Antifascist Neofolk for Palestine

One of the leading voices in building a radical neofolk scene has been the Left/Folk project, which we have partnered with in the past to release compilation albums of antifascist and antiracist neofolk and related genre artists. Left/Folk has now taken a huge step forward with their latest compilation, The World As It Is, now available on Bandcamp. The proceeds will go to an organization supporting Palestinians in Gaza currently facing a genocidal military onslaught and the largest forced migration since the Nakba.

We sat down with Left/Folk collective to discuss what this project is about, how these albums have come together, what their vision is for building a radical alternative, and what revolutionary neofolk even means.


ABA: Tell me about where the Left/Folk project came from and what was its operative idea?

LF: Left/Folk was born from a series of observations made by a small group of friends who have been actively in the neofolk scene for a long time (some for decades). Some grew tired of seeing discussions on social media devolve into people with roman statue profile pictures posting music videos from the same five big neofolk artists ad nauseam, it felt stale and above all, complacent to the way things have been for years. Others grew tired of sycophantry and the insular nature of never actually critiquing or questioning an artist for their views (even mildly) while treating the act of doing so as pure betrayal, it was becoming an echo-chamber. We also grew tired of being lumped in with every roman-saluting asshole that inevitably showed up to whatever neofolk show or club night we were at, which for some of us, happened more than a few times. Others grew bored with the discourse around neofolk being driven by people who were either too complacent to question it or by folks who weren’t even remotely interested in the music to provide any level of nuance. We were interested in disrupting what had become the status quo by adding a new dimension to the conversation.

We regard Left/Folk as a branch of neofolk music that is openly political and antifascist in character, be that in direct rhetoric or the personal values of any given artist within our scene. Our goal is to make our particular blend of sociopolitical, historical, and aesthetic interests synonymous with the term “Left/Folk” as its own divergent branch in the genre of neofolk, I think we can achieve this over time and with the cooperation of our listeners and collaborators. Left/Folk, in itself, is a microgenre. That being said, Left/Folk is also a broader big-tent project, meaning that we work with artists who range from a more generally progressive socioeconomic view of the world to a significantly much further radical leftist element to build a broader cohesive harmony within our microcosm of the neofolk scene at large. Reactionaries hate us, smarter folks are at the very least interested in us.

We also want to provide an alternate path for those who are either lovers of the genre or artists working within the genre who have a distaste for what seems to be a dominant ideology within the scene. A path for those who aren’t particularly impressed with goose-stepping uniforms or romantic notions of a greater western cultural hegemony or whining about all the wrong aspects of modernity. A path for people who can recognize that basing one’s cultural identity largely on the esoteric writings of a fascist incel loser doesn’t make you as much of a unique individual as you think it does. We wanted to provide space for an exploration of history, art, and spirituality without the trappings of catastrophizing existence amongst the ruins of the past or lamenting the loss of a heroic fictional history that never was. We are not afraid of ruins and we have no love for the world as it currently stands, nor do we seek to revive one which has been already dashed away. We provide echoes, that multiply and project into revolutionary new futures. We are music for, from, and beyond the apocalypse.

ABA: Why did you start doing these compilations, and what kind of music have they featured?

LF: We wanted to create an access point to music that diverges from the standard hegemonic messaging and cultural aesthetic that runs rampant within neofolk. Having seen the vitriol some artists have received for being openly political, specifically beyond a criticism of musical talent or creative value, we wanted to cultivate something that pushed back on that while practicing mutual aid and remaining undeniable as an artistic endeavor. We wanted to essentially display a show of force, and function as a clarion call for both artists and followers to shed the unnecessary lie of apolitical cowardice that is too common to the genre and take up the damn guitar. There does not need to be a compromise between artistic integrity and personal values, especially not when political reality permeates through all cultural expression. The sphere of the political does not also have to fall into the mundane, even if attached to material reality. 

So, we took it upon ourselves to gather neofolk/post-industrial musicians who aligned with our vision and do whatever we could to elevate their work into a compilation that cannot be easily dismissed as yet another lazy trend. Our first compilation even featured known artists like Sieben, Nebelung, and Weather Veins who have been quite supportive and have become increasingly more open about their views over time. Sieben, in particular, was an early lightning rod for the type of ideas that we wanted to expand upon with our project and they were more than supportive with their contribution going as far as to record a fresh version of one of their more directly political songs for the compilation. Overall, the genre we focus on is neofolk but we naturally expand into its sibling genres like experimental and industrial, which in combination blend into the overall larger umbrella of post-industrial music.  We wanted to do this while making a very direct and divisive (within the scene) political statement by pairing our first work with fundraising support for National Bail Fund Network in support of the BLM movement and uprisings. The result was a clear drawing of lines and intentions, which we were quite happy with. Since then, we regularly receive negative attention from right wing elements in the scene who supposedly didn’t exist because neofolk is “apolitical” or something like that. We absolutely welcome the tension and struggle that it brings, we find these things are elementary in the process of personal, political, and spiritual development. Our struggle is material. Our aim is spiritual.

ABA: Tell me about this new compilation. What’s its theme and what movement will it support?

LF: The latest Left/Folk compilation is in support of ANERA (the American Near East Refugee Aid) which actively provides urgent support for Palestinians under siege. ANERA has an excellent track record and is known to be a reputable organization. The organization was decided on by us in collaboration with our followers through enacting polls and getting opinions from the people who support us as well as collaborators. What is happening in Palestine is beyond “self defense,” it is wholesale slaughter, it is ethnic cleansing. We wholeheartedly believe in the emancipation of all people from the structures of systemic and direct violence by the State. With the increasing horrors being perpetrated on the long-suffering captive Palestinian population in an act of unjustifiable collective punishment by the Israeli government, we felt compelled to gather our allies in order to push something out as quickly as possible. For that purpose, we did not necessarily provide a theme for the artists to contribute, we simply stated what the fundraising would go towards and why we were doing it. From that, the music we received seemed to take upon its own character, with many artists taking it as an opportunity to express their reaction to the situation, and what we got was a reflection of ‘The World As It Is…’ hence the name and cohesion of the album. The latest is an eclectic collection of neofolk, martial, industrial, noise, experimental, neoclassical and more, yet it flows as naturally as a stream. It is not easy listening at times. “The World As It Is” is full of sorrow, destruction, death, ugliness, beauty and hope.

ABA: There are a number of newer artists to the world of antifascist neofolk and related genres, talk a bit about some of the new artists you have included, what they offer the compilation, and what trends you are seeing in our music scene? Do you think we are making headway in increasing the radical presence in these music scenes?

LF: We believe we have made great strides in proliferating the idea that there are many faces to the genre, that there are shadows and mirrors to behold. We have shown that there are radical elements there, and that they are not going away. We want to create an ongoing soundtrack to the falling of empire, and to the growth of a new world. The people are hungry for that, we are another avenue for it. We are proud to have a hand in the development and promotion of new bands that have risen to the occasion. One such band we have recently started to work with was Allegory & Emblem, who contributed a beautiful neofolk cover of Drink Before The War by Sinéad O’Connor. Along with falling into contact with several excellent industrial projects like NORILLAG, Girl Circles and Ritual Dust, all of whom contributed different flavors of experimentation and raw force alongside the intense noise track by Prolapsed Catholic. On this compilation we were also joined by projects that have actually been around for some time like the spirited French neofolk band Lisieux and Our Beauty In The Fire from Italy. I think overall, the trajectory of our compilations have highlighted a growth in the experimental aspects of Left/Folk, which is why (like many neofolk compilations before us) there are works that are wildly different from the standard guitar fare that reach into classical and noise elements that do not at all disrupt the overall atmosphere. I think it is a sign that more people are embracing the movement as not just a musical formula, but something more.  

ABA: What standards do you set for artists that are included?

LF: In terms of vetting and politics, we look at several factors including sustained support for things we believe in, direct opposition to fascism, support for the Left/Folk project, and proximity to trusted organizations or collectives amongst other things. We also engage in direct conversation with artists we seek to bring into the fold, often being direct and arguably somewhat confrontational. We also plainly engage in political discourse to get a “vibe” from the artist, looking at their history and intentions and growth over time. We try to be as collaborative as possible in the overall process.We also understand the importance of art existing as itself, and thus we do not make demands for concessions to specific subject matter or sound, so at times we know a project may have a confrontational or difficult character to it, but it is often part of the process of finding greater understanding.  Musically, it is difficult to really pinpoint what it is that strikes our ears as being what we seek out. There is a magickal confluence of emotion, timelessness and authenticity that must intersect to create a specific atmosphere. Usually it is something vague that catches us, but from our interactions with listeners there is an agreement that there’s a sort of dreamy nostalgic quality to the works we present. Not necessarily dwelling on the past, but recontextualizing it for the present. Some have described it as an echo. We seek out artists who quite importantly truly believe in what they are doing, there must be a flame in the gut, electricity running up the spine, a torrent in the soul of the sound, a sort of spirituality to the necessity of creating art. 

ABA: What’s coming next for Left/Folk? What are some artists who are on your radar?

LF: We are on an endless path, ever moving forward towards potential oblivion, with the rest of the world. We will continue to shift our efforts towards different causes and focus our efforts where we can be useful as a collective cultural project, and always seek to inspire new works. Our aim is to continue organizing compilations with new and returning artists and possibly explore moving into more physical representations of our work. We definitely want to start creating music videos to songs we like, unofficial or not. Our greatest goal would be to organize some kind of music festival, live show, or to at least facilitate bands linking up to play together. We want to find ways to draw more people to our cause, as listeners and contributors. We continue to support artists like BloccoNero who have just released an excellent new album, Autumn Brigade who are creating some new and exciting things in the near future, Peace Through Decay who some of us work closely with and might collaborate with in the future, as well as helping to produce works with newer bands that want join our movement. We currently have our eyes on several projects, such as Allegory & Emblem who are building towards new material, Lisieux who have created beautiful albums in the past, Corpse D’Alsace who have surprised us with a wealth of incredible material within a span of a year, Without History who continues to push the boundaries of the genre in incredibly creative and exciting ways, and Weather Veins whose masterful musical prowess continues to enthrall our senses. Our movement is still quite new, but we are nowhere near ready to stop what we are doing. Whenever Left/Folk stops being, if it does, we believe that there are enough bands that have risen over the span of a few years to continue this movement on its own. We are here. 

Click Here to Buy Album…

LOVE WILL NEVER LAST: An interview with Corpse d’Alsace

A conversation with the antifascist neofolk band, Corpse d’Alsace.

By Jay Nada

Corpse d’Alsace is an exciting new neofolk project from Berlin that openly explores themes of love, lust, conflict, and queerness. Their first release, “What Else Is There But Death And Buggery?” is an excellent and potent Working. Highly recommended for those looking for a fresh yet familiar take on the genre, with its exploration of dark romanticism and intimacy in the face of obliteration. We wanted to explore the themes of the album further, so we contacted the band for an interview.

Jay Nada: Let us begin. We can start with a little bit of background. What is your name and role in the project, and is this a solo endeavor or do you have collaborators? What led to the conception of this project? I am also curious about the origins of the name. One could assume that the name of the project is of geographical significance, is this correct and if so, could you elaborate on that?

Jean Christophe Lon: You can call me Jean Christophe Lon. Corpse d’Alsce is a solo project, where I write, play, and record everything on my own. So, there’s no other people involved, besides friends who help me with mastering or layout stuff. This is very important to me, because I was looking for a direct and spontaneous way to communicate with people and get my music out there without being tied to others. This might lead to a more rough and DIY sound, but that’s ok. I’m bored very easily, and this way of working gives me the opportunity to move on very fast after I’ve written and recorded a track. You’re right, the project’s name is linked to a certain region in France. On the one hand it was just an emotional decision, because I have a private and highly emotional connection to that region. On the other hand, this region reflects a certain state of “inbetween” when you look at it from a historical point of view. Neither here nor there. It also shows the senselessness of national borders, at least from my point of view.

JN: What led to the conception of this band, how did you start and why? Do you have a background in music?

JCL: Yes, I do have a background in music. I started making music around 1992 and had two dark folk bands during that decade. It was the golden era of the so-called tape underground, where loads of bands without record deals were distributing their music on tapes through small ads in underground magazines. It was harder to record stuff back then, because all the equipment was quite expensive and analog these days. And, to be honest, we were neither rich nor successful nor good, from a musical perspective. So, I stopped making music around 1999 and moved on with my life. A few years ago I felt the need to continue with music and to close this open wound.

JN: The album begins with a bombastic reflection of what I think is the material core of all living beings, there is a sense of ritual and magick in this opening. It feels like an enticement. Can you elaborate on setting the album with such an opening and how it plays with the overall aesthetic of the album? Is there a spiritual, or perhaps socio-political, element to your work? Though perhaps not something overt, how do social and political conditions affect your work?

JCL: My album is in some parts a reflection on how queer identities are smashed in heteronormative structures – especially in times of war. After Russia’s terrible war on Ukraine started, I heard a lot of stories about trans women who weren’t allowed to leave the country anymore, because the state of Ukraine still identified them as men and “men” were supposed to go to army service. Then I heard stories about a queer collective from Kyiv who was organizing techno events before the war and then became a LGBTIQ* division within the Ukrainian army, posing with machine guns with pride flag stickers on it on Instagram. Two totally different but moving stories, that affected me and led me to think about war and queerness in general. I mean, as queer people we are in a permanent state of war in most of the countries of the world. But this was the first time when I witnessed, how the machinery of war – which I consider male and heteronormative in a way – sucked queer identities into its system and logic. “Intro: The Bull” is a reflection on this, it represents the masculinist machinery. 

JN: Throughout the album, there is an atmosphere of fatal romanticism and eroticism, particularly in songs like Für Karl and Fucker, how does this interact with the idea of “queering neofolk?”

JCL: I use the phrase of “queering neofolk” because I play with the perception of the listener. I use all the patterns that you would expect from a neofolk sound and universe but I come to different conclusions than most (or some) of the bands of that genre. So, I cross the categories of neofolk in a way, hoping to make people feel a bit uncomfortable. Especially when my lyrics become very gay and very cheesy.

JN: By the way, I love the sample used in Für Karl, what moved you to using that? Also, anything to say about the eponymous Karl? Not to pry, of course.

JCL: Using that sample from “Moonstruck” with Cher and Nicholas Cage was part of this idea of queering the genre. A lot of neofolk bands, especially from the first wave, used samples from political speeches or underground movies to underline their intellectual or politically problematic image. I use Cher. What more can I say? For the second part of your question: I’d better not talk about Karl here.

JN: The range of sonic themes in this album touch on experimental and ritualistic elements alongside neofolk and almost dark pop elements, can you describe your approach and process when it comes to writing or recording your songs?

JCL: I write and record quite intuitively. On “What Else Is There But Death And Buggery?” I wrote and recorded one song per day and never touched it again after that. Well, maybe small sound corrections here and there but not much. I wrote the music in the morning, recorded, and produced it during the day and improvised the lyrics and the vocals in the evening. That’s it. It was all about getting the stuff out of my system and moving on. I really enjoyed this way of working as I am involved in other musical projects that are way more sophisticated musically. Corpse d’Alsace is all about the magic of the moment. That’s the reason why my music on this album sounds quite lo-fi and is full of tiny mistakes that you might discover if you are a perfectionist and listen very close.

JN: What would you say influences your creativity, if anything, be it music or art? If you were to recommend a piece of art or literature for your listeners to get a better grasp of your work, what would that be?

JCL: Hm, that’s very hard to tell. Sonically I think it’s obvious that I’ve listened to some classic neofolk stuff of the late 80s and early to mid 90s a lot. I cannot say much about what happened in this genre after the turn of the century, because I turned away from it around 1999. I needed some distance from its sometimes quite toxic elements. In the last few years I started to listen to that kind of music again if I felt like, but I would not consider myself an expert on post-millennial neofolk. I always liked the way that Ordo Equitum Solis for example used field recordings, ambient and occult – or let’s say romantic – elements and neofolk-ideas on their first three releases “Solstitii Temporis Sensvs,” “Animi Aegritudo,” and “OES.”

JN: As a genre, neofolk has a long, controversial, and tumultuous history of having connections to various far right (at times overtly, other times covertly fascist) ideals and movements. Though often couched in apolitical sensibility, it’s hard (if not impossible) to deny the tendencies within the movement. How do you reconcile this reality with your own output, especially in the face of a rising tide of fascist politics all over the world?

JCL: All I can say to this is that I will never let Nazis “possess” a certain kind of music genre. And I would never see myself as part of a neofolk movement. I’ve seen all this during the 90s, especially in Germany after the wall came down, when the audience of neofolk shows shifted from the left to the right within let’s say five years and some of the bands let go of all irony or double meaning in their dangerous play with fascist imagery. At least that was how I preceded it. That was a very hard time for me because that genre meant a lot to me in those days. And I’ve always considered myself as anti-fascist, anti-racist, anti-masculinist and queer. Back then I decided to never be part of a certain “scene” again. And I think I’m still true to this to this day.

JN: What is next for this project? Are you interested in bringing your music to a live setting? Can we hope for more music in the future?

JCL: At the moment I’m working on other projects, but there will be new Corpse d’Alsace songs this year, I’m sure. When it comes to live shows, I’m not sure what will happen in the future. I suffer from a massive anxiety disorder, so the idea of playing live scares the fucking shit out of me. But let’s wait and see. Never say never.

Corpse d’Alsace is not currently on Spotify, but once they are we will also add them to our Antifascist Neofolk playlist. Please follow that playlist if you are a Spotify user, and reach out to let us know about other bands you think should be covered and added.

LEFT/FOLK Releases Their Fifth Antifascist Neofolk Compilation to Benefit Stop Cop City

A new antifascist neofolk compilation is raising money to Stop Cop City.

Our friends at the LEFT/FOLK project, whom we collaborated with on earlier fundraising compilations, have released a brand new collection of songs. Featuring some of the most important artists in the radical and antifascist neofolk scene, the compilation (which is available on Bandcamp) will go to the Atlanta Solidarity Fund. This is the best place to financially support the organizers working to stop the Cop City development in the woods outside of Atlanta. This movement has created a unity of environmentalism and police abolition, charting a shared path of resistance that has inspired activists around the world.

Click Here to Pick Up the Album

Here is the complete track listing for the compilation:

LEFT/FOLK V: ALMA

1. Nøkken + The Grim – Ló

2. Headstone Brigade – Forest Families

3. Allegory & Emblem – As One

4. BloccoNero – 20novembre

5. Autumn Brigade – Partizan!

6. A Ghost, I – Foreste Cresceranno Sulle Rovine Delle Vostre Prigioni 

7. Little Vodka – The Train

8. Peace Through Decay – Midday

9. Without History – In My Mouth You Are No Man

10. Shattered Hand – Animam Agere

11. The Anxiety Of Abraham – Ruins 

12. Corpse d’Alsace – The Day I Kill Myself (Fucker II: There’s Always A Reason To Live)

13. Ian Leding – Odessa (Version)

14. Haunter Of The Woods – II

15. Anhaga – No Way Home 

Click Here to Pick Up the Album

LEFT/FOLK attached the below statement outlining the details of the project and how to support the movement it is a part of.

We present to you a new collection of songs to energize the mind and hopefully enflame the spirit with the desire to keep pushing forward. The old world is being tested by the new, but the form of our future is still ambiguous. It is being molded by all of us, by our inaction and action alike. Across the planet there is a great push from the forces of reaction who seek to annihilate for the sake of their pitiful obsession with power and control. They function out of one instinct only, fear. Fear of a different world, fear of actual creativity, fear of something beyond their narrow-minded understanding of life, a fear of living. A fear of change.

Unlike us, they must rely on institutions of authority to justify their violence. Unlike us, they cower behind fortified structures of power. Unlike us, they fight for slop and crumbs given to them by their masters. They will never understand the beauty with which we stand before their behemoth. They cannot imagine strength without the baton placed in their hands.

This compilation is dedicated to Tortuguita, who was murdered by cowards in uniforms whilst defending the Weelaunee Forest. They lived and fought with joy in their heart, and they continue to live in the spirit of resistance in the forest. This compilation is also dedicated to all who live in the struggle against that encroaching authoritarianism that seeks to cast the world into greater despair, to all who have fallen in this cause, to all who stand firm against state repression and violence, to those who carry the torchlight of liberty and to those who wield the hammer with which to strike the chains of control.

We would like to thank all who have contributed their workings to this compilation, and to all who continue to dance alongside us through these times of great disruption. There is a world of possibilities, an entire world to create, a reality to bend, but it begins with you. It begins with your desire and joy, and anger.

The money raised by this compilation will be donated to the Atlanta Solidarity Fund via the National Bail Fund Network to assist in the continued efforts against the proliferation of Cop City. They have done everything in their power to paint the movement in the most negative light, but the people of Atlanta and beyond know better. We believe that they understand that “the assumption that what currently exists must necessarily exist is the acid that corrodes all visionary thinking.”

Stay feral.

– L/F 161 

Dropping a Bomb on Black Metal’s Future: A Conversation on Black Metal Rainbows

We first learned about Black Metal Rainbows a few years ago when they did a Kickstarter campaign to fund their book. The volume is an anthology of writing on black metal that takes a decidedly antifascist, antiracist, radical, and, perhaps most of all, queer, claim on the black metal scene. Despite the fact that black metal has often been tarnished by far-right and neo-Nazi artists and fans who want to make their stake their claim to it (just as they do with neofolk), a massive antifascist movement has emerged, bringing the creative explosion at the heart of the genre back to the left.

The book has now been released by PM Press and features amazing contributions by people like Margaret Killjoy and Kim Kelly, as well as radical artwork from across the aesthetic spectrum. Black Metal Rainbows is, to a certain degree, the black metal version of the project we have tried to do, to highlight the dissident voices that are reclaiming our most contested genres. I spoke with one of the editors of the book, Daniel Lukes, about the intention for the book, how it came together, and about fighting for the future of black metal and all “extreme” genres that have seen far-right entryism.

1: Where did the idea for this book come from and what is in it?

The Black Metal Rainbowsproject began life as a dream, which in turn was based on a New Year’s Eve party organized by British band Akercocke in London in 2002.

The idea I took from this was: what if black metal was a party? In my dream, many years after that event, I had an image of black metallers congregating on some kind of mediterranean hillside at dusk, and the image of black metal as a global community stayed with me. The first iteration of this was the “Black Metal Theory Symposium” Coloring The Black, held at Gallery X in Dublin in 2015, with a goal of queering up and adding some color to the “para-academic” field of Black Metal Theory. The symposium featured a memorable contribution from Drew Daniel (of Matmos/The Soft Pink Truth) reading his paper “Putting the Fag Back in Sarcofago” in corpsepaint, a color-the-logo competition from “Lord of the Logos” Christophe Spazjdel, who was fresh off designing a logo for Rihanna, and us experiencing lots of pushback (and death threats) from Nazis. In other words, it was a good time.

After a well-needed breather, the next step was to coalesce that energy into a book. Our book Black Metal Rainbows, began in 2017 and finally published in January 2023, contains essays and rants, manifestos and confessions, glitter and gore, artwork and comics, design and danger. It’s a love letter to black metal, a fuck you to black metal Nazis, and a middle finger to anyone engaged in scene gatekeeping or upholding boring, old hat ideas about what black metal should be. Black metal is joy and exhilaration and freedom and community and love: there is so much more to it than the stereotype would have you believe, and Black Metal Rainbows is a celebration of black metal’s other dimensions.

2: How do you think people get black metal wrong?

I don’t think they always necessarily get it wrong. Being an extreme artform, it is known for its most extreme elements, whether that is its predilection for grim and frostbitten scenarios, or sadly, more recently, its Nazi affiliations. We and many others see black metal as something to be fought over and won back from the people who belittle and limit the genre by trying to turn it into a fascist or conservative artform. Growing up in the 1990s, I never would have believed that John Major and the grey, dull-as-fuck Tories would be on the same side as some of my favorite black metal artists. It’s a very depressing turn of events: black metal dreams big, traveling through the cosmos, and yet some of its practitioners reveal themselves to be deeply narrow-minded. Black Metal Rainbows is our attempt to show that black metal contains multitudes: it can be flashy and flamboyant, it can be a tool against oppression and misery, it can be community and care.

3: There’s a new radical world of black metal emerging, how is it different? What makes it distinct, and what bands are leading the way?

Metal’s queerness has always been there, and so has black metal’s That said, there is certainly a new wave of extreme and black metal that is explicitly and openly made by trans, queer, leftist, and antifascist artists. As KW Campol of Vile Creature says in their blurb for the book “Black metal is the ultimate outsider musical genre, so it makes sense that us queers and weirdos would build a home within its barren fields. Black Metal Rainbows is a necessary anthology documenting the strong anti-oppressive backbone being woven into black metal’s very fabric.”

I think what sets today’s wave of bands apart is a sense that since the stakes are so high right now, being coy about politics isn’t really an option for many artists. Fascism is rising globally, capitalism is burning the planet, state power is being leveraged to oppress trans and queer people in new ways, police brutality against minorities and poor people continues unchecked: the future looks bleak and will be filled with upheaval. Things are definitely getting worse before they get better. Metal was always political, from Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” onwards, but for several decades it hid a little too much behind dragons and elves; now metal’s repressed political consciousness is returning, and it’s glorious to behold. Black metal, in particular, because of its well-documented Nazi problem, is a fertile terrain for de/reterritorialization: it needs to be reclaimed from fascists, and there are so many amazing and courageous artists engaged in that struggle.

Some bands of today I love, in black metal and beyond: Penance Stare, Gelassenheit, Biesy, Divide and Dissolve, Entheos, Backxwash, and Body Void.

4: Tell me a bit of the diversity of writing you have in the book, what kinds of content will people find?

We wanted many kinds of writing, from high-falutin academic articles to personal and journalistic essays. One of the best pieces in there is a strange and enjoyable theory-fiction by Joseph Russo about Texas called “Queer Rot”: the kind of writing that mirrors or emulates the trance-like effect you sometimes get from listening to black metal. There are several pieces on the nature of evil in music (such as Langdon Hickman’s “The Dialectical Satan” and Eugene S. Robinson’s “When Evil Comes A’Calling”), an essay on black metal as witchcraft practice by Jasmine Hazel Shadrack (“Malefica: The Witch as Restorative Feminism in Female Black Metal Autoethnography”), and some considerations on how to fictionalize BM by novelist Catherine Fearns; there is a rousing manifesto by Margaret Killjoy titled “You Don’t Win a Culture War by Giving Up Ground.” It was important to us to showcase a variety of voices in a variety of styles. The art shows the many different visual faces of black metal, starting with the corpsepaint, which is black metal’s signature visual element; the design is also a key component, bringing the rainbow out of the dark, and also looking ahead to glitchy futuristic scenarios. I am a big fan of 1990s modernist black metal, which did a lot of meshing with electronica and industrial and now is coming back in a big way. Hopefully in this book there is something for everyone!

5: What do you think the role of subcultures like black metal are in fighting against the far-right and building radical spaces?

Black metal is a recruiting ground for far-right radicalization, so of course it’s necessary to struggle over that terrain. Not only are there far-right and pro-Nazi black metal scenes, particularly strong in Eastern Europe, but there are plenty of middle-ground centrist edgelords who both-sides the issue, claim to be apolitical, and call antifa and fascists the same thing. We call bullshit on this, and Black Metal Rainbows is our way of shining a light on the activity going on in antifascist and queer black metal scene building. There is a growing global network of progressive, antifascist extreme metal, and communities like the Antifascist Black Metal Network (also check out their YouTube) , and the RABM Reddit are evidence of that.

6: How can radical black metal fans build bridges with other communities?

Queer and trans culture is sometimes perceived in the mainstream media as fluffy, safe, pop (or “tenderqueer”), but as soon as you dip below the surface you see that there is a huge queer, trans, leftist investment into lots of dark subcultures, whether it’s horror fiction, visual arts or extreme music. Gretchen Felker-Martin’s Manhunt made a major splash last year, and queer and trans horror fiction is on the rise. David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future was widely praised for the queerness of its body horror, which is visible when looking back over his career in general. In our small way, Black Metal Rainbows is an attempt to create a space that brings together queer and leftist politics and aesthetics, and shine a light on the fact that cis white men do not have a hegemony on making abject, ugly, and violent art. It’s great to hear reports of Black Metal Rainbows materials popping up in queer spaces. But enabling metal spaces to become more queer-, women-, and minority-friendly is definitely something we hope this project will build towards.

In terms of bridge-building beyond metal scenes, fans can follow up and connect with the orgs that the artists they’re into support and publicize. There are so many amazing extreme metal-related leftist and anarchist initiatives, labels, projects, who we have encountered in this journey, such as non-profit record label Food Desert Recordings, “anonymous extreme music collective” Non Serviam, animal welfare supporting label Fiadh Productions, leftist revolutionary record label Red Nebula. Bill Peel’s forthcoming book Tonight It’s A World We Bury: Black Metal, Red Politics makes a great argument that black metal can be used as a tool to destroy capitalism. Who would have thought that black metal could reinvent itself as protest music? So crank up your favorite black metal artist, pick your battle, do your homework in terms of tactics and safety, and go for it!

7: Tell us about the album that goes with this book. What’s on it, and what does it benefit?

The Black Metal Rainbows Compilation Album came together in summer of 2022, but we had no idea it would get so big. 130 tracks, over eleven hours of music, and 100+ underground and black metal, noise, and electronic artists coming together in support of LGBTQ youth. Upon release it hit the #2 best-selling spot on Bandcamp (behind The Mountain Goats!) and by January 2023 it has raised over $10K+ USD for charities helping LGBTQ youth: The Trevor Project, Mermaids, Minus 18, and The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) Youth & Student Organisation. While the focus is black metal, there’s a huge variety of musical styles on the album, from blackened grind to epic black metal, blackgaze to dungeon synth, noise to avantgarde. People have a preconception that RABM (Red and Anarchist Black Metal) is basically blackened grindcore, but assembling this compilation was a massive learning process in terms of seeing the wide range and creativity of leftist BM and affiliated genres that’s out there. Anarchist post-black metal? Communist depressive suicidal black metal (DSBM)? Socialist dungeon synth? Search for it and you will surely find it.

Highlights of the comp include a to-die-for Depeche Mode-ish remix of Caïna track “Take Me Away From All This Death,” a surf-rock cover of Darkthrone’s “Transylvanian Hunger,” a black metal-inspired track from Japanoise overlord Merzbow, and lots of creepy goblin-esque dungeon synth replete with trolls, pumpkins, bats and serpents. Special mention must also go to the amazing cover art by Montreal-based artist Wesley Cunningham Closs: who created a stunning and powerful set of images combining corpsepaint, the rainbow, and top surgery scars.

***

Make sure to pick up the Black Metal Rainbows Compilation album from Bandcamp, and join their upcoming release concert (featuring Imperial Triumphant, Couch Slut, and others) and opening book events in New York City, starting this weekend.

Black Metal Rainbows: A conversation with co-editors Stanimir Panayatov and Daniel Lukes (and Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix of Liturgy).

Center for Place, Culture and Politics, The Graduate Center

City University of New York

Room 6107

10 Feb, Friday, 4:30 PM

365 Fifth Ave New York, NYC 10016

Click Here to RSVP

Black Metal Rainbows: Book Launch and Panel Discussion

Housing Works Bookstore

11 Feb, Saturday, 5-7pm

126 Crosby St, NYC 10012

Click Here to RSVP

Black Metal Rainbows Book Release Show: Imperial Triumphant, Couch Slut, Sunrot, Diva Karr, Greyfleshtethered

St. Vitus Bar

12 Feb, Sunday, 7pm

1120 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NYC 11222

Click Here for Tickets

Antifascist Warzone: An Interview With Autumn Brigade

Part of what has created the antifacist neofolk and left/folk scene is a group of artists whose antifascist awareness came after they are already embedded in the world of neofolk, then looked to build an alternative to the edgelord Nazi imagery and occultic white nationalism lingering at the edge of that musical world. Autumn Brigade has stood out as one of the rare projects that was built on a stripped down, classical neofolk sound, yet breaking with the political problems that many similarly sounding bands are known for. Their new album Gates of Heaven is a testament to this, a massive step forward for their musical life, but also a time machine to the founding days of neofolk in the mid-1980s.

We talked with CJ Halstead of Autumn Brigade about their new album, how neofolk’s early years influenced their sound, and how they broke away from the scene’s “apoliteic” defense and drew a line in the sand. 

How did the new album come together? Is there a theme that binds it?

Well, the new album came together shortly after the release of my demo “Our Love Is Endless.” I received such positive feedback from it, as well as attention from journalists after being featured in the Left/Folk compilations, I decided that Autumn Brigade should keep going as a project. I released a split EP November 2020 with my comrade in tragedy Adam Norvell of Peace Through Decay. I really liked the songs I made for that EP, and I decided “Why stop there? Those songs sound like the beginning of an album!” A year passed, and here we are: “The Gates of Heaven!”

In terms of themes, I explore political upheavals, sadomasochism (BDSM), occultism, personal introspection, and Christian esotericism. Those have become the defining “themes” of Autumn Brigade, if you will.

The cover will really stand out to folks, what is it and why did that image resonate? What was it like working with Jay, our comrade from DEAES and left/folk?

I originally designed a cover for the album based on a statue of Czech national hero and protocommunist Jan Žižka. I was unhappy with the artwork after a while, and made an alternative cover featuring a brutalist statue of soviet soldiers. Once again, I was unhappy with the artwork after a while, and reached out to Jay for help. Jay’s artwork was breathtaking, so I used it for the album. I think it resonates with listeners because it plays with a “martial aesthetic” that has become synonymous with neofolk in a way. It’s refreshing to see a very left-wing take on that aesthetic. Working with Jay is always a treat, they’re always bringing something new to the table that adds so much flavor and depth to my artwork and music, I’m very glad to call them not only a comrade but a friend.

There is a really classic, Western European neofolk sound. That is obviously the best known corner of the genre associated with fascism, and your work stands to break their hold on that scene. Most antifascist neofolk or left/folk bands actually avoid a lot of this corner of the neofolk sound, but you’ve sort of staked your claim on disallowing that history to keep defining the neofolk scene. What’s your relationship like to the rest of the neofolk world, and how does neofolk at large influence your work?

To be frank it’s a very strange relationship. For each bit of praise I get, I get a lot of hate-mail from more “traditional” neofolk fans, it’s quite amusing. I’ve come into contact with “bigger names” in the scene than me, mostly through just sharing my work and having it out there. The person I’ve talked to the most is Tony Cesa of Destroying Angel and OIS. I’ve been sending him song ideas and whatnot and he’s always been the first to give much needed constructive criticism, or offer advice when I’m having writer’s block. I can’t think of anyone else who’s been this helpful, or who has just been the most enthusiastic about where Autumn Brigade has been going outside of the Left/Folk community. While I was at Psycho Las Vegas last year, I had the honor of meeting Nathan Gray of Boysetsfire and Nathan Gray and the Iron Roses. He had been following Autumn Brigade since its inception and was very impressed with my discography thus far. We talked for a long time over coffee, and I got to see his set at The House of Blues. Talking with him about Autumn Brigade was an amazing experience. Showing my music to the doom metal and non neofolk acts I’ve played with as well, like Dee Calhoun from Spiral Grave and Iron Man, Bert Hall of Mangog, Mike D of The Age of Truth, and Tommy from Tribes of Medusa gives me a lot of motivation to keep going forward. And to bring it back to the sound it started with, which a lot of people end up associating with Current 93 and Death in June. 

There’s the obvious debate around Douglas P and Death in June that has been going on ad nauseam since the genre’s inception. Is he a nazi, or is he not? Whether Douglas P is a nazi or not, I think the blatant use of fascist imagery in the way he did is rather irresponsible as an artist. You have groups like Laibach and people in the fetish community who use this totalitarian aesthetic to either make a statement about mass media and the music industry being the real fascists in this modern era (such as what Laibach did), or an exploration of the taboo in a safe and consensual environment (such as what my comrades in latex do during sex). I believe in artistic freedom, I really do, but satire is dead. You end up empowering the wrong people when you try to satire something that has already been satirized to death. Even if the whole Nazi thing is a cheap joke or something sexual, the fascist chic is bland and overdone. Be either politically straightforward, or don’t delve into politics at all. Especially in this age.

To be honest Autumn Brigade began as a joke made between a friend and I about Douglas P being a secret communist, and Autumn Brigade’s original symbolism and aesthetics came as sort of a situationist’s exercise in détournement (a subversion of images and spectacles that enforce the system, sort of like culture jamming). Everyone I speak to who loves neofolk says their first exposure was Death in June, however they want something without the cryptically fascist imagery, or something they can listen to without it being a guilty pleasure. You have Current 93, Chelsea Wolfe, Sonne Hagal, among others, whose sound was influential. But that still doesn’t change the fact that underground music; especially black metal and neofolk, have a nazi problem. Trying to find “safe artists” is one thing, but it doesn’t do much when the fascists are showing up to shows. It’s rather unfortunate that the underground is such a contested space, but what do you do? You contest the space even more. You push back.

How does the growing militancy of the fight against fascism affect your tone?

I try to convey a sense of urgency in the themes of my work, especially when I am dealing with antifascist themes. We are running out of time, and our comrades are divided. We must come together in order to meet the multitude of challenges that meet us before we lose our rights to exist and the planet we call home.

What advice do you give to other bands deep in the neofolk scene about standing up against white nationalism?

Don’t give up. Keep your chin up, and keep up the fight. You may be dismayed, you may want to give up, but don’t. This is our fight, and we must march together. You are fighting not only for you and your comrades, but for future generations to come. March on, and remember Our Love is Endless!

Tell me about the song Partizan!: what are the lyrics about, how did the last two years of antiracist protests impact it, and what is the audio that is layered underneath the track?

The song came to me while doing some reading about the Yugoslav partizan brigades under Josip Broz Tito during the second world war. Historians regard them as possibly the most effective brigades in their resistance against Nazism. While I was in Italy before the pandemic, I talked to comrades of mine who were immigrants from that area who talked to me about Tito and his partizans. You could say I’ve had an infatuation with resistance of that caliber since. I would say that I hope that songs like this become a rallying cry for a new world, “Do you hear the people cry?” We’ve been demanding justice, freedom, and equality for eons. I want my songs to inspire people to act, especially those who have been silent in the past.

The liner notes talk about who you hurt and who you hate. How is this idea of trauma, responsibility, and harm prevalent in your work?

When you are hurt, you hurt others. My music and my art is introspective in this way. I’ve dealt with a lot in my youth, being bullied to the point of attempting suicide, sexually abused, emotionally manipulated. I’ve hurt others by repressing it, by buying into an idea of masculinity sold to me since I was young, that men have to be these stoic monoliths of physical and sexual prowess. It hurts more when you have to repress the fact that you are bisexual not out of the fear of what your family will say (they are some of the most supportive and loving people on the planet), but for what others will say. I bought into this culture, and I hurt a lot of people by being just as emotionally manipulative and verbally abusive as people were to me. I am deeply ashamed by that, and I want to learn from it and grow so that I can do better.

Autumn Brigade is a self help project just as it is a cry for help. I want to reach the people I have hurt to tell them that I am sorry, that I am learning from my mistakes, that I am moving forward while holding myself accountable for my actions. I want them to be healed by my music as well. I want them to feel something peaceful, something calm, something that makes them dance, something that makes them smile.

I also want my music to be a message to my abusers, and to those who believed them when I came out against them: I am here, I am strong, and you will not defeat me.

Trauma is a very painful and strange thing, especially when we’re trying to overcome it. We end up hurting others as much as we have hurt ourselves, either intentionally and unintentionally. When you’ve been made aware of what you are doing is toxic, you should make amends, apologies, and change yourself. Actions speak louder than words. Be better, be strong, and know that you are loved.

What influence did your exploration of Eastern Orthodoxy have on the new album?

That is an excellent question! Eastern Orthodoxy influences me in a multitude of ways. I am a very spiritual person, in my own practices I incorporate Orthodoxy, Germanic Paganism, and elements of magick. I don’t know what you would call that. The establishment of the church would call it “heresy.” That being said, I discovered the Eastern Church a while ago through my readings into different faiths. I stumbled across the writings and wisdom of Elder Porphyrios, who was canonized as a Saint by the Patriarch of Constantinople in 2013. His writings were full of beauty and wisdom beyond words. I have felt him speak to me ever since. I plan to write many songs about him.

I also discovered the zine “Death to the World” started by Justin Marler after he left Sleep to become a monk in Alaska. I can’t say that I was moved, or agree with, all of the articles written by the monks who continue to run that zine, however a lot of them had a huge impact on my spiritual practices. I also had off and on conversations with Marler. He is a lovely man!

While on the album, I referenced Saints from the west (my last track is a reference to Saint Francis of Assisi), the title track was written with my spiritual practices in mind, as well as how they shape my political thought. “The Gates of Heaven” is simultaneously an anthem for a new generation of activists, as well as a prayer for our success, and our safety. Future songs will explore my meditations in the wisdom of the east in more depth.

Your music has an almost ironic element, of taking some of the classically problematic elements in some neofolk bands and them flipping it on its head, making it antifascist instead. How are you playing with those elements found in neofolk and reframing them from an antifascist perspective? 

As stated previously, the whole band started as a Situationist Prank. I like to stir the pot, and it’s amusing to me to see some of the messages I get in response. The mask, the camo, the hammer and sickle that I dawned on album art and on stage, getting people riled up is fun. It’s even better when you’re upsetting the right people! I also like to take the whole homoerotic and sadomasochistic elements that were present since the genre started, and just run with it until I’m out of breath. Not only because it angers people, but because I’m a bisexual man who is in the fetish community. Representation at its finest!

October Forever by Autumn Brigade featured on an earlier collaborative album produced by A Blaze Ansuz and left/folk.

What was your songwriting process for this album, both lyrically and musically? How has this evolved since your last album?

The songs on “The Gates of Heaven” are more “fleshed out” than on “Our Love is Endless.” I sat down to think about each song more, about what I wanted to say with each song, how I wanted to say it, and how I thought it should sound. I would record tracks once I had everything plotted out, if I liked it, it was off to the mastering process! If I didn’t, I would sit on it until I listened to it later when I had more ideas on what the song needed. There’s more instrumentation, a better sound quality than on “Our Love is Endless,” and a more diverse use of instruments and genre exploration on this album compared to the last. Some songs came through the typical song writing process, others came almost from a higher power through dreams or just sudden jolts of inspiration. I feel some sort of higher power speaking to me whenever I make music, a power that is good, a feeling that makes me be at peace with the world, and something that tells me to keep going. I try to convey this in my music.

What bands have been most influential in writing this album? What new bands have you had your eyes on?

“The Gates of Heaven” was influenced by the sound of classic neofolk bands like Current 93, Spiritual Front, Sonne Hagal, and Chelsea Wolfe. I discovered Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio recently, and I have since fallen in love with their music, as they explore a lot of the same things I do. Dee Calhoun has released solo work, very dark and gritty americana. It’s beautiful in its texture and its emotions. I hope to open for him more in future shows.

“Death Rides a Panzer” is one of the most striking songs of the album, probably one of your shifts from earlier work. Walk me through how you built this, where the influence came from, and how it breaks people’s expectations around martial industrial? How is it, for example, an antifascist song?

I listen to a lot of death industrial and power electronics. A lot of it is very dark and foreboding not just in its subject matter, but also in its sound. I wanted to invoke those same feelings for just one track. Just one. I want people to be motivated to fight fascism, because the song explores in its sound what will happen when they take power. Death doesn’t ride a Panzer anymore, nowadays it marches in the streets. It’s up to us to stop it, and sometimes a “what if they took power” is enough to motivate people to fight this very real threat. I sampled nebelwerfers being shot, clips from the Soviet War Movie “Come and See”, a long with sounds of people screaming. All overlayed with synths and drums.

I’m interested in how you’re expanding the genre you’re integrating, not just taking influence but really reclaiming them as your own. You have taken the musical styles most associated with the far-right and taken on a decidedly antifascist perspective, refusing to let any style of music be owned by fascists. Now you are pushing even further on this.  How has martial industrial and apocalyptic folk started to emerge in your work?

 The “joke” that started Autumn Brigade lost its charm, if you ask me. I want to carve an aesthetic unique to me, unique to who I am, and what I want to explore with my music. I want to incorporate Dark Americana, as well as more post punk and industrial elements, something to give it a warm, but sensual allure to it. Since I relocated to New York, I’ve had other influences as well. The music up here has a darker feel to it, as well as the kink community up here too. Exploring myself in both of those scenes has influenced me greatly, and I hope to capture it in later releases!

What role has the growing antifascist neofolk community had in your work? How can we build more IRL relationships coming out of the pandemic?

I want to create the soundtrack for the revolution, help bludgeon into shape an insurrection to dance to. Talking with my comrades from Ulvesang, Peace Through Decay, The Anxiety of Abraham, and others has given me so much hope and inspiration. The best thing one can do to make lasting relationships from this mess we call the pandemic, is to talk with one another, to let them know that we have each other, even when we feel entirely alone, to let them know that Our Love Is Endless.

What’s next for you? 

I hope to release more music in the future, as well as play more live shows with my comrades. I’m rehearsing with my comrades in New York, so that when Autumn Brigade returns to the stage, we will take the world by storm!

I also want to explore other genres as well. I would love to do bluegrass or industrial, perhaps even black metal if I can get everything I need together and in order. I hope that this will happen soon, and I hope to craft a new world from notes and melodies.

Autumn Brigade is featured on the Antifascist Neofolk Playlist on Spotify, as well as on the various collections released by left/folk, some in collaboration with A Blaze Ansuz. Make sure to pick up their album from their Bandcamp, and add our playlist linked below.

The Gilad Atzmon and David Rovics Antisemitism Controversy, Explained

David Rovics is a popular left-wing folk musician who has been collaborating with a number of people associated with white nationalism, Holocaust Denial, and antisemitism, relationships he has doubled down on. As antifascist musicians, fighting back against entryism and fascist creep in ostensibly left spaces has to be a priority.

Anti-Fascist News

Editors’ note: Ideological hatred of Jews is centered in the far right, yet too many leftists continue to tolerate and even promote antisemitic themes when they’re packaged to look and sound radical. For decades, supporters of the Israeli state have falsely claimed that any critique of Zionism is anti-Jewish. Mirroring this lie, many antisemites falsely claim that any criticism of their anti-Jewish beliefs aids Israeli oppression of Palestinians. For both of these reasons, it’s critically important that we learn to delineate between anti-Zionism that embodies liberatory principles and anti-Zionism that embodies anti-Jewish scapegoating, such as the false claims that Jews control U.S. foreign policy or that Judaism is inherently oppressive and violent.

In this guest post, anti-fascist writer Shane Burley analyzes the antisemitic views of Israeli-born musician and writer Gilad Atzmon, and the support Atzmon has received from leftist musician David Rovics despite criticism from Burley and others. Three Way…

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New Left/Folk, A Blaze Ansuz Neofolk Compilation “Haunting Ground” Released

We are excited to release our latest joint compilation project that was a collaboration between A Blaze Ansuz and the left/folk project. This seventeen track neofolk compilation is a fundraiser to support the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, which supports First Nations people affected by the violence of the Canadian residential school system and the after effects of colonialism.

Click Here to Purchase the Compilation

The Playlist for this new compilation, called “Haunting Ground,” is:

1.Partum Nihil – At Daggers Drawn 03:42info
2.Autumn Brigade – The Gates Of Heaven 02:03
3.BloccoNero – Ninna Nanna Del Rivoluzionario 03:14
4.Ulvesang – The Truth 03:56
5.All In Vain – Palantir 07:34
6.River – Whispering Blossoms 05:57
7.Voyvoda – Karandjule 04:27
8.Peace Through Decay – Atonement 04:32
9.Shattered Hand – Forms Of Sacrifice And Concentration (Radial) 04:51
10.Nøkken + The Grim – Nøkkens Sang Om Elven 04:28
11.Haunter Of The Woods – I 04:12
12.Weather Veins – Life Runs Undefied 03:49
13.Spectral Sister – Trail Of Dead Moths 02:04
14.A Great Hand From Heaven – I See You 02:35
15.Without History – He Comes To See Sally 05:14
16.Blood And Dust – Burn It Down 03:56
17.DEAES – Burnt Offerings (Daggers High!) 04:21

Click Here to Purchase the Compilation

Statement on Compilation from left/folk:

We meet again, somewhere between resignation and revolution, with aural gifts to pass the time. Today’s offering is a collection of songs that reflect on themes of justice and vengeance, their interwoven narratives, and the aftermath of retribution. We hope you enjoy. This compilation would not be possible without the efforts of many individuals across the planet, so we would like to give thanks.

First, we would like to thank A Blaze Ansuz for their efforts in curating this compilation, their persistent dedication to building a new musical path, and their endless support. We would like to thank the artists who contributed to this work, especially those who reached out to us of their own volition, who have taken the initiative to build and express their art and share it with this growing community. We would like to thank everyone who has donated to, purchased, and shared our material, allowing us to continue to merge creativity and service in this ongoing project to cultivate alternate cultural spaces in the present and future.

We would like to thank all political activists across occupied territories who are fighting for the dignity and sovereignty of their people, in opposition to colonial and imperialist forces who seek to blend us all into a capitalist hegemon by erasure of our indigenous cultures and histories. We thank everyone fighting against state repression, and everyone fighting to push against tyrants of all stripes.

As usual, we are living in tumultuous times, walking slowly towards inevitable ecological, social, and economic collapse. It is our imperative to forge bonds grounded in solidarity and cooperation amongst various communities across the planet. We must think locally as well, building community, preparing for the possibility/probability of very horrible things happening within our lifetime. Part of building communities is reconciling and healing the wounds of past atrocity by any means possible, which is why all donations from this compilation will be directed towards the Indian Residential School Survivors Society.

The IRSSS is a provincial organization with a twenty-year history of providing services to Indian Residential School Survivors. Founded in 1994, they actively provide essential services to Residential School Survivors, their families, and those dealing with Intergenerational traumas.

It truly is up to us to defend, heal, and uplift one another. We cannot survive or evolve as a society, as a people, without cooperation and solidarity. LEFT/FOLK is here to help provide the soundtrack to this directive, music that is energetically and spiritually aligned to this desire for great liberation of all peoples.

We are all we have. Let us reap vengeance and justice together!
-L/F 161 

Click Here to Purchase the Compilation

Also make sure to add the Antifascist Neofolk Playlist on Spotify, which includes many of the artists that are on this compilation.

Falling Into the Sky: An Interview with Voidbringer

By Ana Dujakovic

Although emo isn’t a genre that we typically think of when talking about black metal and metal in general, they have many shared themes and elements. Both genres often deal with darker lyrics and imagery as well as highly emotional contexts for the creation of the music, whether that is rage, frustration and/or sadness. This can especially be said of sub genres like DSBM, which is a more “emo” offshoot of black metal (one could argue, anyway). Voidbringer helps bridge the gap by combining and blending all these genres into their music, and bringing a fresh take on a lot of sounds.

Can you elaborate about how and when you started your musical project and what inspired you to create it?

Voidbringer started officially in 2015. I was never really an acoustic person, but I started to get into it and wanted an outlet for my ideas that wouldn’t fit in with my heavier bands at the time. Around then was also when I started to get more confident in my clean singing abilities and Voidbringer seemed to just develop naturally. First as a much more metal-inspired acoustic project, and later dropping a lot of the metal elements and shifting to a lighter, more atmospheric sound.

What are some of your musical influences for the music you create (bands and genres)? Do you feel you blend any genres together? (And if so, why did you think they’d be a suitable fit?)

I often don’t know what genre to call Voidbringer, but it’s really based in a mix of Midwest emo, black metal, and lo-fi/atmospheric. While these are 3 very different styles, I feel that they all have common themes and emotions that both clash and blend nicely. I take a lot of influence from Owen, American Football, Wolves in the Throne Room, and A L E X (Alicks).

You describe yourself as occult emo, what aspects of the occult inspire or interest you? 

I’ll always be a black metal nerd at heart and I know that spills over into everything I ever write, haha. I’ve always taken an interest in witchcraft and grew up around it, and I’ve always been drawn to darker themes. To say my lyrics can get spiritually dark at times would be an understatement.

How does the environment of where you live or where you’ve grown up influence your music? Do darker times (such as long, bleak winters) assist with the emotional expression in your work?

For sure, both where I grew up in the Boston, MA area and where I’ve lived since the age of thirteen in Central Illinois definitely influence my work. The harsh Midwest winters were a pretty big theme in my last release (Drowning in the Stars). The winters here are brutal and incredibly cold and the summers are long and excruciatingly humid, and for the most part the area is desolate for over half the year. Endless cornfields and isolation can be great inspiration.

How did antifascism become meaningful to you? What are some of your life experiences and/or perspectives that led you to value antifascism?

Growing up poor in the city and seeing the darker side of life at a young age always played a big part in my views. Once I really started paying attention to what my views aligned with, it became clear to me that I was definitely very much against fascism and far-right ideology. 

Are there other antifascist or leftist projects/artists/bands that you can recommend? 

Exalted Woe records for sure, they’re doing great things.

What can other musicians do that can help themselves become more antifascist or become allies for the cause?

Stay informed and seek out information! Do your research and urge others to do the same. Perhaps look into joining a local organization if there are any in your area.

What plans do you have for the future regarding your music (recording/shows/collaborations/etc.)? 

I’m going to try to start playing live again soon, as well as work on putting together a proper full-length album to release in early 2022. I’m also working on new music for my black metal band, Pestilent Creation; I’m definitely not subtle about my views there either.

What made you decide to produce lo-fi music? Are you a fan of lo-fi sounds and musicians? Will your music stay in this type of style? 

While I’m a fan of high quality production, I feel that some music is delivered best in a more raw form. I’m both a huge black metal nerd and a huge vaporwave nerd so I’ve always been drawn to lo-fi styles, and for the most part I see Voidbringer staying relatively lo-fi. It fits the vibe I try to create perfectly, as a mainly acoustic-based project.

What are some of your passions and hobbies outside of writing and recording? 

Outside of writing and recording, l spend a lot of time repairing and modifying guitars. I’ll never understand why I love guitars so much, but to me they’re the coolest thing in the world. 

Make sure to check out Voidbringer at Bandcamp. We have added one of their tracks to our Antifascist Neofolk Playlist on Spotify and on our upcoming grindcore playlit as well.

Civilization and Its Contradictions: An Interview with River

In this interview with the band River, we talk about inspiration, soundscapes, and the contradictions of civilization.

By Ryan Smith

It would be an understatement to say the past few years have been a rough ride across the board.  Between COVID, climate crisis, and creeping fascism it would be safe to say that escape and relief from the endless churn of life in 2022.  For many, including myself, music can sometimes offer such comfort and I’m always game for artists trying something very different from the usual.  When I had the band River sent over my way, I quickly found myself lost in the majestic atmosphere of haunting, melancholic melodies.  In days when time is either running too fast or grinding to a crawl, River’s music brings a sense of healing timelessness that feels mostly absent from our mad, mad world.  I got in touch with the artists behind River to find out what makes them tick and here is what they had to say.

Your music paints some very haunting, almost Pagan, soundscapes.  What do you feel you are showing with your songs?

Nate:
In 2008, I was recording an EP for my solo black metal band Mania called Endless Hunger. In the first song you can hear a long droning acoustic guitar section. River started as a way to explore this type of soundscape further without being constrained by the metal genre. Soon after, the other two current members of the band joined with a similar vision from their respective bands (Huldrekall and Alda). Mania is a musical exploration into the horrors of the modern world, so I wanted River to be the opposite – evocations of pre-civilization life. Watching the river flow across the rocks and pondering how many millions of years it has been doing just that, or the stars slowly drift atop a mountain, listening to the cold wind through the pine trees with no other sounds in the air. Ravens cawing in old growth forests. You get the idea. There is no ideology or religious belief portrayed, simply an atmosphere.

Dylan:
There isn’t a particular Pagan connection with our music however we all have had strong connections to the forests and mountains throughout our lives and that connection comes out a lot in our music. I try to use riffs to tell a story without words. Every part of every song that we write tells about a place, a sound, a time, a smell, a feeling, just something in our lives and the hope is that when other people listen to our music they can be transported to places or have experiences of their own. I believe that music itself is magic.



If there was one person, alive or dead, who you would want to hear this album who would it be?

Nate:
Sharing music is a special thing. It transcends the spoken language and can convey deep primal emotion in such a way that the listeners understand, even having their own interpretation and feelings to reflect back. That being said, I really make this sort of music for myself, creating the songs that I wish I could hear. I can’t really say I would hope any one person hears the album. It has already been 8 years since we began writing and recording it. All of the songs sat on my hard drive that whole time until we could find the time to complete the job. When it was complete, I felt a huge relief that I could listen to it without considering the technical aspects or what needs to change. That alone makes me content.

Dylan: 

Agreed, I can’t think of any particular person I would want to hear this new album, however I’m very happy to share our music with people and hope that it can resonate far beyond the spaces it was written in.


What would you say to any musician who is starting out?

Nate:

Don’t. Haha, just kidding. Go listen to AC/DC “It’s a long way to the top”. That will explain it all. Except in rare circumstances, you will lose countless sleep, money and hours that will never turn into something profitable. For me, it’s about the social connections and events. Different genres of music bring specific types of people to events and I love the aspect of curating a social environment. If I could go back and tell my younger self anything about my future in music, I would try to explain that the details of song arrangement and riffs are important, but so is physical presentation. Stage props, looking presentable, art, lights, etc. People in the audience want to be captivated and immersed in the experience and not everyone wants to hear a “musician’s band”. Make it digestable. That doesn’t mean dumb it down – it means you need to dissolve the barrier in the listener’s mind and put them in your environment so they can properly absorb the music.

Dylan:

I would say to have fun and practice. The more comfortable and natural it feels to play your instrument, the less thought you’ll have to use and the more the music will just naturally come out. I’ve never wanted to be a rockstar or be uber famous for playing in cool bands and I still feel that way.  Write music because it feels good or terrible or cathartic or whatever. Play music because it makes you feel something. Whilst i do agree with Nate that its very important to dissolve the barrier between musician and listener, ive been to way too many shows where lackluster bands did their best to have all the cool skills/techniques/riffs, candlesticks, skulls, branches, sigils etc.. and they didnt manage to inspire any feeling in me other then boredom or contempt. Atmosphere is absolutely crucial, but it’s far from everything.



What are your biggest musical influences?

Nate:
Ulver – Kveldssanger/Bergtatt. Novemthree. Vali – Forlatt. Lonndom – Fälen från norr. Tenhi – Kertomuksia. Huun Huur Tu. Garmarna – S/T. Waldteufel. Fauna, Echtra, Vines.

Dylan:
Kvelldssanger has definitely been a huge influence of ours, especially on our first album. It’s hard to not be inspired by the black metal we’ve been immersed in for so long. Folk music from all over the world, lots of dungeon synth too. I feel like our music is a melting pot of the wide variety of music that we all listen to and we’ve taken bits and pieces from all of our preceding projects and added them in as well.


What would you say are the main themes at the heart of your work?

Nate:
There are themes of nature. Seasons changing. The processes of a more simple natural world happening over long periods of time.

Dylan:
Nature for sure. I feel like escapism is a huge aspect within that. While our other music projects might focus on the struggle of the tree trunk against the chainsaw, this project would envision a time or place without the saw altogether. It’s hard to not be crushed by nihilism when looking to our future here in 2021, but it’s important to find places of solace, if even only inside ourselves.




What do you hope for in the future for River?

Nate: 

We hope to release this album on a proper format over the next year. Our plans for a vinyl release were cancelled amidst the covid pandemic so we are attempting to re-group and seek other channels. Other than that, there are no plans. We hope you enjoy the album and thanks for spending this time on us.

Dylan: 

We’ve been collaborating on this project for over 10 years now and a lot of that time has been spent fairly dormant. It’s certainly possible that more music could emerge with time but for now it’s hard to say. Many thanks to the people who have shared their homes, music and friendship with us over the years!

River’s full album “Regeneration”, released in 2020 by Eternal Warfare Records, is currently available for purchase with Bandcamp. Make sure to add the Antifascist Neofolk Playlist on Spotify, which we will add River to once they are on Spotify.

Chamber Music for Us Outsiders: An Interview With Disemballerina

Disemballerina is creating chamber music for queer outsiders.

By M-L

When people first hear Disemballerina, one of the first questions is how to classify the band.  The band is not a traditional metal band, though the genre of “chamber metal” has been used a least once to describe the music. Instead of distorted guitars and pounding drums, Disemballerina relies on a very different repertoire of instruments to communicate the same intensity of emotion. At the forefront are bowed and plucked strings, given the band’s recordings a dark classical sound self-described as “queer outsider chamber music”. These instruments help conjure the eerie ambiance of the pieces which often take a soundtrack-like quality. The music broods with eerie loneliness and isolation enhanced by the ritualistic elements of the band’s performance and the solemn melancholy of the themes referenced in titles and album covers.  Covers recall dark fantasy (or perhaps mythology), dead birds, ravens, and ritual spaces, and communicates melancholia that is even present in the more upbeat tracks.  Disemballerina’s most recent release, Fawn, is no exception to this melancholic beauty.

Here we interview the full band, the trio of Myles Donovan, Ayla Holland, and Jennifer Christensen, about the music, the band’s history, and their new release. In addition, we touch on human nature, antifascism, and the queer experience.  

How did Disemballerina first form and how did you decide on an instrumental project?

MYLES:  I think the goal was always to be instrumental? Even before I moved from Philadelphia to Portland, Oregon in 2008, I was a huge fan of both Anon Remora–Ayla’s metal project and Discharge Information System–our original cellist Melissa Collins’ band. Both projects were largely instrumental, influenced by both metal and classical music, and refreshingly, unapologetically queer, which to me was a huge fucking deal. At some point in 2008,  Melissa and I ended up being studio musicians together for a Graves at Sea side project, and around the same time, Ayla and I started playing harp and guitar duets in her basement. Ayla and Melissa had a project called Malice Discordia that had recently disbanded, we all liked the sounds we were creating, we were all the loner queers in the metal scene, and we were all friends. Playing together just made sense. We debuted our first show in an outdoor gazebo in the Summer of 2009. Not long after, Melissa departed for Salt Lake City, and for a period the band was just me and Ayla as a duo, then this violinist Fiona Petra came and left, followed by Celeste Viera on cello, then Marit Schmidt of Vradiazei/Sangre De Muerdago on viola… but we ultimately felt complete when Jennifer became the principal cellist of the trio and joined in 2012. She’s been with us ever since and we fucking love her.

JENNIFER:  I heard Disemballerina’s demo, which a friend shared with me when it came out, and really enjoyed it.  Then, I played a solo cello set with Disemballerina at a tea house called Sizizis in Olympia in 2012.  I spoke to them about collaborating and we started playing together a little while after that. 

Who were the influences towards the development of the Disemballerinas sound? 

MYLES: for me? Classically, Shostakovich, Alan Hovhaness, Bartok, and Penderecki. Also having imposter syndrome as a violist being largely self-taught and a late bloomer lit a fire under my ass, while still carrying the torch of one day being able to play my own form of chamber music somehow with others. The New Bloods were a short-lived Portland punk band with one of my favorite violinists ever, Osa Atoe. Behead the Prophet No Lord Shall Live was another band with a now-deceased violinist I loved, Michael Griffin. I have a ton of respect for Kris Force of Amber Asylum and all the work she has done as a composer, performer, and sound engineer. There was a viola player in a Norwegian noise band called Noxagt, Nils Erga, who I listened to a lot.

JENNIFER:   I agree with Myles that in terms of writing music, I’m very inspired by Shostakovich, also Stravinsky.  

AYLA: Well early on (for me) definitely Ulver’s early albums as far as “acoustic metal” goes, but also Henryk Gorecki, Philip Glass, stuff like that for me.  Also, for years I’ve been inspired by Low’s early records (the “slowcore” sound), etc. But I’ve been introduced to so much music by friends over the past 15 years as well, including in large part from Myles.

MYLES: Ayla has also turned me onto tons of old country music I otherwise would’ve never checked out.

The band describes itself as “queer outsider chamber music”.   Would you say that queerness is focal to the atmosphere you seek to create with your music?

MYLES: I would say that queerness was the reason the band formed in the first place; we were all anomalies in the local metal scene and sought camaraderie, we wanted a very specific sound, we wanted to create heaviness without relying on sonic volume, and a friendship formed naturally around that, but also being a group made up of two queer women and a gay man attracted its own queer following in and of itself, which I for one really loved. some of my favorite shows we ever played were with other queer bands, or in front of largely queer audiences, as opposed to the typical straight metal crowd. we played to a few neofolk audiences and it was not my thing at all. 

JENNIFER:   There was a shared sense of isolation that brought the members of Disemballerina together and which sets the sound and atmosphere apart from other groups.   Disemballerina doesn’t perfectly fit in with any genre I can think of but the closest we could get to describing it is “queer outsider chamber music”.

AYLA: I wouldn’t say that being queer is focal to the atmosphere we seek to create, but rather is inextricably linked to our movement through this world on a daily basis so is inevitably involved in who we are/where we are coming from whilst creating the music, the band. 

There are elements of ritual and tradition in your music as well, how do these elements fit into the band’s sound?

MYLES: This is going to sound ridiculous but the most obvious “ritualistic” element of our presentation–playing in a semicircle of lit candles in the dark, actually came out of my own claustrophobia. I didn’t feel comfortable playing so physically close to audiences, so it was a weird protective firewall, for me anyway that made playing live possible. Also playing in the dark made me forget the audience as a player, which allowed me to focus on the music more. We tended to always write in a similar setting.

AYLA: There have always been rituals (whether private or public) surrounding the band, whether it is within practicing, performance, songwriting, or recording.  The candles holding the fire moat of protection have always been wonderful,  I appreciate Myles for that! The samples used, the evoking memory or visions of a theme in song, whole album, etc.  Some are seen by the public,  audience, listener… some are personal, relational within the band yet nevertheless always behind the sounds and moods.

JENNIFER:   I am more comfortable presenting myself in this way and the candlelight helps to set the scene for the music – which is usually composed in relative darkness as well.  I don’t know that I agree that there is much ritual and tradition involved, but this is more just how we show up.

Why is it important to be antifascist in the music scene and how does antifascism inform your creative work?

MYLES: Because the Pacific Northwest in particular has a serious problem with cryptofascism in its underground music subcultures, among other places. The music scene, particularly the genres of black metal, noise, and neofolk are notably problematic in this area.  We’ve never identified as neofolk but eventually stopped playing shows altogether with neofolk projects, because we were tired of learning after performances that there were people in our audiences who did things like host holocaust denier book events and wrote for alt-right publications. [I’m] not saying that’s every neofolk scene–I applaud the efforts of this site to emphasize that distinction– or that you can entirely control who is in your fanbase, but it’s creepy, fucking disturbing shit we never wanted to be around or any part.  We definitely have burned some bridges for speaking out. A member of Blood Axis still has a major problem with me because of this. We’ve also contributed to multiple anarchist black cross benefits and dropped off of bills with sketchball bands, on top of having our song themes and personal activism outside of playing music. the surrounding water is still always murky though. 

JENNIFER:  When I was a naive teenager playing music in the NY/NJ scenes, I had blinders on to making these political distinctions because I was overly focused on just playing as much music as humanly possible.  As a result, I ended up finding out (as Myles said) that people I had been collaborating with were involved in things I would not want to be associated with.  It’s easier to make it clear early on that we’re not interested in aligning ourselves with ideas inconsistent with our own personal beliefs.  

AYLA: I have for a long time now felt that it is terribly important to look to history so that we can spot the signs when it reoccurs, especially in relation to the racism/fascism of the last century. Look at what is happening in this post trump era of pandemic madness even. America is terrifying to me at present. 

The fact that in the pacific NW U.S. (and other places of course)  there is this surging “ecofascism” among neofolk/metal/etc musicians is despicable. Glorifying early fascists and their pastoral idealism which inspired Hitler Youth and the third Reich etc is so dangerously foolish and misguided, to put it very very mildly. I think I can safely speak for all of us when I say we are antifascist with every fibre of our beings. 

Let’s talk about the new record. Disemballerina’s new release, “Fawn”, is a 7” EP inspired by the human reactions to extreme stress and contains three songs representative of the fight, flight, and freeze response.  How does this fit into the band’s themes?

MYLES: The song “Pancada”, which starts off our record gets its title from the Portuguese word for hitting and striking. It also, as I was made aware by one of my ex-boyfriends from Portugal, is a term for an animal that bites at anything that comes near it, even people it loves, due to its abused past. My ex used it to describe himself the first time he hit me in the face, which for me caused a deep reflection on the origins of trauma and what every person is reacting off of and how. 

JENNIFER:  “Garnets” touches on the numb, comatose melancholy produced by trauma as the mind struggles to process and make sense of what’s happened.   The sounds attempt to replicate this time loss, grasping for a hold on something solid to pull oneself out of this psychological state.

MYLES: “Somnambulist” just translates roughly to sleepwalker, this idea of mind flight from the conscious world while still going through the motions physically. I built a glass harp out of wine glasses for the ending and used an instrument from 1927 know as the Marxophone. I think the doors used it one song. we’re classic rock now.

AYLA: unfortunately we can all relate to trauma and trauma response and who each of us is.  it is of course made by what we have gone through.  I’m stoked that we are talking about it, even just in thematics and concerning the recent release of the recordings… because healing and self-reflection are so crucial to humans, especially at this harrowing moment in human history. 

How does the songwriting process work in Disemballerina?

JENNIFER:  For the most part, the process comes really organically.  We’ll play a theme and we’ll record what we like so we remember while we build a song to surround it.

MYLES:  Ayla is a riff machine, I’ve also brought songs and parts to the table, as has Jennifer. We also do a lot of improvised writing and play off of loose ideas.

AYLA: yeah a lot of times I would bring a finished guitar song skeleton and we would tweak it and Myles and Jenn would bring their magic to it and deeply fill it out, add epilogues, etc. But generally a joint effort over the years always.

Are there any elements of the record you’d like to draw our attention to?

MYLES: besides our amazing cover artist Jennifer Baker, our new label Riff Merchant is doing a second pressing of the 7″ on picture disc!  there is also currently a small dance company in New York City working on Choreography for these three songs. it’s a dream come true for me, and so wonderfully not metal.

Was the turbulence and stress of the last two years an influence on the album’s development?

MYLES: Actually no, these songs and the album theme were decided upon in 2016, Covid, if anything,  just created an urgency to get everything done. I currently live in NYC with my boyfriend and have worked all of the shutdown as a grocer. If people draw catharsis and associate this record with the pandemic, then wonderful–we all need something after this– although it wasn’t the original intention.

JENNIFER:  I agree with Myles that the album wasn’t inspired by the pandemic but that certain elements of the pandemic inspired us to complete the process so that something good came out of these surreal times.

I like to end interviews with musicians with a list of recommendations. Are there any bands you can recommend to fans of antifascist neofolk music?

MYLES: I play harp in a band in NYC called Narco Medusa with guitarist Jessica Howard from Another Dying Democracy, I used to play viola in a gentrification themed instrumental project from Philly called Forgotten Bottom,  I’m a rotating guest musician in the band Ominous Cloud Ensemble along with members of Sun Ra Arkestra, and I’ve played as a guest on multiple albums by A Stick and a Stone.

I don’t listen to Neofolk, but my favorite projects right now are Show Me The Body, Eartheater, Like a Villain, Reg Bloor, Brandon Lopez, Damiana, Moor Jewelry, Twisted Thing, Ariadne, Human Beast, Weeping Sores, Jupiter Blue, Persephone, Chelsea Bridge, Bob Hatt, and Rakta.

AYLA: I don’t listen much to neofolk either, but I’ve been rekindling the flame of love and affection I have with Jazz music and have even found people I’d never heard of somehow.  Like Ahmad Jamal. Incredible pianist, up there with Oscar Peterson and McCoy Tyner (two of my favourites). Also, I’ve been listening to lots of modern vocalists I’ve fallen in love with. SZA, Solange, Doja Cat, etc. But also just still listening to everything under the sun! I’ve also been listening to the theatrical readings of the Tolkien MiddleiEarth books on Spotify and they’re incredible. 

We have added Disemballerina tracks to the Antifascist Neofolk Playlist on Spotify, so make sure to add that as well and we will be adding a lot more new ones in the coming weeks!