This morning, the internet was awash with the news that H&M had created a handful of fake, neo-Nazi metal bands in an attempt to sell T-shirts. As it turned out, this was a hoax.
One of the bands said to have been created by H&M listed themselves as part of the record label "National Heritage Pride", and another had imagery of Hitler on their band profile. It turned out that these T-shirts were never actually on sale, and were actually part of a joke on H&M by, among others, Moonsorrow/Finntroll's Henri Sorvali.
Watch a trailer for the fake T-shirts below
When Noisey spoke to Sorvali about the hoax, he insisted, "The purpose of the group (consisting of literally tens of people from different areas of music and media around Scandinavia) was to create discussion on the fact that metal culture is more than just 'cool' looking logos on fashionable clothes, and has many more aesthetic and ideological aspects in different subgenres than what some corporations are trying to express. "
He continued, "The metal scene is varied, controversial and a sort of a wolf you can't chain into a leash and expect it to behave on your terms like a dog. Strong Scene as a collective has absolutely no political nor ideological intentions, and is only bringing the conversation to the level it should be discussed at. Think of us as the one-time 'Yes Men' of metal music."
