By Devin Burghart and Justin Massa
Searchlight
October 2000

Almost a year after going underground to elude authorities, one of the leading figures in the international national socialist black metal music scene was arrested in the United States. At the behest of the German government, agents from the U.S. Marshal's Service tracked Hendrick Möbus (aka Jarl Flagg Nidhoegg), a murderer wanted in Germany, for nearly two months across the United States. On 29 August, they followed Möbus as he left the compound of the National Alliance. Agents nabbed the fugitive outside a family restaurant in Lewisburg, West Virginia.

While finally stopped in the West Virginia hills, Möbus began his tour of the American racist underground nine months earlier, over 4000 Kilometers (2500 miles) away. Although there was an international arrest warrant out for him, Möbus flew into the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport using his real name in December 1999. He then traveled across the country, from Washington, to Ohio, Virginia, and many points in between, before ending up at the National Alliance Headquarters.

Möbus' cross-country trek sheds light onto the international nature of the National Socialist Black Metal Underground, the growth of the network in the United States, and the inroads William Pierce and the National Alliance have made into that scene.

BLACK METAL AS WHITE NOISE

While news reports of the recent arrest highlighted William Pierce as "the author of the Turner Diaries," it wasn't the racist pulp novel that brought Möbus and Pierce together. It was a shared interest in the white power music industry.

Now that William Pierce controls much of the skinhead side of the white power music business, he is now devoting his attention to black metal. With the Resistance Records catalog lacking black metal titles, and a staff unfamiliar with the European nsbm scene, Pierce needed help. That help showed up on his doorstep, dressed in black.

Pierce made his plans towards the nsbm scene known last year when describing his plans for Resistance Records, "the resurrected company will handle a much broader spectrum of White resistance music, including genres such as Gothic and black metal" (National Alliance Bulletin, August 1999). In every issue since the Pierce purchase, the glossy pages of Resistance magazine have included black metal references. The Spring 2000 Resistance includes an article entitled "Is Black Metal a White Noise?" In addition to hyping the scene, the article highlights Möbus, remarking, "He is now on the run, wanted by German authorities with an international arrest order." Pierce describes Möbus as "a young German musician who has made a name for himself with resistance music in Europe" who he first met three months ago.

Pierce used the time with Möbus to secure entry into the black metal scene in the U.S. and Europe. Pierce explains, "I invited him to stay as my guest and help me establish new outlets in Europe for my records. And that's what he did for 10 weeks. He stayed as my guest, and we talked about the role of music in our overall effort." One of the developments to come out of the pairing has been the new role the National Alliance is playing in Cymophane Records - a black metal label with access to mainstream distribution channels in the United States.

In return for the help Möbus provided in the nsbm scene, Pierce is helping in the legal battle. With the assistance of Pierce, Möbus filed paperwork with the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Services) requesting political asylum. On 9 September, Pierce put out a plea for funds to hire a lawyer for Möbus to fight extradition.

WHITE ORDER OF THULE

Before making his way to the National Alliance headquarters in Hillsboro, West Virginia, where he stayed for just over 2 months, Möbus bounced back and forth between Ohio (a National Alliance stronghold) and Richmond, Virginia.

Richmond is the headquarters of the White Order of Thule - a small, esoteric neo-Nazi group that draws inspiration from everything from Savitri Devi to Nietzsche to George Lincoln Rockwell. Self-described as "a Brotherhood, a loose alignment of Aryan minds, hearts and souls, together only for the philosophy, fraternity, and spirituality, respectively, which will further all work for the Cause," they publish a sporadic journal Crossing the Abyss.

The educational program of the group teaches its few members everything from "Practical Occultism," "Jungian psychology," and "Archetypal Pathworking," to "Folkish Hygiene," and "Hermetic Philosophy." White Order of Thule study books include, Imperium, Mein Kampf, The Decline of the West, Might is Right, Revolt Against the Modern World, and Twilight of the Idols.

The White Order of Thule also provided a network to help get Möbus across the country, starting with Fenris Wolf.

FENRIS WOLF

After a short stay in the Seattle-area when he landed in December 1999, Möbus spent much of the early part of his fugitive stay in Eastern Washington. Möbus traveled across the mountains to stay in Elk, Washington (just North of Spokane) where he lived with Nathan Pett (aka Nate Zorn).

Pett publishes a photocopied zine called Fenris Wolf, described as "The Revolutionary Voice of the Pagan Liberation League." The publication is a crude attempt at melding esoteric nazi ideas with the white power skinhead scene. In it's three years of existence, Pett and Fenris Wolf have bounced across the United States, publishing from Louisiana, Missouri, and Washington State.

Earlier this year, Pett had Fenris Wolf join the Pagan Front - an international coalition of organizations, record labels, bands, fanzines, and individuals dedicated to promoting the NSBM underground. Until he fled, the Pagan Front was lead by Möbus. The Pagan Front views black metal as "the archetypal expression of white men [sic] souls", promotes their racism in extreme music subcultures. It currently has member organizations in USA, Australia, Canada, Romania, Poland, and France. Fenris Wolf is also the Northwest faction of the White Order of Thule.

American authorities discovered the eastern Washington whereabouts of Möbus and filed for an arrest warrant on 7 July, after being asked for help by the German government in March.

Looking at the murderous activities of Hendrick Möbus in Germany over the past several years helps explain why the German government would show such concern.

Möbus the Absurd

At the age of 16, Hendrick Möbus, along with two classmates formed a death metal band named Absurd, while still in high school in Erfurt, Germany. Absurd became famous for their actions rather than their music.

On April 29, 1993, Möbus and the other members of Absurd stabbed and strangled to death Sandro Beyer, a classmate, who they have since called a "Volksschadling," which roughly translates as a race defiler. In January 1994, the three were found guilty of murder and several other charges, Möbus receiving an 8-year sentence. While the band members were serving time, a member of the Polish national socialist black metal (nsbm) band Graveland released Absurd's demo tape "Thuringian Pagan Madness" during the summer of 1995, which helped propel the group to fame within the nsbm scene. Also contributing to their notoriety, a flattering interview in the book Lords of Chaos. Since the murder, Absurd has become a cornerstone of the international national socialist black metal (nsbm) scene.

Upon his parole in August 1998, Möbus issued a public statement announcing that Mr. Beyer's murder had not been a crime because Mr. Beyer did not fit the "picture" of the German race. He ran afoul of German law in October that year when he was charged with displaying Nazi symbols.

Connecting with the International nsbm scene, Möbus became head of the German branch of the Heathen Front. Founded by imprisoned Norwegian neo-Nazi black metal artist Varg Vikerness, the Heathen Front is self-described as "a neo-heathen and racially aware movement, which struggles to secure the Aryan peoples existence." The Heathen Front now has chapters in 7 countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Russia, the Netherlands, and the United States. In addition to promoting their own brand of esoteric racism, they publish books by Vikerness and promote releases from his one-man-band, Burzum.

Möbus also founded Darker than Black Records, which quickly became one of the premiere nsbm labels. Upon his release, he also befriended the Saxonian Hammerskins, which allowed Darker than Black Records to reach a distribution deal with Germany's Hate Records, one of the biggest distributors of White Power music in Europe. The fusion of black metal and white power was completed in July 1999, when Hate Records purchased Darker than Black Records. At the same time, Möbus was being sentenced to 8 months in prison for displaying Nazi symbols. Möbus publicly announce his departure from Darker Than Black, but continued to control the label from behind the scenes.

On 6 October 1999, German authorities raided Darker than Black Records, No Colours Records, and Burznazg Productions. In the aftermath, Möbus is sentenced to an additional 18 months in prison for the distribution of Nazi propaganda. Faced with a possible 5-year prison term, Möbus decided to run.

As the German headquarters of D.T.B. Records was being shut down, Möbus was make plans to continue operations in the United States. He negotiated a distribution deal with the small black metal distributor Bestial Offerings in Midland, Texas that agreed to become D.T.B. Vinland, the mail-order outlet for D.T.B. products. He also negotiated a deal with another Texas black metal label, Ancestral Research Records. In the wake of his newfound connection to Resistance, those plans appear to be evaporating.

--------------------------------------

www.searchlightmagazine.com

for more information on the White Order of Thule, read Damned, Defiant and Dangerous: Continuing White Supremacist Violence in the U.S.