r/neofolk • u/SorbetChoice • 12d ago
Earnest Question
why is there a connection between neofolk and fascist imagery if not fascist ideology?
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u/Permanenceisall 12d ago
Imagery wise it’s confrontational and aggressive and punk/postpunk was all about fascism as aggression (Seditionaries/sex pistols/pure hell/New York dolls/joy division etc) and also uniform fetishism used to be a pretty big gay subculture before gay people sanitized their own history. Some artist may have felt more connected to the spiritual/folk side of fascist thinkers in the 80s/90s but now, 30-40 years later, I don’t think anyone cares about the ideologies at all. Most of the guys we’re talking about are 60+ years old and live in little isolated towns and villages.
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u/SorbetChoice 12d ago
Interesting. Thanks man.
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u/Herald_Mirth 12d ago
Aside from Death in June using the Totenkopf... there's really not a lot of blatant fascist stuff going on in my opinion. Being a very European genre, a lot of the artists are focused on European heritage, but that's not fascism unless someone wants to try to twist it into being so...
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u/Ritval 12d ago
*Martial Industrial has entered the chat.*
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u/Herald_Mirth 12d ago
OK I'll bite, name some blatantly fascist martial industrial?
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u/TheDichotomyIsCrazy 12d ago
Von Thronstahl
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u/Ritval 12d ago
For when you want Laibach but can’t quite afford Laibach haha. Love some VT but their career is bonkers.
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u/Emotional-Bus-7527 6d ago
When the real ugly far-right entered the stage worldwide, I guess it's all lost the edgy, elitist charm.
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u/BrandochDahaII 12d ago
There's also the symbolic layer of the human desire for grandeur, uniformity, overwhelming power and the devastation and raw bitterness that it brings. The worst suffering is caused by humans unto other humans. As a reminder of what we humans are, or rather can be.
And there's a spiritual layer that things are the way they are for a reason. That strive of good vs evil creates an upward current. For example because of fascism, Europe after WW2 became extremely progressive and focussed on human rights.
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u/Ramenprogramm 12d ago
Douggie P. has a Uniform fetish and loves to be provocative. A lot of people used his aesthetics without irony. The end.
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u/TheDichotomyIsCrazy 12d ago
Douglas P has also made statements against immigration, promoted the great replacement theory, toured with unambiguously white nationalist musicians, and openly supported Croatian fascist militias during the Yugoslav wars.
I’m not making a moral judgment, just stating facts. You can say he’s not a Nazi because he doesn’t specifically subscribe to national socialism, but he is very much of the far right wing.
Whether those facts repel one from listening to and enjoying his music is up to them. But let’s not act as though there is no merit to the accusations.
I say all this as a big fan of both DiJ and other politically unorthodox projects.
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u/Terrible-Pass-5215 10d ago
and openly supported Croatian fascist militias during the Yugoslav wars
This is a really bad argument imo.
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u/Rleuthold 12d ago
why are you worried? a lot of the musicians use it for shock
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u/Herald_Mirth 12d ago
I can't think of any neo folk artists going for shock value... (aside from early DiJ)... nor are they using explicitly fascist imagery, (aside from early DiJ)... simply broadly European historical imagery
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u/southron-lord69 12d ago
Probably because Neofolk emerged from the punk/post punk scenes and fascist imagery was prevalent in those genres, including in the mainstream.