Elected officials, community groups and anti-fascist activists condemn the programming of a black metal festival which would welcome groups associated with the neo-Nazi movement to Montreal. Accusations that the organizers strongly dispute.
Published at 5:00 a.m.
What you need to know
A black metal festival will present this weekend in Montreal four controversial groups, accused of having distant or direct links with the neo-Nazi movement.
The annual Mass of the Dead meeting and the targeted artists say they reject any political affiliation or discrimination.
Anti-fascist activists plan to demonstrate to cancel Friday evening concerts, notably that of Swedish headliner Marduk.
The annual meeting of the Mass of the Dead must present its 12e edition this weekend at the Théâtre Paradoxe, located in a former church on Boulevard Monk. In a letter sent to the organizer, Sepulchral Productions, around twenty actors from the South-West and Verdun boroughs requested the cancellation of performances by black metal groups Horna, Marduk, Sargeist and Akitsa.
“We understand and strongly support artistic freedom, but we believe it stops […] when these speeches incite hatred or violence”, write the signatories, who believe that four groups on the bill “play on this fine line”.
All the groups singled out, who are mainly accused of past affiliations or associations, deny belonging to any political ideology.
The missive was notably signed by the mayors of the South-West and Verdun, Benoit Dorais and Marie-Andrée Mauger, the solidarity deputies Guillaume Cliche-Rivard and Alejandra Zaga Mendez, the Bloc member Louis-Philippe Sauvé and the Commercial Development Corporation from Monk Boulevard. The sector’s consultation tables are also among the signatories.
According to Montréal-Antifasciste, the Mass of the Dead marks the “return of National Socialist Black Metal (NSBM)” to Montreal. The anonymous group launched a call to action on its website at the end of October. A fringe subgenre, National Socialist black metal exploits themes or values associated with fascism.
“If the administration of the Théâtre Paradoxe does not take its responsibilities by canceling this event, it is the popular mobilization which will have to take care of it”, underline on Facebook the organizers of “No stage for hatred”, an event which is due to take place on Friday.
The protesters – 185 people say they are “interested” on Facebook – plan to disrupt the party before the performance of the Swedish trio Marduk, the festival’s headliner. The black metal band must present the complete album in Montreal Panzer Division Mardukreleased in 1999. Panzer Division designates the armored division of the German army during the Second World War.
In his statements, Marduk maintains that his Third Reich-inspired lyrics and aesthetic stem strictly from a historical passion.
“Marduk did not [de programme] political or ideological association, whether National Socialism or otherwise,” the group said in 2018.
Last year, Marduk parted ways with his bassist, Joel Lindholm, after he made a Nazi salute to the crowd, actions deemed “intolerable” by his colleagues. One of the co-founders, lyricist and guitarist Shatraug, created the Sargeist project, which is also one of the groups targeted by the letter.
Two other groups in the viewfinder
The Finnish group Horna is a recurring target of anti-fascists, who mainly criticize it for its past connections. Its current singer, Spellgoth, was keyboardist for the French group Peste noire, associated with the NSBM through Nazi salutes and lyrics advocating the far right.
“We have no interest in politics, whether left or right,” defended the band Norwegian in a Facebook post.
PHOTOGRAPH BY STEFAN BOLLMANN, SHOOTING
The black metal band Horna in 2018
As for Akitsa, we have to go back to 2004 to find the first complaints addressed to the group. The Quebec band with nationalist accents then recorded the song alongside the group Satanic Warmaster Six Million Tearsan allusion to the number of Jews exterminated during the Shoah.
Akitsa is also criticized for a “camaraderie” with the group NSBM Peste noire, as well as an EP released in 2013 entitled I don’t carean Italian fascist slogan. “Akitsa has never been and will never be a racist group,” the group argued in an interview with Vice in 2015.
At least one band on the festival bill, Conifer, canceled its participation due to unease with the situation, we have learned The Press.
A “musical” event
The production company behind the Mass of the Dead, Sepulchral Productions, indicated on Facebook that it denied all the accusations, which it considers “unfounded, even defamatory”. She added that she was reviewing her legal options.
As the hundreds of people who attend the festival each year know, there is no political aspect to the Mass of the Dead, and we have never discriminated against who could view the festival or perform on this one.
Sepulchral Productions, sur Facebook
In 2016, a group of “antifas” mobilized by the presence of the Polish group Graveland – also targeted for its alleged links with the NSBM movement and the far right – torpedoed the last evening of the festival. Smoke bombs were thrown and the police had to intervene.
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Anti-fascist demonstration before the Graveland concert, in 2016
Sepulchral Productions claims to have contacted the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM), among other stakeholders, so that the event takes place “in a safe environment that is respectful of all.”
A room in tumult despite itself
“We received harsh, even aggressive comments on the holding of the event,” laments Annabelle Simon, deputy director of the Théâtre Paradoxe, by email. “This is obviously a completely unusual situation for our organization. »
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The Paradox Theater
The eco-responsible room of the South-West is indeed more focused on mutual aid than on division; she is part of Groupe Paradoxe, a social economy community organization that has helped some 900 young people escape exclusion, drug addiction or homelessness for 27 years. The Théâtre Paradoxe is neither the promoter nor the producer of the festival, underlines Annabelle Simon.
Under its contract with Sepulchral Productions, which organizes the Mass of the Dead, the hall only rents the space, without having any say over the programming. “We are sensitive to the comments received, but find it deplorable to be taken to task by some for an aspect which is entirely the responsibility of the producer,” explains the assistant director.
