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ABSTRACT: The musical aesthetics of neofolk has held a significant place within Germany's dark alternative scene since the early 1980s. With its keen interest in paganism, dark romanticism, and völkisch mysticism, this genre is often associated with right-wing ideologies. Neofolk has been accused by some of creating acceptable social spaces for fascist cultural ideals, and by others for harnessing contradictory right-wing messages as new modes of aesthetic creativity and provocation. This article explores the continued popularity of the English band, Death in June, in Germany and seeks to problematize critics' attempts to unequivocally characterize the band and genre as nostalgia-laden hipster fascism.
KEYWORDS: antifa, apoliteic music, Death in June, fascism, neofolk, paganism, right-wing populism
"We aim to please with constant unease!"1
The post-punk genre of neofolk or apocalyptic folk-with its melancholy lyrics, acoustic melodies, and martial beats-has been an enduring feature of the dark alternative music scene of the past thirty years. Drawing upon Germanic and Celtic paganism, völkisch mysticism, and antimodernist imagery including National Socialism, neofolk is perhaps most noted for its (supposed) association with a nebulous web of right-wing ideologies. According to its many critics, the genre celebrates the establishment of a new "European conservative cultural avant-garde"2 that is based upon egoistic individualism, ethnocentrism, nationalism, and revolutionary traditionalism.3 Given these controversial ideologies, especially against the backdrop of modern European history, it is rather surprising that neofolk has foundsince the mid 1990s-its strongest fan base in Germany and Austria (and to a lesser extent, Italy), where albums have "repeatedly achieved impressive sale figures."4 Although many Germanic bands are active in the scene and worthy of scholarly attention,5 they are still-to riff on A. N. Whitehead- merely a series of footnotes to their fabled progenitors, the English band Death in June and its charismatic front man Douglas Pearce.
While it is true that the neofolk scene is an ideologically diverse subculture not necessarily defined by extreme right-wing politics, and only united by its elective affinity for dark romanticism, the suggestive musical and visual aesthetics of Death in June continue to exert-in the popular imaginary of fans and critics alike-an overarching presence on the German-speaking scene. Pearce's use of politically charged (proto) fascist aesthetics and themes has served as a highly affective source of debate...