The shadow justice secretary, Richard Burgon, has told a court there is no justification for linking his decision to record a track with a heavy metal band that allegedly used Nazi-influenced fonts and claims of antisemitism in the Labour party.

The Labour MP, who would become lord chancellor and be placed in charge of the legal system if the party came to power, is suing the Sun newspaper for libel after it published an article entitled “Reich and Roll: Labour’s justice boss ridiculed after he joins a heavy metal band that delights in Nazi symbols”.

Burgon launched the libel action against the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper and its political editor, Tom Newton Dunn, after it reported on his guest appearance with the Leeds band Dream Tröll.

The article, published in April 2017, claimed the typeface used for the letter “S” in a Dream Tröll social media post entitled “We Sold Our Soul For Rock N Tröll” paid homage to the logo of Adolf Hitler’s SS paramilitary organisation, which played a key role in the Nazi Holocaust.

Black Sabbath’s We Sold Our Soul For Rock ‘N’ Roll (left) and the Dream Tröll artwork. Photograph: Screengrab

Burgon faced repeated questions from the Sun’s lawyer about Labour’s record on antisemitism, including asking whether the shadow justice secretary would hypothetically be willing to perform a song with the band in front of the disputed artwork at a gig in areas with large Jewish populations such as “parts of north London” or Tel Aviv.

Burgon repeatedly insisted that he would not appear on a stage that featured Nazi iconography, but insisted that the artwork at the heart of the dispute was influenced by Black Sabbath, not the German military unit. “I do not accept that it is Nazi iconography. It is a pastiche or spoof of an album by a famous rock band from the 1970s.”

The Sun’s story was based on spoof artwork posted on Dream Tröll’s Twitter account, alongside messages commenting on the actor Chuck Norris. The band also tweeted mock-ups of other heavy metal albums such as “God Gave Rock N Tröll To You” and “For Whom The Bell Trölls”.

Burgon was also accused of “using expensive lawyers to shut down references to antisemitism in the press” and was repeatedly asked about comments about the Holocaust made by former mayor of London Ken Livingstone and the decision by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to support a graffiti artist whose work featured antisemitic tropes.

Burgon said he was deeply concerned about antisemitism within Labour and had “never denied there is an issue with this gravest of matters”, but insisted that it was unconnected to the issue at hand.

The shadow justice secretary told the court he agreed that the logo of Hitler’s SS is a “globally recognised symbol of unparalleled evil” but claimed he did not see any similarity between the Nazi logo and the “S” in the image posted by Dream Troll.

At one point proceedings paused briefly while lawyers explained the identity of the singer Lemmy from Motörhead to the high court judge, amid lengthy discussions over the current popularity of Black Sabbath in the United Kingdom and Burgon’s views on the use of gothic typography by the band Kiss.

The court heard of WhatsApp messages sent by Labour adviser Ben Foley discussing how to respond to the Sun’s inquiry about Burgon’s involvement with the band, amid concerns that the story could have wider consequences. “They could seek to turn this into another ‘problem with antisemitism’ story, especially as they can time this with passover,” he said.

Burgon was also shown a series of Nazi posters and asked to repeatedly agree that Nazi imagery relied heavily on the same red, white and black colour scheme used in the post by Dream Tröll. Burgon insisted that a similar colour scheme was also used by the likes of Sunderland football club and the Sun. “I did not associate with a band that delights in Nazi iconography and would not do so,” he said.

Burgon’s lawyer said the Sun had deliberately exaggerated the story to create a political controversy: “The intention behind any work of art is crucial to the understanding of it … The defendants accept that Mr Burgon is not a Nazi and there have never been any grounds to believe that he is, that Mr Burgon is not an antisemite, that Dream Tröll are not Nazis, that they are not Nazi sympathisers, and crucially they do not delight in using Nazi symbols or iconography.”

Burgon, who employed the services of libel lawyers Carter-Ruck for the case, did not know about the artwork until he was approached by the newspaper and has known the members of the band since they were teenagers.

The court heard that Newton Dunn was first alerted to Burgon’s connection with the band by an email tip from a Labour councillor. The story was allegedly pulled forward because the Sun’s politics team had a thin newslist for the Good Friday edition of the paper and it was originally listed internally with the headline: “What a Nazi Justice Secretary”.

The journalist then called the Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke to provide “some political comment” on the story, and the Dover MP provided criticism of Burgon without having seen the Black Sabbath album cover.

Burgon’s team insisted that the Sun took the social media post out of context and knowingly misrepresented it. They are seeking damages.

The trial continues.