distro Hells Headbangers (sic). The goal: to call on Hells Headbangers to “cease releasing and distributing Nazi propaganda.”

Recent events in Charlottesville and elsewhere are a striking reminder of the danger and threat the extreme right poses. Metal and other underground music genres are major venues for neo-Nazis and fascists to propagandize and recruit. This is unacceptable to us, and so we are taking action to remove them from our community.

It’s important that we make a distinction here: the owners and staff of Hells Headbangers are not, as far as we know, white supremacists or far-right extremists. The vast majority of the labels they distribute and the bands whose records they release aren’t either, and we’re not condemning any of those. We’re simply calling on Hells Headbangers to stop participating in the spread of hate through tacit endorsement and participation, and to eliminate the extremist labels and bands from their roster.

Here is the open letter in full:

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Dear HHR,

Over the last decade and a half you’ve risen to become one of the strongest underground metal labels. You’ve released many of the best recent records in the genre from bands new and old, and your brand has come to be synonymous with true, uncompromising cult metal. For this we salute you.

In recent years, though, you’ve also become one of the most prominent distributors of NSBM and similar right-wing extremist music in the USA. We understand that your label is conceived of as apolitical and that you’re in it for the metal and not the ideologies expressed; however, you’re playing a leading role in normalizing neo-Nazi ideals in our genre and in providing a venue for this kind of bigoted propaganda.

We are living in times in which the extreme right is resurgent around the world and in which neo-Nazis have no qualms about targeting and murdering immigrants, LGBT people, racial minorities, and leftists. Fascists are using metal for propaganda and recruiting ends, and your distro and label are enabling them. This is no time for apolitical fence sitting, and we request that you take a stand towards a better state of things for metal.

With respect and appreciation for the bulk of your releases, we ask you to clean up your act and promptly do the following:

1. Cease your distribution of NS and far-right labels such as (but not limited to) Darker than Black, Pagan War, Werewolf Records, and Elegy Records

2. Purge your distro of NS/far-right releases and your label of NS/far-right bands, including Intolitarian and releases by SSP/Deathangle Absolution

3. Publicly commit to a policy, going forward, of avoiding relationships with NS/far-right bands, artists, and labels.

Should you fail to do so, we call for a boycott of your label by metal journalists, distros, venues and fans, and will apply whatever other pressure we find appropriate. Your label is known for its high aesthetic standards; please consider whether you also want it to be known for promoting neo-Nazi trash.

Entirely independent of the above letter and The Anti-NSBM Working Group, MetalSucks would also like to request that Hells Headbangers add a fucking apostrophe to its label name where it fucking belongs, fer chrissakes. OK? Thanks.

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OK so when I first saw this I thought hey fuck this Anti-NSBM Working Group as well as MetalSucks for allowing any group to demand censorship. I figured that was that but recently Decibel Magazine's website Deciblog published an op/ed by EXHUMED's Matt Harvey which was all about not being able to censor NSBM. It was a good piece by the way. Which brought me back to looking at the Metalsucks article. That's when my bullshit detector went off and I was pissed at myself for not seeing it at first. After doing some simple research it's obvious that MetalSucks is involved in a hoax and here's why.


Like plenty of others once I read the article I looked up who this Anti-NSBM Working Group was. I found nothing on the net about them except for some Bandcamp page with some anti-fascist punks trying to hock their three music comps. I didn't notice anything metal about that. Now you would think a group with the guts to call on a record label to cease selling a product or else face a boycott would have an official website or at least a Facebook page. But this Anti-NSBM Working Group has neither which makes you wonder are they even legit. Furthermore if I can question their legitimacy and come away with thinking they're bogus then why didn't the people at MetalSucks do the same? The website clearly says they were "recently contacted by a group of metal musicians identifying itself as The Anti-NSBM Working Group to ask if we’d publish an open letter they’d drafted." OK so where's their website? You got an email address so what is it? Or is MetalSucks just stupid enough to fall for a hoax?

I doubt MetalSucks fell for a bogus letter in fact I believe it's obvious that they are behind it. But the question needs to be asked why would they? MetalSucks is a mainstream metal site which in the past has posted articles that are just provocative enough to drag in readership from outside their base. So creating a hoax to get some clicks on their site makes sense especially when the people behind MetalSucks are attention seekers. Then there's the target in this hoax, Hells Headbangers. Why pick them out of many many other labels/distros that also distribute merch by NSBM bands? Last year MetalSucks even promoted the label's signature music fest. So what's happened in one year? When you read the whole piece it's hard to distinguish what was MetalSucks writing and the open letter. For example "It’s important that we make a distinction here: the owners and staff of Hells Headbangers are not, as far as we know, white supremacists or far-right extremists." That sentence is attributed to MetalSucks. It's not in the letter and furthermore what's with the "as far as we know" assertion? That tosses in a veil of suspicion. 

MetalSucks is openly clear that their political and social views are firmly planted on the left side of the aisle. That's fine they can do that. If they wanna believe that everyone who is on the other side of the aisle is evil that's fine too. They have their opinion and that's fine but it doesn't make it a fact. If this hoax was used in order to open a dialog or debate about NSBM then there's a problem because that debate has been already done. The outcome was simple, if you don't like NSBM then don't listen to it, don't buy it and don't dictate to black metal fans. Period, end of story.

Just for the record I support Hells Headbangers. I buy their releases. I review their releases. If you think that's bias then fuck off idiot. I support plenty of record labels and I review releases from plenty of labels. I don't review everything or support every label that sends something in. I choose what I want to buy or review. It's called freedom of choice. I don't lie awake at night thinking of ways to force labels to stop selling merch by bands I don't like. So with that said we can all come up with questions as to why MetalSucks produced this hoax. But the bottom line is clear, this was a hoax.