The Official Taake Website

Taake will not be performing at the Karmøygeddon festival after all, due to ruthless pressure put on the organizer from, among others, none other than Kreator.
Let it be said that this does not hurt Taake, as we are not at all doing this for the money.
But it certainly hurts innocent parties like the promoter (who is now out of time to find a replacement and loses a lot of money), as well as our fans who bought expensive tickets to see us.
I find it very regrettable that all you people are caught in the crossfire of this ridiculously unnecessary situation!
Anyway, this reaction is obviously because of the swastika episode in Kreator`s hometown Essen during last year`s Taake tour.
I`ve clearly stated that TAAKE IS CERTAINLY NOT A POLITICAL NAZI-BAND, yet some people seem to still insist that we are.
It is not the first time such a situation has occured either, several German festival organizers had to give in to similar pressure last year, disappointing hundreds of people eager to watch us perform and cheating them out of their money.
But doing this to a Norwegian band about to play at a Norwegian festival is way out of line.
I do realize that it is rather unforgivable to display a swastika in Germany, yes.
On the other hand I strongly feel that Black Metal bands should allow themselves to use ANY kind of destructive/negative symbolism, as the basis of this expression is above all: EVIL(!)
Black Metal is still not, and should never become, harmless like all other styles of housebroke metal.
Frankly, I find it prepostrous that we get away with lyrics about murder, torture, rape, necrophilia and suicide, but get boycotted for wearing a symbol (which, by the way, has nothing to do with the band`s concept) on ONE single occasion.
A part of our mission is to invoke negative feelings, so I found it quite appropriate to remind our German audience of their biggest shame.
Some understood it and handled it well, whilst others overreacted far beyond expectance.
It is embarassing to have to point out these things over and over again, but as usual humanity proves to be ignorant.
We feel misunderstood.
So, Guardians of Morality, feel very free to keep up your pathetic boycott, we don`t mind being hated.
But your extortion only affects innocent parties and you should be ashamed of yourselves!
The behaviour of our self-proclaimed enemies is more similar to nazism than anything we`ve ever done..

Yours cruelly,
-Hoest

There`s been a lot of rumours and misunderstandings lately, so to make things a bit more clear: This was my 3rd incarceration for violence.
All material for the next Taake album has been complete for a while and will be recorded as soon as possible.
Furthermore, we will perform at Garage (Bergen) on the 8th of November. Updates for more concerts around Tellus will be posted soon…