Dark Tranquillity
The Haunted
Satyricon

…and I’m still waiting on the other three.

Here’s the Jerusalem Post article… but they made some changes. Still, I’m proud. I didn’t write that Dolving made statements sympathetic to Nazis, btw. The editor read everything you see in the interview here, and made that assessment herself.

Here’s the original I wrote…

The Israeli heavy metal scene has seen some insane growth in the past few years. Israeli bands are being signed to major labels, others tour internationally, and famous metal acts play here almost every other week. But this August 14 it all culminates in The Anthem Metal Fest, a megaconcert festival bringing six international acts to play alongside five Israeli bands. The line-up includes Dark Tranquillity (Sweden), The Haunted (Sweden), Nevermore (Seattle, WA), Meshuggah (Sweden), Opeth (Sweden), Satyricon (Norway), and the Israeli Betzefer, They:Swarm, Salem, female-fronted Distorted, and The Fading.

Eran Segal of They:Swarm gives the enthusiastic rundown. “It’s pretty much mind blowing to realize that as a metal scene we’ve reached a point where a production of this scale is happening. A few years back, this would have been a hallucination, at best. The Israeli metal scene has really changed over the last decade, both from the audience and the artists’ sides. There are many bands around, some of who are on the bill, and the crowd has greatly grown in magnitude. I feel extremely honored that my band gets to participate in this amazing event, and I can hardly wait to hit the stage!”

The international bands are really looking forward to coming to Israel as well, despite debatable issues such as antireligious sentiment, terrorism and political antipathy. Many people consider heavy metal devil music aimed at obliteration of religion, life and anything positive. Whether or not that’s true, the fact that Israel is an active spawning culture of such a dedicated scene surprises some and distresses others.

Some wonder why acts ostensibly antithetical to religion or Israel want to play here at all.

Frost is the drummer of Satyricon, the act on the bill most fitting that stereotype. “I have a rather pragmatic angle on it,” he explains. “We are coming because we have fans in Israel. We don’t come to Israel primarily because it’s the cradle of three large religious denominations! When that is said, I
 hope that we will get to feel a certain air of history while being in the country and that it won’t be like just visiting another country or city. Getting to visit places with a prominent place in history is always interesting, even if they are connected with something perceived as negative.”

Then there’s always the fear of getting blown up in a terror attack, a concern that has led to many celebrity cancellations in the Holy Land.

Mikael Stanne of the cornerstone melodic death metal act Dark Tranquillity finds it irrelevant. “I hear you guys have problems and stuff like that but it doesn’t really concern us that much. We come there and entertain, which I think is a good thing. As a band, we want to explore every single country, we want to play in front of people who are supporting our music and we want to reach out to as many people as possible. That’s our main concern. I think it’s going to be really cool.”

Politics can be a sticking point, too. Peter Dolving of The Haunted made a comment on his blog back in April of 2007 sure to rankle the fur of almost any Jew: “People in Germany man. The whole thing with what happened back in the days of Hitler and all his crazy-ass macho control freak buddies. Sometimes when I talk to people in Germany it´s as if they think I´m about to blame them for what happened back then. Who cares anymore, unless you´re a total nutter.”

When taken to task for his sentiment, Dolving was made aware of Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day and then asked if he thought that all of Israel were total nutters. He replied, “Nutters? No, not more any other nation, but I fail to see the general progressive tendency in holding on to the past, and keeping at emotional bay – as opposed to accepting it for what it was and moving on with the knowledge as further aid to evolve.”

He also believes that the Nazis themselves were victims. “Anyone foolish/uneducated enough to accept such an undefined and inconsequent ideology as National Socialism is a victim. In the case of the soldiers and capos of the horrendous crimes of WWII, they were most certainly victims as much as the millions of people who were murdered in the camps. Imagine the emotional damage done to any person who believes there is no other way than participating in the slaughter of children and women. Imagine yourself killing another human being with no other real argument than that you have been told that it is the right thing to do. Imagine the amount of damage you will do to yourself in shutting off all emotion of remorse, care, empathy and trust. Yes, I believe they where victims, cruel victims indeed, but still victims. Victims of the times, victims of faith, and of a general view of human value that seems beyond understanding to most. However, it’s not much different than a young soldier beating a suspect next to a roadside in Gaza, or a police officer in Compton shooting a potential perpetrator.”

However, Dolving goes on to proclaim, “I feel privileged to be given the opportunity to come to Israel. It’s a country that has been with me in legend and news reports since childhood and I used to completely idolize Golda Meir and David Ben-Gurion as a young man. As far as what some people say or don’t say about Israel, I think it extremely important to separate state policy and the actual individuals of any country. So yes; I am really looking forward to coming to Israel.”

The Anthem Metal Festival will take place Thursday, August 14 at Hangar 11 in Tel Aviv. All information pertaining to purchasing tickets is available at HYPERLINK “http://www.anthemmetalfest.com/infos_tix.php” http://www.anthemmetalfest.com/infos_tix.php .