Aubzagl; Anti-fascist black metal from Yorkshire.

aubzagl.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/aubzagl

We in Aubzagl have always been staunchly antifascist and have been disgusted by a lot of centrism we see within the black metal scene. As much as bands like us, Dawn Ray'd, Underdark, Caïna, Feminazgûl etc are pushing back against this, you still see black metal musicians who either claim they are "keeping politics out of their music" (which is in itself a political stance, and one that comes from a place of privilege) or you get people who actively campaign for hate speech in their music, saying "all black metal is about evil" which misses the entire point of what black metal truly is.

Black metal is about rebellion. It is about anger and vitriol. The only reason most black metal fans who worship a bunch of angsty teenagers from Norway think black metal is about evil is because those teenagers were rebelling against their Christian upbringing, fuelled by images of the Satanic Panic of the 80s. So, when the "hatred" message of the black metal you play is the exact same sentiment that is being put forth by mainstream politicians in both Eastern and Western countries, your music is no longer about rebellion. It's about conforming.

As a queer trans woman, these issues are gonna affect people like me more than Dave McHell from "The School Of Satan" or whatever. So I write about these issues in my lyrics, and the rest of the band have my back. They know the true spirit of black metal, of rebellion. And there is no act more rebellious than spitting in the face of those that wish to stamp out your existence just for being something they deem "other".

The song we have submitted for this compilation is "Voices Of The Aether", which is a song about triumphing over mental health issues, but I also find it is an accurate depiction of my feelings towards a scene that has these veins of wilful ignorance embedded in it. Plus, looking at it through the eyes of a trans woman who is bombarded constantly with the news media and alt-right figures talking about how trans people are "a social contagion" and how LGBTQIA+ people are child predators, this is a good illustration of our stance against such misinformation and bigotry.

I have no intention of stopping our fight against those who wish me dead for who I am, and with people like my band mates in Aubzagl and the activists I see spreading through the scene, I have every confidence that we will tear down those walls of oppression with our anger and vitriol.

- Amara, vocalist of Aubzagl