Update (October 15) : I haven’t linked to the many online discussions re D666 or to anecdotal accounts of their shows attracting nazis. But I will post this extract from an interview with local comedian Aamer Rahman about his experience at a D666 show back in 2003.
Black/death/thrash heavy metal band Deströyer 666, which originally formed in Australia over two decades ago, are touring the country in November. The tour comes on the heels of the release of their new album Wildfire (on French label Season of Mist — you can read a hostile review here); their first since 2009’s Defiance (also on Season). The band is playing the following dates and venues:
Friday, Nov 4: Brisbane – Crowbar
Saturday, Nov 5: Sydney – Manning Bar
Sunday, Nov 6: Canberra – The Basement
Friday, Nov 11: Melbourne – Max Watts
Saturday, Nov 12: Adelaide – Enigma
Sunday, Nov 13: Perth – The Rosemount Hotel
Back in July, the band copped some heavy criticism on the Metal Sucks website, which called them ‘racist douchebags’, and in a series of three articles — since removed from the MS site — made various claims about the band and in particular its lead singer, KK Warslut (AKA Keith Bemrose), concluding that, inter alia, Keith is a ‘proven racist, misogynist and asshole’ who has ‘alarmingly racist, misogynistic and violent tendencies’. (The deleted articles were titled ‘Deströyer 666’s Set at Denmark’s Metal Magic Fest Marred by Fight Between the Audience and the Band’, July 11, 2016; ‘Deströyer 666: Officially Racist D-Bags’, July 12, 2016; ‘Deströyer 666 Frontman K.K. Warslut Digs in on Racist Comments at NYC Show’, July 15, 2016). On July 18, the site published an ‘apology’ to the band — this too has been deleted.
At the time, I made the mistake of sharing one of the articles on my Facebook page. This apparently triggered two of the band’s local fanboys.
(Note: Ryan Marauder formerly played gits with Melbourne heavy metal band Gospel of the Horns (1997-2005; 2007-2011) and bass with neo-Nazi rockers Deaths Head (2003-2011); the neo-Nazis are assembling again this weekend in Melbourne for the annual Ian Stuart Donaldson memorial gig.)
So what’s all the fuss?
The publication of the articles sparked a virtual storm in a verymetal teacup, and mostly assumed the forms you’d expect, ie, HAILS! from fans, tut-tutting from critics, and bemusement on the part of the rest. The fact that Keith and D666 have a deliberately kvltivated reputation for being meanies seems to have escaped most commentators, as has the fact that his shtick forms an important part of his appeal (among the band’s fanbase, at least). One site that attempted to provide a more nuanced response was ToiletOvHELL: On Threats, Censorship, and Destroyer 666 (July 19, 2016).
I’ll try my best to lay out a timeline here: On July 9th, a drunk KK spent a good amount of time on stage at Metal Magic festival in Denmark expressing his hatred for the audience. He was particularly “sick of” the men, who had descended from Vikings, but were now living in a “matriarchal” society. He also became outraged at a concertgoer in an Antifa mask, but in fairness, that outburst was far more understandable due to the militant nature of the Australian left-wing extremist group, who tends to default to immediate violence themselves. Several fans jumped on stage at different times in an attempt to fight KK, who had to be held back himself. Luckily, their set ended without violence. This unprompted display of misogyny resulted in perplexed coverage from a few metal websites; Metalsucks paired it with a discussion of KK’s Nazi-associated tattoos, his identification of the white wolf (which is standing over its mutilated brown prey) on their Unchain The Wolves album as “the spirit of the white man,” and his former membership in the openly racist band The Raven’s Wing.
In which context, a few things:
• Keith’s concerns about The Emasculation Of Danish Society are kinda silly, while his drunken antics can be read in at least one of two ways: a) he acted in ways he wouldn’t when sober; b) in his inebriated state, the filter that would normally separate his bRanes from his mouth wasn’t working very well, and so he expressed himself more crudely than he would otherwise. In either case, his views about the threat posed to Men by Feminisms is reasonably widely-shared, and not only among metalheads …
• According to Keith, speaking in another interview (Bardo Methodology, July 27, 2016), the so-called ‘antifa’ who jumped on stage to pick a fight was just Some Guy in a mask: ‘As it turns out, this clown was no left-wing extremist at all; just an idiot who thought it would be cool to wear a mask to a show. I believe the common term for such types is twat.’
• It seems a bit odd to link this incident to an article in The Sydney Morning Herald on Those Mysterious Antifa, especially as D666 is now based in Europe. A more relevant link would be to the ambush of Polish NSBM band Tormentia … but that’s another story.
• Keith does have a ‘Nazi’ tattoo on his tummy — the Wolfsangel or Wolf’s Hook. In his interview with Bardo Methodology (cited above), Keith reckons he got it because he likes wolves ‘n’ shit — and besides, it’s an ancient rune.
• Keith’s quip about the wolf on the cover of the band’s 1997 album Unchain The Wolves occurred during a radio interview on 3RRR’s The Hard Report in June of the same year. You can read more about that interview here.
• Asked about Raven’s Wing, Keith (Bardo Methodology) says: ‘What a fuckin’ joke. I challenge anyone to find a single phrase on that album (“Through the Looking Glass”, 1997) that denigrates any race’, adding that ‘I respect all ethnicities, my own included. I believe that all peoples deserve respect and access to live as they wish in their own homelands – without outside influence or coercion.’ For the record, the Raven’s Wing album Through The Looking Glass was recorded for German neo-Nazi label Destiny Records. Originally released in 1997, it was re-released by Rock-O-Rama in 2008, and featured the talents of Keith, ‘Aussie’ Nigel Brown and Mark Costello (AKA ‘Coz’ and ‘Howitzer’) on drums. The chief vocalist on the projekt was Scott McGuinness, better known as the singer for neo-Nazi reich ‘n’ roll band Fortress. Leaving aside the lyric content — mawkish laments for a better, Whiter Australia and tributes to The White Man’s Struggle, for the most part — it beggars belief that Keith was unaware of the nature of the recording. In any case, while Fortress is defunct, Brown apparently now resides in the Netherlands and occasionally performs live at ‘Rac’n’Roll Place’ in Veendam:
Veendam is about an old gym just outside the center, where a portion from July 2014 was opened as a tavern. Martin pivotal figure of the grind (1969) from Winschoten has been running for over thirty years around in the extreme right scene and this gym has been converted into ‘Rac’n’Roll Place’. Here is sold as in Ravenstein drink and far-right propaganda material distributed. As the southern Nationalist Flemish guests also pulling know, so Rac’n’Roll Place focuses successfully on German sympathizers. The difference between these spots is that there are gatherings take place more often in Veendam, where significantly more visitors coming. There is also a space where archery, strength training and kickboxing can be practiced. Furthermore they occasionally musicians, such as the Australian guitarist Nigel Brown (1967). Brown has played in a number of imaginative Nazi bands and was sentenced in Australia to nine months’ imprisonment for ‘gay bashing’. In 1995 he takes in the North Holland village Zwaag a CD with his band Celtic Warrior. During this recording, the band members were arrested by police. Two years later, Brown was sentenced to a fine of 1500,- for insulting Jews. In the old&new party which 2014 ended the visitors could admire Rac’n’Roll Brown a fee of € 15,- entree.
• While Keith’s status as a ‘neo-Nazi’ is questionable, and it seems he rejects the term, it appears equally obvious that he shares at least some of their views regarding the natural *cough* order of things, and provides at least tacit support for the concept of a Safe European Home for Whites. That said, the recordings he’s made and the associations he’s had over the last two decades seem just as much social as they are political. Partly, this is a product of sharing common origins with the Whyalla thrashers of the 1980s, with Keith doing time in Corpse Molestation, Bestial Warlust and D666; Rob ‘Death Dealer’ Currie in Vomitor and Spear of Longinus; Mark ‘Howitzer’ Costello in D666 and Gospel of the Horns; Brad ‘B.C.’ Chung in Corpse Molestation, Vomitor and Razor of Occam; and Matt ‘Razor’ Schneemilch in D666 and Razor. In other words, it’s a close circle of Happy Metal Friends (which happens to include neo-Nazis).
Back to ToiletOvHell:
This brings us to July 17th. Destroyer 666 posted a long tour wrap-up on Facebook, and spent most of it calling out metal blogs and SJW culture (ah yes, the old standby attack). In a truly deplorable display, KK railed against Blair Hopkins, calling her a “little lying dishonest whore.” He accused her of being “more intent on advertising her attractiveness to drunks than she was in writing an honest review.” Then, switching to a second person narrative (while drastically upping his typo-per-sentence rate), he finished with “Clearly your insecure about your looks woman and felt a burning desire to advertise just how irresistible you are.To drunks.Sad desperate bitch.”
These are not very nice things to say in response to a review, but do seem to accurately reflect Keith’s approach to critics.
ToiletOvHell again:
Next, and most deplorably (although finding new lows seems difficult at this point), he targets the editors of Metalsucks. Like several other metal blogs (and grown men who call themselves KK Warslut), each contributor writes under a pseudonym … KK took great offense to [their articles], and posted the real names of both editors, and a picture, the home address, and personal phone number of the site’s founder in their rambling nonsense.
In other words, Keith d0xxed the site’s eds.
Finally, Stockhausen decries Keith’s misogynist response to Blair Hopkin’s review, but I would suggest that the lyrics to the song ‘Raped’ (from 2002’s Cold Steel … For An Iron Age) are relevant:
So too, his response to a question (Bardo Mythology) regarding the incident in Denmark:
[BM] KK once lived in Denmark for a few years, and I’m curious if this is where his resentment stems from. — On the contrary, he proclaims, of all the Scandinavians I’ve found Danes to be the least emasculated. Sweden on the other hand, I’d say is the first real matriarchal society we’ve seen in the West – famous also for their staggering rape statistics. How’s that working out for ya’s, ladies?
In introducing the song to the DeathKult Open Air Festival 2012, Keith states: This one’s for all the Muslim immigrants who are invading — who are invited to invade our fucking continent. Fuck you Allah. Yeah everyone’s busy being anti-Christian. Fuck being anti-Christian, let’s be fucking anti-Muslim for once. This is our fucking land …
Top Bloke.
See also : Deströyer 666, Bordo Methodology, March 14, 2016 | A Brief History Of Neo-Nazi Music In Australia (December 2, 2010) | Reichsrock: The International Web of White-Power and Neo-Nazi Hate Music, Kirsten Dyck (Rutgers University Press, 2016).
KK Warslut is racist, sexist and homophobic. He’s friends with Joel and Leigh of Wurm, an Australian metal band that’s on the Smashing Rainbows CD. The CD is a compilation dedicated to homophobia. Joel plays drums and has a Death’s Head tattoo on his arm. He once worked at the Northcote Antisocial Club in 2008, but lost his job because of his jacket that has an eagle clutching a swastika. He also threw two decapitated pigs’ heads into a childcare centre, a place where I worked. Now where’s that old Japanese proverb you posted once? If you are unsure of a man’s character, look at the company that he keeps.
The following lyrics are from the song A Thousand Plagues on the album Defiance by Destroyer 666:
Christians and Zionist Jews, Crescent Moon peasants,
Marxist tyrants and childless hypocrites,
Tell me where the truth lies,
And I’ll tell you which lie is truth,
Another fucking cliché to misconstrue!
Men of usury, count your coin – you’d do better to count your days,
Women of perjury – you’ll rue the night you gave yourself away,
Narcotic child; come, you’ll see –
I fear not for your soul has fled from thee.
When I spoke to Leigh about Destroyer 666’s racist beliefs, he said that they were just hypocrites because they’re into drugs. Supposedly, Keith uses alcohol and cocaine. On the Nuclear War Now forum, there’s a discussion about Keith asking a member of Blasphemy (Can) the following question, ‘Why do you have a nigger in the band?’ The member of the band responded by breaking Keith’s nose. No-one has claimed that this story’s bullshit and one person who claims to represent Invictus Productions, a record label that sells music by Gospel of the Horns, says that he witnessed it happen.
As you pointed out ages ago, if Destroyer 666 and other similar bands were open about their beliefs, they wouldn’t be able to move units.
‘Unleash the poodles!’ – Slackbastard
Nigel Brown lives in Europe because dangerous people in Australia would like to get their hands on him due to his involvement in drug dealing . Also funny that he’s singing white power tunes again after years of hanging out with Middle Eastern drug dealers .
Wow, Death/Black/Thrash Metal band is Anti-religious and misogynistic you say?
How insightful Andy, you really have a knack for uncovering deep dark secrets.
What’s next video games are violent? Muslims are misogynistic? (Oh wait there is no way you would say that about Muslims here, being very strongly pro Islam.)
You’re saying that a band called Destroyer 666, with a lead singer called Warslut, are not misandrist (Lol, my spell checker doesn’t even recognise misandrist as a word, strange that…) teddy bears?
Wow, Who would of thought? Thanks for clearing that up for me…
Good to see another anarchist story that is Pro-religion from you mate… Anarchist are not what they used to be apparently…
“As you pointed out ages ago, if Destroyer 666 and other similar bands were open about their beliefs, they wouldn’t be able to move units.” Lol, there called Destroyer 666 ffs… How much more open can you be?
As a Swedish prosecutor pointed out this week its not hate speech if you hate everyone – (“Islamic State flag is legal in Sweden, prosecutor rules” – 16th Oct 2016)
@Destroyer 666: the best blackened glam metal band in the world:
Heh. Cheers. I came across the story about K’s broken nose. V funny if true.
@nigelbrownisajunkie:
I did not know that.
@Sossle:
Briefly:
D666 is more anti-Christian and anti-Jewish than anti-religious, though anti-Muslim has been thrown into the mix. Also White supremacist. And no, not all metalheads are meatheads.
What I’m saying is what I’ve written. You’ve chosen not to address it, which is par for the course.
The name ‘Destroyer 666’ tells you xacly nothing about the band’s history, perspectives, recordings, which is the territory I’ve covered. Thus the material ‘Destroyer 666: the best blackened glam metal band in the world’ refs to is something Keith would rather not be widely publicised, just as he seeks to downplay his participation in a neo-Nazi rekording projekt.
Sounds of Hate
Tzvi Fleischer
AIJAC Review
August 2000
… Record store owners and record companies are generally savvy enough to exclude overtly racist music from their shelves. However, there still exists a fuzzy borderline where some metal bands overlap and flirt with the skinhead scene, possibly serving as an entree for some individual into overt neo-Nazism.
A good example is the Melbourne death metal band Destroyer 666. You can buy their music in record stores and there is nothing overtly racist about their lyrics. Boneheads regularly attend their appearances, though this may be beyond the control of the band, and the band’s management denies that they are Nazi or racist. Yet the band members clearly socialise with people on the bonehead scene and see nothing wrong with them or their music. In their acknowledgments on their albums, they specifically mention and thank Fortress and Spear of Longinus and British Nazi bands Squadron and Brutal Attack. One of the members of Destroyer 666 also made a mini-CD with members of Fortress and Brutal Attack in 1996. This was an overtly racist album available only through the usual sellers of racist CDs. Furthermore, when asked to name some Australian bonehead bands in an interview, the members of the Sydney nazi band Blood Oath named Destroyer 666 as an example of a band with an “Odinist/WP [White Power] following.” Furthermore, the band clearly has an affinity for Nazi symbolism, designating some of their gigs as “Holocaust nights” and terming one tour they made the “Genocidal Eastern Holo-coastal tour.” Another band which may fall into the same category is Melbourne’s Bestial Warlust, also cited by Blood Oath as a band with a bonehead following …
@Andy
Considering that the very foundation and beginnings of Black Metal are from the Nordic countries where Christianity is by far the most dominant organised religion, it would stand to reason that being anti-religious in this context would mean being primarily being anti-Christian and by extension against all of the Abrahamic religions as a whole.
The anti-religious overtones of Black Metal tend to stem from a longing by some for a more primal and pagan time of old. A time long before Christianity and other religions had attempted to mercilessly eliminate the followers of the old ways from history, through the widespread spilling of blood, burning and torture. In the Black Metal culture Christianity is seen as the main perpetrator of these acts and therefore the enemy of paganism and of free men. Many religious groups have throughout history persecuted and slaughtered those of what are called the pagan faiths or even persecuted the splinter groups of their own faiths. The amount of blood on the hands of the Abrahamic sects is rather stunning when looked at over the scope of history and from what I can see have behaved in ways that would even make the most despotic of white supremacist fascists look like a saint. Check the Holy Roman Empires persecution of pagans,the Spanish Inquisition, Saudi Arabia, ethnic and religious cleansing by IS, Sunni Vs Shia. Malleus Maleficarum. Do I need to go on and on and on?
In a way Black metal is at heart based on an ideal that is purely anti-establishment. We are told as a whole to accept the order of the world and love everyone even when they clearly intend to steam roll over your rights or seek to undermine the foundations of your culture and traditions. Black metal generally seeks to violently reject these notions and furthermore present them as being primarily religious tools that have at heart been used to corrupted humanity and are being used to subvert people into controllable masses. Most people can see that organised religion is primarily about control of large populations, no matter the basis or belief system employed to enforce it. At heart its intent is of turning lions into sheep. Persecution of other religions or splinter sects is generally about maintaining existent power structures or establishing new ones within a religious order. Black metal always existed outside of mainstream culture and is pretty much anti-social in nature. It strives to exist without adhering to any authority whether imparted from government or religious sources.
Most of what you have written in this article could actually be construed as an attack on the quasi-religious ideals associated with Black metal and even on anyone that is pagan or as far out as anyone that is anti establishment in thinking. It’s a sad fact that we live in an era where being proud to be white, means you’re a Nazi or a white supremacist, being proud to be male makes you a misogynist. And being proud of your culture and homeland makes you a bigot and racist. This article twists half truths to paint a picture that you are seeking to represent as the reality of things which is as you have said “par for the course” for this site. But in my opinion widely misses the mark that it aimed at and is primarily disinformation or propaganda.
As this mentality that you’re a part of pedaling gains more momentum in our societies, it’s no surprise to see that many white males are more and more flocking to an ideal of a glorious masculine fiction where they’re actually able to be the hero of the story and not the villain that society continues to attempt to depict them as, to be able to stand as a proud warrior sword in hand and defend their homeland from vicious raiders and spend their lives seeking glory through acts of valour and bravery. The striving for the right to reject subjugation by king, religion or foreign conqueror. A fantasy that centres around the want they have to have a place in today’s modern society as a proud, strong male and not as a subjugant. This primal want materialises in the modern world as a stand against a system that seeks to make them nothing more than another cog in a giant machine. A system designed to beat them down, emasculate them and absorb them. It is not a concept founded in racism or misogyny but about being a proud and free individual. A right that we all should have no matter the race, sexuality, creed or gender. A right that really is worth fighting for. To be honest I do see many similarities in the way this site and anarchists operate that directly correlates with this Black metal ideal. Sadly anarchism seems more and more to be losing focus of what it actually stands for and is becoming a tool for some pretty strange concepts.
This article like many of your others smells of a witch hunt mentality and draws on many rather biased or retracted sources. It adds up to being nothing more than a direct attack on anyone that doesn’t share your pro-feminist, pro-Islamic and anti-free speech rhetoric. And clearly puts on display your own intolerance, racism and prejudice for the ideals of others and their way of life, if you find those beliefs or ideals differ from your own or what you understand.
Considering that the very foundation and beginnings of Black Metal are from the Nordic countries where Christianity is by far the most dominant organised religion, it would stand to reason that being anti-religious in this context would mean being primarily being anti-Christian and by extension against all of the Abrahamic religions as a whole.
Criticism of a majority religion is one thing, while the same criticisms directed at a minority religion are quite different. When the adherents of that religion are being persecuted (although it must be admitted that the persecution is as yet pretty light by Saudi Arabian standards), criticism of that religion will function to accentuate the persecution of its adherents unless strong countervailing factors are present (e.g. a strongly advanced commitment to unrestricted freedom of conscience).
In a way Black metal is at heart based on an ideal that is purely anti-establishment.
We’ll believe that, boyo, when we see Black metal bands fulminating against the ABCC, Victoria Police and the Border Force.
Black metal generally seeks to violently reject these notions …
Does it also seek to violently split infinitives?
It’s a sad fact that we live in an era where being proud to be white, means you’re a Nazi or a white supremacist, being proud to be male makes you a misogynist. And being proud of your culture and homeland makes you a bigot and racist.
It’s a sad fact that to be proud of a racist culture makes one a racist. It’s also a sad fact that to be proud of a misogynist definition of masculinity makes one a misogynist. If the cap fits, wear it.
As this mentality that you’re a part of pedaling …
The only people who do “pedaling” are American cyclists. Here, we do pedalling. Apart from spelling correctly, we ride on the correct side of the road. And people who sell things are doing peddling.
… gains more momentum in our societies, it’s no surprise to see that many white males are more and more flocking to an ideal of a glorious masculine fiction where they’re actually able to be the hero of the story and not the villain that society continues to attempt to depict them as, to be able to stand as a proud warrior sword in hand and defend their homeland from vicious raiders and spend their lives seeking glory through acts of valour and bravery.
Well, that’s one way of looking at it. To start with, I’m glad Sossle recognises it as fiction. On the other hand, I don’t think refugees or even people looking for decent paying jobs qualify as “vicious raiders” to be dealt with through swords and other Viking paraphernalia.
The striving for the right to reject subjugation by king, religion or foreign conqueror. A fantasy that centres around the want they have to have a place in today’s modern society as a proud, strong male and not as a subjugant. This primal want materialises in the modern world as a stand against a system that seeks to make them nothing more than another cog in a giant machine. A system designed to beat them down, emasculate them and absorb them. It is not a concept founded in racism or misogyny but about being a proud and free individual.
The extreme Right likes to talk about its members being proud males refusing subjugation for one reason only – they think they’re the ones who should be doing the subjugating. In their view, the freedom of the elite few is bought at the price of the subjugation of the many. Anarchists have a different perspective. We believe in co-operation, in a society where there are neither masters nor slaves, where men and women are equal, where “race” has been abolished and where people are free to wander across the spectrum of human sexuality (with consenting parties) if they so wish. B1 bombers will be smelted into ploughshares, though I’d be happy for blunt swords to be used in historical re-enactments for those who like that sort of thing. We’re prepared to use reasonable force in self defence and we know who our enemies are – and though they include some of the people Sossle would count as enemies, they also include most of those Sossle would count as friends.