Jan 152012
‘Anti-Islamic’ band nominated for Norway’s top music prize
A notoriously “anti-Islamic” band has been nominated for Norway’s top metal prize. Taake are one of six nominees for a prestigious Spellemann award, despite a song that declares: “To hell with Muhammad and the Muhammadans!”
“Norway will soon awaken!” read the lyrics to Orkan (Hurricane), on Taake’s album Noregs Vaapen. The Spellemanns are Norway’s equivalent of the Brits or the Grammys, and Noregs Vaapen is nominated for best metal album. Elsewhere on Orkan, singer Ørjan Stedjeberg refers to Muslims’ “unforgivable customs” and calls for a new “kingdom” to “shine through [the] bad years, shame and Christian times”.
