TAAKE Frontman In Swastika Scandal

March 24, 2007

TAAKE frontman Hoest — whose "revealing" performance (photo#1, photo#2, photo#3) at the 2003 Inferno Festival in Norway remains the source of much comedy — has once again found himself at the center of controversy. During the Norwegian black metal band's March 20, 2007 concert in Essen, Germany, Hoest appeared on stage with a swastika symbol drawn on his chest (photo) — a move which didn't go over well with most of the fans and members of the heavy metal media who were present at the gig.

Responding to the public outrage which followed the performance, Hoest has issued the following statement:

"TAAKE is not a political Nazi band, etc. We certainly didn't expect the current threat reactions, as everyone should know by now that our whole concept is built upon provocation and anything evil- and death-related. We will now censor certain symbols for the rest of the [European] tour [with URGEHAL and KOLDBRANN], and we truly apologize to all of our collaborators who might get problems because of the Essen swastika scandal (except for the Untermensch owner of that club; you can go suck a Muslim)!"

As a result of Hoest's actions, TAAKE has now been officially removed from the billing of the the Party.San Metal Open Air festival (set to take place August 9-11, 2007 in Bad Berka, Germany) and the organizers of the Ragnarök festival (scheduled for March 30-31, 2007 in Lichtenfels, Germany) are expected to follow suit.

TAAKE's third album, "Doedskvad", was released in 2005 via Dark Essence Records. The band had previously released two albums on the Wounded Love label: "Nattestid..." (1999) and "Bjoergvin" (2002). "Doedskvad" is the last installment in this trilogy.

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