Fuck art lets kill

it is no surprise that neofolk has a large nazi fanbase when you examine it from its origins. a genre that originates primarily in Britain, that utilizes many pagan (primarily european pagan, which has been coopted by white supremacists in recent years) and traditional european (venerated by white supremacists for being "pure" and "needing protection"), you kinda start to see where it becomes eyecatching. and of course many neofolk artists are white

there is this interview where boyd rice appears in a racist american tv show, and while the locutors carry most of the conversation, it is brought up that neofolk and adjacent projects are "making music for white people" in ways that imply the same talking points still being used of 'white people being replaced', and claiming that "non-whites dont understand electronic or experimental music" (which is bs!). of course rice is just one person who was certainly more insidious and edgy than others, but he was still a very central figure to the scene. he wasn't the only one either, tony wakeford (sol invictus) was a member of white supremacist groups, and while its nice that he has moved on from that, it was still something that was very marked in his carreer (and lets not get started on the whole "for a white person its just an edgy phase, for a person of color it can be the worst thing they ever go through" discussion)

theres also the question of fascist symbols. many bands (neofolk or not) have used them for either shock value or to make a commentary. i do not think that it is inherently bad, though too many bands do it in a way that is too precarious and muddles the line between irony and geuninity. at what point does wearing nazi symbols onstage become in an ironic or politically satirical way become indisginguishable from doing it because one is a nazi? if it barks like a dog, looks like a dog, is it a dog? especially from the perspective of the nazis themselves, look how many of them adore and idolize bands that have said in the past that they are antifascist or anti-nazi (think di6), but at a first glance may not look that way. how many nazis are to fucking dull to understand that someone is making fun of them (though at that point i dont really blame the artist) or are just happy to ignore the satire and pretend its on their side (think all the irony poisoned 4chan chuds)