TAAKE Frontman: 'We Are Definitely NOT Nazis'

December 4, 2008

After 13 years and four albums, and as controversial as ever, vocalist Hoest of the Norwegian black metal band TAAKE recently spoke to Terrorizer's Jonathan Horsley to FINALLY explain his reasons behind "that" stunt.

"Well, some people are very comfortable in the limelight, and a lot of attention no matter what it is," he said. "Gaahl (GORGOROTH) is a personal friend of mine and he really enjoys the attention. Okay, that's good for him, but I'm not that kind of guy. I don't want to be out there in the open. If people discover us somehow then fine. I only want to release albums and that's it. I don't want to make headlines."

Hoest provoked probably THE most negative of headlines on March 20, 2007 when he appeared at a concert in Germany with a swastika daubed on his chest (see photo below). Promoters could not book the band in Germany. Pressure from KREATOR, and others, got TAAKE removed from the Karmøyggedon Festival. Inflaming the situation with a swiftly released statement that informed the "untermensch"[$italics] club owner that he should "go suck a Muslim". This doesn't sound like a man who wants to remain anonymous.

"Well, the hate-mail has stopped coming in," he said. "Don't get me wrong, we are definitely NOT Nazis. We only used that symbol as another symbol for evil. The usual symbols, the pentagram and inverted cross, don't invoke reactions anymore. And anyway, it was taking the piss also. My first statement wasn't well thought over. I didn't really express what I meant, so obviously I provoked a bit more than I meant. I wrote two more statements. Nobody bothered to read them so they stuck with the first one and insist that we are a Nazi band."

Only after a chat with former Terrorizer scribe Gunnar Sauermann did Hoest fully appreciate that in some quarters of the nihilistic black metal dimension, the defeated politics of national socialism still echo about in the most hollow-skulled black metallers. And whatever the damage done to TAAKE's reputation, and however conditional Hoest's contrition is, the band was back in Germany in September, playing in front of 1,000 people.

A full interview with Hoest is in issue #178 of Terrorizer, out now.

For more information, visit www.terrorizer.com.

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