Sounds of Violence
The Nazi Music scene

By Michael Shannon

They’ve taken our lands,
destroying what we’ve got
They tax us to death, and give it to the Wogs
Who don’t want to work, they only take,
Only their idea of fun is to mug and rape.

No Remorse - "In ZOG [Zionist Occupation Government] You Trust"

I go to battle with no fear in my heart
Anxiously waiting to tear you apart
Ready to smash, ready to fight
I’m gonna kill everyone in sight

Berserkr - "Berserkr"

Like to hear more? You can obtain CDs of these and many similar bands by sending $30 to "Drum Beat", at a post office box in Richmond, Victoria.

Or perhaps try walking into your nearest Heavy Metal music store and ask at the counter about bands such as Skrewdriver, Brutal Attack, Razors Edge, Nordic Thunder and Aggravated Assault - if they don’t stock them, there’s a good chance they will tell you how to get them.

The biggest booty of all awaits those with access to cyberspace - a search under the word "skinhead" displays an international feast of neo-fascist sites, including extensive mail order CD catalogues.

All this is part of a burgeoning and highly profitable Nazi music industry, which now serves as a major revenue raiser for neo-Nazi groups internationally. The bands emerge out of skinhead groups and play in generally makeshift venues to audiences of mostly young males with shaved heads, tattoos, tight jeans and big boots; raising their arms in the Nazi salute and chanting the slogans of white aryan supremacy.

Australia is very much a part of the international Nazi skinhead music scene. Two Australian bands, Fortress and Squadron, have a significant following overseas. Fortress has toured extensively through Britain and Europe over the past two years, releasing its album "Seize the Day" through the Swedish label Nordland (devoted entirely to neo-Nazi/Aryan supremacist bands) and contributing to international compilation CDs such as "White Solidarity". They also feature prominently in a recent edition of Nordland magazine (an offshoot of the music label).

The post office box for "Drumbeat" in Richmond is also that of Blood & Honour, an Australian version of the British skinhead music magazine of the same name. The latest edition features an interview with the Brisbane band Spear of Longinus, which describes its music as "Nazi Occult Metal" and expresses deep admiration for Adolf Hitler, though it counsels that "Hitler himself said he was paving the way for an even greater liberator to come. It is extremely important for us to fight this holy war in today’s conditions, as this is our present reality. Be 110% racial, but learn and grow."

Another interview is with "Ted" from Hate Tank, a Canadian band, who launches into a tirade against Canada’s immigrants: "These fucking Nigger/slopehead/stinkingpaki/faggot parasites can’t even speak our language and honest WHITE business owners are supposed to teach them a trade or else be dragged through the news as a racist!"

Also on the Australian scene is Melbourne band Destroyer 666, which recently released their CD "Unleash the Wolves" through Modern Invasion Music (based in Frankston). Though their lyrics are carefully coded to avoid any obvious racial attacks, their inner sleeve thank-yous go to the members of Fortress, Squadron and Ken McLellan from Brutal Attack (the British skinhead group, formerly known as Dead Paki In The Gutter, toured Australia in 1996). Members from all of these groups recorded a mini CD together in Australia over two days last year entitled "Garrison", also released through Nordland - an incestuous scene, it is.

The continuing propagation of Nazi ideology in recent times has relied heavily on music. Rock music has been the neo-Nazi movement’s most direct means of enlisting and developing its youth support. The music sounds much like other heavy metal, thrash and grunge, but the lyrics are venomous. The dominant themes are violent attacks, race war, white supremacy, nordic and teutonic mythology and the pure hatred of all non-Caucasians, especially blacks and Jews.

The emergence of the internet has been central to the proliferation of Nazi music, via direct order CDs, music videos and related merchandise such as T-shirts and posters. Links to record companies and bands make up a significant part of neo-Nazi and skinhead websites. One can view extensive CD catalogues (including CD covers), video footage, band biographies, song lyrics and hear sam-ples of recordings. Orders are made via credit cards and received via fax, e-mail or post.

One of the largest music sites is that of Resistance Records in the US. The label was founded by Canadian George Burdi (aka George Eric Hawthorne), an active member of the violently racist Church Of The Creator, a regular contributor to its hate sheet Racial Loyalty and the lead singer of the group Rahowa (an abbreviation of Racial Holy War). Burdi declares: "I’m going to stay proud of my Race and Heritage no matter what kind of lies they want to spew about me. I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees! I bow to no man!" He dedicates Resistance Records to "Forging a new destiny for White Power music! For Blood, Soil, Honour, Faith & Folk". Resistance distributes such groups as No Remorse, Aryan, Nordic Thunder, Aggravated Assault and Berserkr.

The latest CD by Berserkr, "Crush The Weak", features photos from a Nazi extermination camp showing hundreds of corpses in a mass grave and a soldier standing in the middle. On the back is the caption: "The Earth shall inherit the meek". Songtitles include "Swindler’s Wish" and "Tear Off The Mask". The album is also available through Drumbeat in Australia.

Another major distributor on the internet is Stormfront Records. Based in the US, Stormfront features groups such as Midtown Bootboys, Centurion, Brutal Attack, British skinhead legends Skrewdriver, Paul Burnley & the Fourth Reich and Final Solution. With album titles such as "Murder Squad", "White Revolution", "Behold The Iron Cross" and "Born To Hate", the message is clear.

Much of this music dates back to the movement’s roots in skinhead culture. The first skin gangs appeared in the British streets in the late 1960s; and were soon aligned to the National Front. The characteristic look of big boots, tattoos, braces and a "number one" haircut was well es-tablished during the 1970s, as was the characteristic chant of "Oi, Oi, Oi!!" that accompanied violent attacks. The subsequent emergence of "Hammerskins" was inspired by Alan Parker’s film The Wall, which merged scenes of hundreds of skinheads chasing Pakistani immigrants with images of marching hammers.

Perhaps the most important skinhead band was Skrewdriver, which emerged out of the punk/Oi scene in the mid-1970s and came to prominence in the 1980s. Skrewdriver continued to head the British skinhead music scene until the death of its lead singer and songwriter, Ian Stuart Donaldson (aka Ian Stuart), in 1993. Stuart’s songs have become "white power" anthems since his death, and many bands have sought to profit from his legacy by re-leasing tribute albums, compilations and, in the case of the notorious British nazi hooligan group Combat 18, form-ing the label ISD Records (for Ian Stuart Donaldson).

The Skrewdriver Songbook (available through the internet) is a good representation of Ian Stuart’s preoccupations. In his introduction, Stuart says: "I believe that the white man will arise and take back all that has been taken away from him. Taken not by force but by typical Semitic deception." The lyrics contained are by turns sentimental then strident. "If You’re White (You’re alright)" contains the lines: "On the radio, in the news, you’re all wrong except the Jews/ Doesn’t matter who loses face, if it’s against the chosen race". The song "When The Boat Comes In" includes the railing chorus refrain: "Nigger, nigger, get on that boat/ Nigger, nigger, row/ Nigger, nigger, get out of here/ Nigger, nigger, go, go, go..." Another theme of such bands is reverence for supposed Aryan and Viking forebears. David Lane, an American whose ‘fourteen words’ - "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children" - have become a catchcry, is a major inspiration to neo-Nazis today. Lane also talks a lot about Odinism - derived from the pagan north-ern European deity of Odin, god of wisdom, culture, war and the dead.

Mining the mythology of the former northern European tribes, be they the Vikings, Goths, Saxons, Teutons or others, many neo-Nazi bands can dress their creed of violent racial hatred in less offensive garb.

Some of it, to the uninitiated at least, is virtually incomprehensible: "Midgard engulfed by the sea/ Jormungandr upon the world/ Let Nagifar be launched/ The chains of Fenrir are rent asunder/ And the wolf shall course about..." ("Rite of Ragnarock" by Spear of Longinus, from Brisbane).

The most disturbing aspect of this music is that it serves as inspiration for violent racial attacks. Many of the leading figures in the interna-tional music music industry have faced or are facing chanrges relating to violent activities, sometimes against rival racists. It is hardly surprising that virtually all groups promoting and distributing this music do so indirectly, publishing neither their street address nor a phone number. Very few music shops will stock the music. But through post office boxes and internet sites all over the world, the business is flourishing to the tune of millions of dollars annually. And so the bands play on. R