Patriotism, Fetishism and Fascism with Nachtmahr

"I don't want to be a fucking big rockstar."

If you attended Summer Darkness or, for that matter, any of the festivals in which Nachtmahr was playing, you might have encountered some uniformed fans. The sight is, undoubtedly, odd. In a sea of people wearing colored garden hoses in their hair as a fashion statement (I'm sure they have a different name but... whatever) seeing teenagers, guys in their 20s, and even some middle aged couples, dressed in white shirts and black ties (together with Air Force caps and armbands) is, to say the least, strange.

Nachtmahr is a band that, especially in the last year, has been the focus of some controversy, as Thomas Rainier (the only member) has been accused of, at the very least, using fascist imagery for shock value or, at the worst, having Nazi or fascist sympathies. While both are accusations that he dismisses as unfounded, I guess the fans that showed up in brown shirts and SS Uniforms (sans the insignias, which are illegal in the Netherlands) didn't get that memo.

Thomas and I had a long conversation, and I can honestly say that I didn’t get the impression that he had Nazi sympathies. Having said that, however, it is undeniable that fascist imagery is used by the band. While Thomas has stated that the look is militaristic and not fascist, this is a bit disingenuous: The armbands used by his "troops" are akin to those used by the NSDAP and its members, but not by the army (in the Third Reich, for instance, Keitel and Dönitz, did not wear them in their, respectively, Army and Navy uniforms, while they were used by the members of the SS, SA and NSDAP).

If, deep down, Thomas has fascist sympathies (and he might) it's not something that we will learn from this or any interview, unless he openly admits it or does "something fascist". A beer hall putsch in Vienna might do the trick.