Though originally scheduled to perform at the Karmøygeddon festival in Norway on 26 April, Taake has now been compelled to bow out of the lineup, under pressure from both the festival organizers and the headlining act, the famous German thrash metal band Kreator. In all likelihood, this is probably a consequence of the band's often unruly behavior (which I'll get to in just a moment). Understandably, frontman Ulvhedin Hoest is none too pleased with this turn of events.It goes without saying that Hoest's decision to perform a concert in Germany with a swastika painted on his chest (pictured above) was really what we in the business call a dick move, and it's also understandable that Taake was denied permission to perform at a few venues in Germany after the incident, but it seems a bit harsh to cut the band from the lineup of a festival in their homeland. Hoest has, after all, stated several times that Taake is in no way a political or Nazi band.
As for me, I wouldn't take the swastika to be indicative of the band's philosophy. The way I see things, Hoest likely only wore the hackenkreuz to stir the proverbial shit-pot. It's a real asshole thing to do, but it's to be expected. There are those people who just like to be dicks every once in a while, and our man Hoest is definitely one of them (he's done time in jail, after all). But say what you will about the man's personality, there's no denying that he's a great musician. Well, except for "Voldtekt," but that's another story.
Yeah, it's like when someone calls a woman bitch or a black person the n-word. It doesn't necessarily mean they're really prejudiced, only that they wanted to make sure they would hurt that person's feelings. Like you said, a dick move. Once you do or say certain things you can't take them back, not if you got your wish and succeeded in really hurting peoples' feelings.
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