It has been some time since we last spoke out against the politics of a metal festival, not that the situation has been any better lately.

Sketchy metal festivals that feature a lot of crypto-fascist bands, “ex” nazi bands that call themselves “patriotic” now and the like are always in abundance. But there are a few that cross over that line and become just regular old-fashioned nazi fests. Finland’s Steelfest is a classic example, and this year’s Metal Threat festival in Chicago follows the same path.

The first line-up of the festival was already a crypto-nazi party featuring bands like Satanic Warmaster, Acherontas, Destroyer 666, Horna, Ancient Rites and more (it gets worse). After the cancellation of many bands because of visa problems and some attention that the fest already had received from antifascists, the fest organizers decided to take it a step further and invite well known nazi US bands Grand Belial’s Key, Arghoslent (presented anonymously and cowardly as “American Death Metal Gods“, but there are clips of them already having performed in the festival) and Polish NSBM progenitors Graveland (with Inquisition as a bonus). We don’t have to say a lot about how racist these bands are, as it’s already known. Furthermore, it seems Metal Threat doesn’t give a fuck about concealing their politics anymore (seeing the anti-antifa merch that’s being sold at the festival).

What’s truly disappointing is the presence of many important metal bands in the festival who we wouldn’t expect to be well-represented, there. We would like to hear from Unleashed, Master, Dead Congregation, Zemial, Sadistic Intent, Usurper, Sinister, Cruciamentum and the rest of the bands in the roster if they’re ok with playing at a nazi shitshow. The festival is already on its third day, and many bands have already played (we also hear there are additional cancellations), but for some, we hope there’s still time to step down from this ugly mess and say no to complicity with nazism in the scene. It is also a rather widespread phenomenon for bands to get an extended ethical pass for playing in shows/festivals like this one, cashing in on their good standing public relations with left/anarchist groups. Let’s be clear, participating in such a festival results in becoming a fash enabler, and this moral failing isn’t balanced out by you also engaging with the left. It’s not a balancing act; if you work with or tolerate fascists, it is a self-contained problematic stance.

We would also like to make a call for people in the Chicago area to speak out about the event. If you know people who are going, bands that are participating, the owners of the club or antifascists and metal groups in the area, let them know that you don’t want to tolerate openly nazi bands playing in your neighbourhood.