Left vs. Right in the Music World

Political extremism is often considered a counterpart to extreme music. The imagery in music is not always pretty, nor are many of the messages conveyed in the political organizations that some musicians belong to. Anarcho-punk and national socialist black metal (more often abbreviated as NSBM) exemplify the great dichotomy in political ideology between some of the underground music scenes. I interviewed two individuals from opposing sides on the topic of these beliefs in order get a better understanding of both sides of the spectrum.

From an outside perspective, these two political music groups may seem mysterious and possibly foreboding. So to better understand the music scene, one must know a bit about the scene's ideology. On the subject of anarcho-punk, anarchy is, as quoted by Ben Pearlstine, "...the belief that we must struggle against all forms of domination, hierarchy and authority, and try to create a truly egalitarian world; originally, anarchism was called libertarian socialism."The word anarchy is Greek for "without rulers." Anarchists consider themselves anti-state and often anti-capitalist, considering both the state and sometimes capitalism to be forms of oppression.

National socialism (abbreviated as NS) is considered to be on the opposite end of the political spectrum. NS is an authoritarian fascist type of ideology. The writings of Hitler in his book Mein Kampf are hugely influential; therefore, the concept of the Aryan Race plays a role of utmost importance. The idea behind the Aryan Race is that members of this particular ideology believe that the people of pure European descent are superior to all other ethnicities. NS is almost always associated with anti-Semitism and all-around racism. Pride in one's pagan heritage is also prevalent within the NS scene.

Both types of ideologies can be applied to music in so many ways. In regard to anarchism, it can be found in many forms of music but most commonly in punk. Though early punk bands like the fashionable Sex Pistols sang of anarchy in a tongue-in-cheek manner, it was bands like and Flux of Pink Indians and Crass who embraced it as their philosophy and not just a gimmick. These bands formed the genre known today as anarcho-punk.

Lyrical topics in anarcho-punk often revolve around its namesake anarchy, consumerism, capitalism, feminism, vegetarianism/veganism, and environmentalism. Anarcho-punks also follow what's known as the Do-It-Yourself ethic or DIY, as it's commonly known. Ben Pearlstine, the individual interviewed on the topic of anarcho-punk, says that it can be argued that DIY should be called DIT (Do It Together). The reason is that members of the anarchist community want to work together to change society for the better of both humanity and the earth. This camaraderie within the scene to create an anarchist society is astounding. This sort of kinship is rarely seen in contemporary society. Many people you pass on the busy city sidewalks would rather spit on you than talk to you, let alone help you in accomplishing a goal. So for a small group of people in England to have started a grassroots effort that has only continued to grow in to being a global community is truly phenomenal.

In contrast with anarcho-punk, national socialist black metal focuses mainly on pagan and Nazi themes. Third Reich imagery is very common in NSBM bands. Of course, like the rest of black metal, Satanism is a mainstay in lyrical topics. In a bizarre twist, some NSBM bands blend Nazism into Satanism. Jason Oberkirch, owner of Graveless Slumber Records, a black metal record label, was interviewed and stated this blend is "...the idea of merging NS ideals with traditional Satanism or Luciferianism, that the white race is the race of the Devil, thus the superior to all." Race, while truly  being a social construct, is extensively discussed in much of NSBM. The obliteration of any inferior races or untermensch, what non-Indo-European ethnicities are referred to, is a common lyrical topic that stems from their Nazi ideologies and world view.

Both types of music have roots in punk rock. While anarcho-punk is a branch of punk music, NSBM has political roots in a form of hardcore punk known as hatecore. Hatecore's political and lyrical themes often revolve around neo-Nazi and white supremacy ideals. Hatecore is also associated with Rock Against Communism or RAC, a series of concerts in England that took place in the late 1970s that branched into a style of punk. Neo-Nazis and a portion of skinheads developed these sounds. Notable bands related to hatecore are Skrewdriver or Blue-Eyed Devils. It is also worth noting that some of these bands drew inspiration from country musicians like Johnny Rebel, whose lyrics were often so absurdly racist taht one might wonder if his music was meant as a joke.

NSBM took these concepts and applied them to black metal to pass on their extremist views with their own sound.

In yet another ironic twist, as NSBM bands oftentimes appreciate hatecore, RAC and even obscenely racist country music artists, anarcho-punks oftentimes enjoy black metal music. In some cases, even the bands which are associated with nationalism. During the interview, Ben Pearlstine mentioned that "luckily as they are singing in a foreign language, anarchists are able to pretend they are singing about unicorns and high-fives." Keep in mind that not all NSBM bands sing in a non-English language, so while this might be the case for musical enjoyment, if members of one of these scenes met a group from the opposing side, there would be trouble. Neither members of the radical right-wing NSBM scene or the radical left-wing anarcho-punk community see it as necessary for the other side to exist in an ideal society.

Religion is certainly an interesting topic when it comes to both anarcho-punk and NSBM communities. On one hand, religion in general is viewed by both parties as a hindrance to progression as a society. In black metal as a whole, religion (primarily Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) is viewed as something to be eradicated. Be it NSBM bands such as Absurd from Germany, or the apolitical black metal of Watain from Sweden.

Oddly enough, both parties have members that are pro-religion. Christian anarchy is one form of anarchy that some members of the anarcho-punk community follow. Just for clarity's sake, Christian anarchy is similar to standard anarchism in that it is anti-state, yet this particular branch believes that the only power one must answer to is God. Likewise, some NSBM bands preach of traditional Judeo-Christian values. Of course, with NSBM's special twist on the views.

Both scenes have grown since their inceptions. Classical anarchy is strikingly similar to Marxism and did not have a strong sense of oppression outside of social class. As anarchy evolved and became incorporated in punk music, the concept blossomed and began to incorporate topics such as criticism of capitalism and consumerism, making for a much deeper understanding of anarchy.

It is worth noting at this point that the NSBM community is not a very large one, with only a handful of bands that are truly national socialist both musically and in practice. When this is compared to the entire black metal music scene, NS bands only make up a drop in the musical bucket. Because of this, it's hard for the NS bands to isolate themselves from the entire black metal community and therefore have had to accept the outside black metal world. Stylistically, NSBM hasn't evolved much since the days of it's dominant metal roots, the notorious black metal bands that made names for themselves in the early 1990s.

Members of either party can be found in nearly all environments within society; be it in slow-moving small towns, or the rapid yet draining big cities. Despite the abundance of people involved in both scenes, few understand either side. Many view anarcho-punks as angst-ridden kids who will eventually grow out of this phase and become upstanding members of contemporary society. This is unfortunate because outsiders could learn much from the punks. For instance, outsiders could potentially understand anarchy as an actual progressive philosophy, not simply whiny young people wanting to fight "The Man."

Likewise, members of the national socialist movement, at least within the black metal community, are considered ignorant bigots. While the bigotry is hard to argue against, these individuals are far from ignorant. In fact, many members of the NSBM scene are incredibly intelligent and could be considered intellectuals. It's also worthy of note that many black metal bands like to slap the NS label on their music to raise hype around their band.

Both anarcho-punk and NSBM are vastly different forms of music with even more polarized political viewpoints; strangely enough, similarities such as views on religion and distaste for much of contemporary society are present in both scenes. Yet these similarities could hardly bring peace between the two ideologies. This is because from its inception, traditional punk philosophy has stood against Nazism and the NS music world would naturally feel the same animosity towards anarcho-punks.

We live in a world of right and wrong, of left and right. Neither school of thought will or should ever get along; the views completely contradict one another. One side preaches a message of anti-establishment while the other preaches a more totalitarian view. One side desires unity among people. The other side desires the eradication of those deemed subhuman. One thing is for certain; both groups seem to be here to stay, in some cases, for better or worse.