A VENUE in Glasgow has cancelled a metal festival after learning in The National that a number of the bands due to play had links to the far right.
In a statement on their website, the Classic Grand said they were parting ways with the Darkness Guides Us event, and that they would “never give a platform to any kind of hatred.”
It follows an exclusive report in yesterday’s paper when we revealed that at least four of the bands playing at the festival were involved with the neo-Nazi national socialist black metal (NSBM) scene.
One of the groups booked even has a song called “Gas Chamber” and lyrics which include the phrase “Sieg Heil!”.
On their Facebook page, the Classic Grand said they had been “made aware of certain connections to fascist ideology being associated with the festival which was due to take place in November of this year.”
READ MORE: Row as Glasgow Darkness Guides Us festival books neo-Nazi bands
They added: “As such we have made the decision NOT to be associated to this festival and will no longer be hosting this event. The Classic Grand is not, nor do we give a platform to any form of hatred”.
It’s not clear what will happen to the festival, if it will be cancelled or if it will just move elsewhere.
Organisers had already booked a separate, secret venue for headliners Taake and Satanic Warmaster, both of whom have had events cancelled in the past because of their brushes with fascism.
Satanic Warmaster’s singer, Werwolf – real name Lauri Penttila – contributed to a 2006 compilation titled Declaration of Anti-Semitic Terror and has issued split-releases with NSBM bands including Aryan Blood and shared with the stage with Germany’s Absurd.
One member of that band broke parole terms when, on release from prison for murder, he gave a Nazi salute.
Other bands on the line up include Kalmankantajah and Nocturnal Depression both of who have expressed views sympathetic of NSBM.
The Glasgow Anti-Fascist Alliance had promised to “mobilise” against Darkness Guide Us.
Responding to the initial criticism, the event organiser Dimitris Artofsin told us the event wasn’t political but “anti-authoritarian, neither right nor left but with extreme hate towards both ends.”
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