Uprising's Antifascist Black Metal Is a Challenge and a Warning
"For a long time, I thought it would be enough to have a consciousness, vote for the decent people, and raise my voice with this musical project. It's not enough."
Jan van Berlekom is a man of multiple names. Black metal aficionados probably know him best as Winterherz, his nom de guerre in nature-inspired black metal band Waldgeflüster (as well as in the proggier, mostly defunct Scarcross). In his antifascist black metal solo project, Uprising, he chops it down to W, creating even more distance between himself and his art. The German multi-instrumentalist isn't afraid of getting personal in his music, but with Uprising, he sets his sights firmly on the political—and specifically, on addressing the rising threat of fascism in his own backyard and abroad.
I appreciate all of van Berlekom's musical output, but Uprising is definitely my favorite of his various projects. When the self-titled LP dropped in 2016, the antifascist metal world was still pretty small and Uprising came as an excellent surprise. I certainly wasn't the only person hungry to see more explicitly leftist messaging in extreme metal then, and it felt like a gift to stumble across this sophisticated, aggressive black metal project that hated Nazis as much as I did (and obviously still do). For me and a lot of other people, 2016 was a year of education, organizing, and running from the cops, and Uprising provided an excellent soundtrack for all three.
heidima46
Nearly a decade later, the community of openly and firmly antifascist metal bands has grown more than I could've dared hope when I started writing about it (let alone back in the early 2000s when I was still a teenage girl writing for "webzines"). Now, Uprising is on its third full-length, and van Berlekom has undergone a political evolution of his own.
"For a long time, I thought it would be enough to have a consciousness, vote for the decent people, and raise my voice with this musical project," he explained to me via email. "I am not a people person; I hate going to demonstrations or even talking to people. So, I thought my voice was my music. It’s not enough. It simply isn’t."
His own political activity looks a bit different from mine, but I appreciate his emphasis on action (even if I have significantly less faith in the Democrats' ability, or even interest, in fighting fascism). To celebrate the release of Uprising's latest album, III, I reached out to van Berlekom to talk about the new tunes, antifascism in music, working with his old friend Austin Lunn, and the parallels between U.S. politics and what's unfolding in his native Bavaria.
Our conversation has been lightly edited for clarity (though I kept the emphatic caps in!).
SALVO: I was so excited to get the promo for III—your last album was fantastic, and so is this one. Those icy melodies are still there, but III seems to have a crustier edge. Can you tell me a bit about what went into this album? How does it differ from your earlier work?
W: Thanks for the kind words. To me, the album itself doesn’t differ from the previous ones. There is no sort of “plan” for Uprising albums or songs. I just pour all my rage about the state of the world into those songs. They do not pretend to be crafty or profound, they are just an outpouring of my anger. And that’s exactly how I approached the new record. If I need to find some differences, it is probably that this new record focuses more on the problem of climate change. And obviously Austin’s playing had a huge effect on the original songs and made them even angrier. I guess that’s what comes across as the crustier edge. Finally, handing over the mixing and mastering duties to Markus Stock had some effect on the general sound.
Austin Lunn of Panopticon handled the percussion this time around. Minnesota isn't exactly around the corner from Munich and the album was primarily recorded between 2021-2023, so how in the world did you two find time to sit down and actually record these songs at your Schattenschmiede Studios?
The answer is pretty simple: Austin just recorded everything by himself in his studio in Minnesota. I wrote all the songs using a drum computer, and Austin took my original ideas and transformed them into his own style. Which the records benefit from greatly – as written above, Austin made the songs so much more aggressive than what I originally wrote. It fits the topic of the songs perfectly .
You included a cover of Machine Head's "Ten Ton Hammer" on the vinyl version of III. This seems like a bit of an unexpected choice, but then, you covered Alice in Chains on II, and Machine Head occupies another part of that late 90s, grungy, emotional, heavy rock universe. I'm guessing we're about the same age, so it makes sense that that era would have had an impact on you. Can you tell me about your connection to these songs, and why you decided to do your own interpretations?
I am turning 40 this year. So yes, all these bands had a huge effect on me. I grew up listening to alternative rock, Grunge, nu-metal, and only very late I got into melodic death and black metal (skipped the whole classic metal and rock phase) . When I was 20 or so, I denied those roots; the only "real" music was black metal. The older I get, the more I realize how shallow that was and also how shallow a big part of this so-called black metal scene is. I rediscovered the songs that were touching me when I was young, and today I can proudly say that I listen to almost every genre. From Taylor Swift to Gwoid, you’ll find records in that whole range on my record shelf. The only thing that matters is if a song touches me and if I get the sense of an artistic expression.
Now back to the topic: I grew up with those songs, and I also like to provoke or to put it differently, challenge the listener with my music. I was looking for a song that I love, that will put black metal purists on edge AND a song that is transformable and playable for me. Which is also a limiting factor, as I am not the best guitar player out there. So, it seemed natural to choose "Ten Ton Hammer." I am already looking for songs for the next album to cover. I think a black metal version of Deftones' “Change” could sound awesome.
Uprising is very much a loudly antifascist, anticapitalist project, and III pulls no punches in its lyrics. The climate crisis to the brutality of wealth inequality have an especially large presence on this album. What kind of media were you consuming during the writing process to inform your perspective?
I am probably not the most informed antifascist or anticapitalist individual out there. But I have a deep sense of justice and everything in me screams that the world today is not just. In the German school system, we had to go through the whole Nazi area three times, and I cannot understand why any individual is not scared of the danger of fascism or can wish for a world in that image.
I try to stay informed on the daily news, but I guess there are three additional media inputs that were consumed during the process of creating III, which had a bigger influence: The Youtube show Some More News, which I can only recommend to any American but also to everyone else. A lot of topics that are being discussed on this show either can be observed elsewhere as well or at least have an effect on us.
The second is the book Winners Take All by Anand Giridharadas. The biggest influence on this record was the German blogger Der Graslutscher aka Jan Hegenberg, with his blogs, posts and the Book Weltuntergang fällt aus. Probably hard to follow for anyone not speaking German, but I have yet to find a better informed, better written or more understandable source on anything regarding climate change, how to make the transformation to a sustainable way of living without compromising on amenities, and veganism. I can only hope that at least his book will be translated to English at some point.
The idea of "radical decency" has been a theme in your music for years now, and surfaces once again on this album. Can you speak more about this concept, and how you apply it in your own life? In this world we've created, it's a shame that the practice of caring for one another seems in any way radical, yet here we are...
I got this term from Christine, the owner of Tridroid Records. She posted this somewhere on Facebook a couple of years ago. I was intrigued by it. I asked her if I can use this for one of the songs on II and it has been with me ever since. I do not have a clear concept for it. There are so many different ideas incorporated in it; I don’t have a well-defined philosophy. Maybe someone smart can come up with one at some point. But there is the concept of decency in terms of striving to do what is right, not what is good for oneself. Politeness, kindness, honesty and taking responsibility. And all of that paired with demanding a new form of radicality to, let’s say, demanding or maybe enforcing it from everyone in society.
For too long the people that I would call decent ignored what the Nazis and the so called “worried citizens” were doing, because replying to it would bring you to their level. There was enough talk of the need to take their worries seriously and blah blah blah. I am done with this shit. If you voted for Trump or in Germany for the AFD, or if you say anything against gender equality, LGBTQ rights and so on, I am done with you. You are morally and intellectually fucked up, and any discussion with you on subject matters only brings me down and will not change anything about your opinion. Everything has been said a thousand times. I don’t need to take you or your worries seriously. You lost all decency and basic human empathy, we should not deal with you anymore.
That sounds harsh, but I have been observing the discourse in Germany for a long time: every time we take these dumbfucks seriously, we drift further right and into fascism. Because if a decent person repeats the lies and half truths just to discuss it: it is still being said and the discourse shifts even more. I am writing this one week after the 6th of November 2024, which will probably be remembered as one of the dark days of modern times. In the U.S. millions of people voted against their own interest and elected a full-blown fascist that will not only endanger themselves but the whole world. In Germany, the government broke apart on that same day because one dumbfuck, who barely got any votes last time, can’t remember what he signed in the coalition contract and was fighting against the government from within for the last to years. It is already clear that our next government will be at least as conservative as it gets, if not even backed up by Nazis.
I am writing all of this because you asked me what I personally do to live radical decency. This past weekend I joined the Green party here in Germany, and my wife and I decided that it is time for us to get involved. I am saying this because I want to challenge all of the readers here: voting is not enough anymore. Please join the Democrats (sorry, the two-party system leaves only one choice) to fight against fascism. Please join the Greens, SPD or Die Linke in Germany to stop the rise of the AFD. Please do so everywhere and join the respective forces fighting fascism. And if you are thinking “oh those parties are shitty in that and that area,” I have three thoughts for you, which led me to my decision:
- You are the only person that can change the world.
- Almost exactly one hundred years, ago people thought it wouldn’t be that bad and they could sit it out. Oh, how wrong they were. We are at the same exact crossroads. I don’t want to look back in 50 years and tell my children I did not do EVERYTHING in my power to stop the atrocities that are about to come. One of the reasons Hitler was able to rise was because the decent people did not fight back hard enough and didn’t take him seriously. Do not make the same mistake. And one thing to add: almost every Western country has its little Hitler right now, waiting to grasp the power. Don’t you dare to feel safe.
- You do NOT need to agree 100% with everything a certain party stands for right now. Heck, in a two-party system I would say just being against fascism is enough. And everywhere else probably something like 70% is enough. It is YOUR job to change the party and make it into something you can align with. There will never be THE perfect political movement, get behind the “smallest evil” and get involved to improve the situation.
This is the lesson I took from last week and the credo I want to live by from now on. It is time to stop complaining and start doing something. Only if the uncorrupted and steadfast take part in it can a corrupted system be forced to change.
The album also deals with racism and xenophobia - "Ausländer raus," and so on. From the outside, Germany's own political landscape seems to be moving further and further right, fueled by the kind of anti-immigrant hatred that U.S. politicians thrive on. What's really happening, especially in your area? Bavaria is a famously conservative region, but you're based there, so it can't all be leaning that way!
You summarized the situation pretty well. We have a far-right minority that is pushing the discourse more and more to the right. And we have politicians calling themselves centrists, who are supporting this with their acknowledgement of the so-called problems of the far right and with their short memory. E.g. the prime minister of Bavaria threatened to bring down the German government, of which he was part of, in the early 2010s if they do not pull out of atomic power. And now, according to him, the Green party is the worst thing that ever happened because we can’t simply reactivate the atomic power plants due to technical reasons. Never mind, that there has been a massive increase in green energy in the last couple of years and that atomic power will not be needed anymore anyhow.
This is just an example of the short memory of some people and their complete lack of decency. There are still a lot of good people here in Bavaria, but the ice is getting thin. Still, its not as bad as in the Eastern part of germany, where around 30% voted for a full blown Nazi party that is under observation of the protection of the constitution…
Eric
To flip the question: as a German, a European, and an artist who frequently collaborates with Americans, what's your perception of what's going on over here? What kind of parallels are you seeing, and what advice can you share for those of us who oppose genocide and would prefer to keep the country from descending into full-blown fascism?
What is going on in the U.S. right now is just horrible. The majority of the people voted against their own interest and chose to make everything worse for everyone except for the billionaires. It is hard to watch, but it’s a trend one can observe in all Western countries right now. The older I get, the more I get the feeling that social media is at the heart of this and we should get rid of it COMPLETELY, sooner rather than later. The problem is even bigger in the U.S. due to your two-party system, where you will always need to make a huge compromise when voting or when getting involved politically.
The genocide happening in Gaza is a perfect example for it: do you vote or get involved with a Democratic party that is pushing back too late and too little, or do you ignore that flaw to stand together and fight against the fascism spread by Republicans, who will probably let Netanyahu bomb whatever he likes, but deny Ukraine much needed help? It’s a tough decision, but I know what I would choose, I explained this above. It is a problem of the left, that we always try to find the flaw in ourselves and demand absolute perfection, rather than focusing on what connects us.
Austin and I discussed this many times: we also have different opinions on certain topics. But we respect each other, we listen to each other and acknowledge that we do not need to agree 100%, as long as we are united in the distaste of fascism. The Swiss antifascist festival appearance by Afsky that was cancelled by the venue over Afsky having played in Isreal and having made some posts that never said that Isreal should commit genocide is a perfect example of what is wrong with the left. The Nazis are willing to find common terms and work together to gain influence, but we are fighting against each other, although we have so much in common.
So, I would encourage everyone in the US. .to get engaged with the Democrats even if you do not agree on their Gaza policy. It’s good that you protest and make your voices heard and fight for what you believe in, but don’t let that stop you from fighting those who are even worse. I understand that protesting right now was made very difficult by officials and they tried to deny the right to protest in some areas. One thing is for sure: when the Nazis have the power, they WILL SILENCE YOU and you will not even be able to protest anymore.
What does antifascism mean to you? How does one truly live an antifascist life in this world of grinding contradictions and impossible choices? Why is it so important for us to try anyway?
First and foremost, antifascism means to fight against fascism. It means to oppose oppression, looking for the complex reasons, not the simple answers, trying to overcome prejudices and rooting for a world where EVERYONE can live in peace and happiness, has their freedom of expression and religion and can love whomever they want. As I said, when it comes to impossible choices, I take the one that is less fascist. There will never be the perfect choice. If you wait around for that, evil wins.
I don’t know if I should give advice on how to truly live as an antifascist. I am not as politically involved as others (yet at least). All I do so far is make music, being vocal about my opinion and trying to hold myself to the standards I set myself—not working 100% either, I am human after all. I think there are far better people out there to give advice on that question. I haven’t earned the right to do so yet, I think. But I can say something to the last question: if we do not try, fascism will win. The easy answers, their hate and their unhappiness have way more drawing and mobilizing power to human hearts, than complex problems and decency have to human minds. If we don’t do something, they will win and none of us wants to live in a world of their making.
I'd be remiss if I let you go without asking about your other band, Waldgeflüster. Are there any updates you can share? Your last EP came out in 2023, so there must be something brewing!
We are working hard on our next full length. It is probably our toughest album to make but probably also to listen to. Writing is almost finished, and we will start the recording process soon. I will have some updates sometime next year
Thanks so much!
Thank you, Kim! That was an absolutely interesting and challenging interview to make. Wish this would be the standard quality for interviewing...
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Stream Uprising's 'III' here, keep an eye out for more Waldgeflüster news, subscribe to antifascist metal media, and [redact] your local Nazi.