We all need some escapism, once in a while. The chance to get away from it all and switch off. For me, that happens at the Bloodstock music festival – four days in a field with poor phone signal, listening to heavy metal. One of the things I love about the annual gathering, and heavy metal gigs in general, is that they tend to be relatively apolitical.
Yes, some bands have “something to say”, but there is none of the preachiness you get elsewhere. It makes for a nice change in a world when musicians, actors and others have decided that they are experts on the Middle East.
And yet, there are always exceptions to the rule. The extreme metal band Fit for an Autopsy were on the Bloodstock line-up this year, and they have a track entitled Red Horizon. It is about the conflict in Gaza and includes such charming lyrics as “Beasts of Zion, Curse your name… Every pocket lined with gold has cost a soul in other places”. It ends with a blood-curdling roar of “From the river to the sea”.
This is a band I’ve previously seen live and enjoyed multiple times. I really like(d) them and was devastated when I first heard that song. Even though they did not play it last weekend, I could not relax and enjoy their performance. I stood around for a bit watching, trying to get into it, before giving up and pottering off to check out the merchandise stand instead.
This is actually the second occasion on which I’ve seen FFAA since hearing the song and have felt the same both times. The connection has just evaporated. The fun has gone, both from worrying that they would play the offending track, and just simply knowing they wrote it in the first place. Others have surely had other experiences with artists they like over the last three years.
While there may be disputes over specifics and stats, no human can feel anything but sadness and the loss of civilian life in Gaza. That perfectly reasonable reaction is surely what inspired the song in the first place. Furthermore, while I find some of the lyrics themselves unacceptable, I know there is the possibility that they come from a place of ignorance, a lack of understanding of both what is happening on the ground and why such phrases are problematic.
In an interview with Metal Hammer magazine, band member Will Putney responded to criticism of Red Horizon by arguing that “you’re allowed to call someone who lives in a certain place a bad person without saying everyone who’s there is bad”. It is classic good Israeli/bad Israeli stuff.
In that same interview, the guitarist noted: “My family is Jewish… Saying I’m antisemitic is crazy.” He insisted “we’re calling out a shitty issue”. However, I think he should know better than to do so in that way, especially given his family background.
Interestingly, the video for the song does not just focus on Gaza, and features a Ukrainian actress called Milana Nashkova, making it about the horror of war more broadly.
Some people would feel that maybe that specific song is a problem, but it’s just one in the middle of an album and it does not seem to get played live. Maybe I should just ignore it and move on to the next track?
Others can separate the art from the artist. I find that almost impossible when the artist’s views are part of the art itself and the specific language is so concerning. I certainly could not make the distinction this weekend, and for 45 minutes I was taken out of my bubble and back into a world of anti-Israel anger.
Thankfully, the festival itself retained its usual friendly vibe. There were a few keffiyehs around, but no signs or sea of Palestinian flags of the kind you see at Glastonbury. Ultimately, I was able to relax back into things pretty quickly.
Artists have always used their work to make political points. Indeed, many of us in the Jewish community have spent recent days praising Boy George for releasing a song supporting Jews and Israel, and for standing up to the hate mob in response. I have no doubt that some will think FFAA have shown similar bravery.
However, it is about how you make a point, as much as it is about what point you make. You can support the Palestinians without using phrases that call for the destruction of the Jewish homeland, even if that is not what the band thought they were doing. By using the inflammatory language they did, Fit For an Autopsy totally killed the joy I used to find in listening to them and seeing them perform. I suspect I’m not the only Jewish metalhead who feels that way.
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