Politics, violence and transgression in Finnish Rock Against Communism music: a cross-genre case study

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Finnish far-right music scene has grown and become more ideological during the past ten years. Today there are more Rock Against Communism (RAC) bands whose messages are more political and ideological than those of old-school bands. One peculiarity of the Finnish white power music scene is that bands representing different genres, such as RAC, black metal and power electronics, often perform at the same events. Ideas and forms of expression spread between genres and, as this case analysis of the lyrics of the Finnish RAC band Vapaudenristi shows, genre crossing may result in novel but also paradoxical ideological combinations. In order to contextualize the reading of RAC lyrics, Kotonen’s article traces changes in Finnish white power music culture, and highlights the most important ideological sources of inspiration, among them the growing interest in the writings of Julius Evola.