Enlarge Still, they've apparently been dropped as the headliners of a Swedish festival set to take place later this month.

Marduk Members Deny Purchasing Nazi Propaganda Tied to National Socialist Party

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Marduk have released a statement in response to today’s story from the Swedish publication Etc alleging that in 2016, two members of the band — drummer Fredrik Widigs and vocalist Daniel Rostén — made extensive purchases of Nazi propaganda from the online store of the Nordic Resistance Movement, a “Pan-Nordic Neo-Nazi Movement.”

In the statement, the band claims that “No Marduk member has ordered anything from the website in question, or ever had any form of interaction with the organisation operating it.” It does not speculate as to how Widigs or Rostén’s names ended up in NMR’s records, which were leaked following a hacker attack last summer. Although the natural assumption might be that Etc confused these men with other Swedes who happen to have the same names, the report claims that the items in question were sent to their home addresses and have been matched with their IPs.

Here’s the statement in full:

“Members of Marduk are listed in a database that’s said to show the purchase history of a Swedish webshop. We were made aware of this list when it surfaced online in August 2017 and have since been asked about it a handful of times. Since we never took this nonsense seriously, we refrained from commenting on it. However, a Swedish newspaper recently discovered this and have now written a story about it. And so, here we go again.

“No Marduk member has ordered anything from the website in question, or ever had any form of interaction with the organisation operating it. This is all we have to say about the matter. It’s ridiculous to have to reiterate this once more, after 28 years as a band, but: Marduk has no political agendas or ideological associations, National Socialism or otherwise. Our lyrics deal with religion and history, nothing else.

“It’s worth remembering that we had the exact same discussion back in February 2017, in conjunction with our US tour. Multiple media outlets scrutinised every fibre of Marduk history in search of proof for these allegations but found nothing. They reached out to numerous bands we have toured with, who all told them the same thing: there is nothing to support these accusations. And history will repeat itself, soon enough, as yet another effort of soiling our name comes to an end.

“/Marduk.”

Etc has yet to respond to Marduk’s comment, but they have now added a second report claiming that Marduk and the also-controversial Taake have been dropped from the bill of Stockholm Slaughter festival, which will take place later this month at Fryshuset. The decision was apparently made by Fryshuset management; the festival’s organizer, identified simply as “Vlad,” is hoping to persuade that management to reverse their decision:

“I will try to persuade them with strong evidence that the ties have nothing to do with Nazism. If we cancel Marduk now they will most likely never play at home [again]. There is no evidence that they are Nazis or they have spread Nazi propaganda.”

Marduk were set to be Stockholm Slaughter’s headliners; other notable bands on the bill include Septicflesh, Swallow the Sun, and Aura Noir.

Marduk Members Deny Purchasing Nazi Propaganda Tied to National Socialist Party

More as the story develops.

[via Metal Insider]

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