“If this reminds you of the McCarthy witch hunts, it is because that is EXACTLY what it is like”

Earlier this month, Talib Kweli canceled an upcoming performance in Kansas City in response to the venue’s booking of Taake, a Norwegian black metal band that has recently come under fire from the anti-fascist movement, or Antifa, for alleged racism and Nazi sympathies. “I wouldn’t feel safe bringing my team, family, and fans into a venue that is sympathetic to white nationalism, so I’ve cancelled the show,” Kweli said in a statement. Around the same time, the band’s performances in New York and Chicago were both canceled by their respective venues, and opening act King Dude dropped out of the tour.

Now, Taake have canceled their entire U.S. run, as Brooklyn Vegan points out. The band have also shared a long statement about the decision, comparing their experience to “the McCarthy witch hunts” and calling out both Antifa and Talib Kweli. Find the full statement below.

In their statement, Taake reaffirm that they are “not now, has never been, and never will be a Nazi band.” They say that the tour cancellation is “the ultimate demonstration of how, through the dissemination of lies, misinformation and unfounded accusations, along with credible threats of violence, a small minority of left wing agitators are able to force their agenda on the majority, and deprive music fans of their freedom to attend concerts and go about their day to day activities without the fear of reprisals and retaliation.”

As for Kweli, Taake say, “His heart may have misguidedly been in the right place, but his brain, and his legal advisors, were not. Had he bothered to check the facts he would have realised that he had put himself in a position of looking like someone who doesn't know, or understand, or even care about, all the facts, and who is easily manipulated by others to dance to their tune.”

The conversations about Taake’s politics centered on a 2007 concert in which frontman Hoest performed with a swastika drawn on his chest and a song whose lyrics have been seen as anti-Muslim. MetalSucks also points out that Hoest performed in 2013 while wearing a shirt with an anti-Islamic symbol, plus an iron cross necklace.

Hoest has repeatedly denied claims of his band’s ties to white nationalism. In a recent interview with Metal Insider, he said, “Presenting us as ‘Neo Nazi,’ ‘openly racist,’ ‘wearing swastikas’ (in plural, like it’s a habit of mine), etc. are just plain lies. And ‘islamophobic?’ A phobia is an irrational mental illness. So quite the contrary, religion is an irrational mental illness.”