Seventeenth century English playwright William Cosgreve once wrote that “music has charms to soothe a savage breast.” These words were considered a truism until a phenomenon called “hatecore” music entered the picture from the white supremacist movement.

Before the 1970s, one occasionally would hear songs promoting the Klu Klux Klan and other neo-Nazi groups in the United States but beginning in the 1970s a whole new genre of music came out predicated on racism. Today this hatecore music is being used by neo-Nazi groups to attract young people into their movement; this source of recruitment is possibly the most important factor in the ability of neo-Nazi groups to expand or even maintain their membership. Hate music also has become an important source of income for white supremacists.

It should be noted here that the producers and distributors of such music are the ones making the money. Several prominent white supremacist groups in the U.S. receive a substantial amount and even a majority of their funding from distributing such hate music, promoting hate music concerts, and selling accessories and clothing. The bands are often formed of young people either unemployed or working in low-paying jobs. The groups form and reform as members are jailed and/or hospitalized, either for mental illness or injuries sustained as a result of violent confrontations.

A significant portion of today’s hate music is distributed in Europe, even in countries where they may be illegal. To its credit, Germany is one such nation that forbids racist literature and music, and neo-Nazis have been imprisoned for smuggling and distributing this kind of music into the country.

Perhaps most importantly, hate music has been instrumental in the formation of a white supremacist subculture. In the 1960s, neo-Nazis such as George Lincoln Rockwell had little to offer followers except extremist rhetoric. Now in the 21st century, however, white supremacists around the world are linked not only by shared ideas, but by shared customs, fashions, and most crucially, music. Hate music helps bring haters together into a shared community.

To a large degree, the emergence of modern hate music can be attributed to British singer Ian Stuart Donaldson (often referred to by white supremacists as Ian Stuart), who began as a punk rocker in England, but by the 1980s had transformed himself and his band, Skrewdriver, into explicit promoters of racism and white supremacy.

Stuart or Donaldson, depending on whom you ask, found an audience in the emerging skinhead subculture in Great Britain (and later in the U.S.). Ironically, the dominant form of music among skinheads at the time, Oi! (originally known as streetpunk), itself was initially brought from Caribbean reggae. But Stuart provided energy and direction for a growing number of racist skinheads (certainly not all skinheads are racist skinheads), who, following in Stuart's footsteps, formed bands of their own.

By the early 1980s, white power bands in the U.S. and Europe played racist Oi!, racist hardcore punk (often called hatecore), and racist metal music. During the next decade, hate music – often called "R.A.C." (Rock Against Communism) and “WP” (white power) music – increased its hold among young racists around the world.
When Ian Stuart Donaldson died in an auto accident in 1993, he became a white supremacist icon. He, however, did not live to see the transformation of his legacy. Within a few years of his death, the emergence of the World Wide Web radically altered the world of hate music, making it dramatically more accessible, more global, more visible and more lucrative. Hatecore music fans refer to their music in different ways, with few universally agreed upon conventions. There are no hard and fast definitions; the musical sub-genres influence and blend into each other, and also change somewhat over time. But the following styles show the main strains of hate music:

• Racist Oi!/RAC: The oldest genre of hate music is derived from Oi!, an offshoot of punk music that originated in the 1970s and became heavily associated with the emerging skinhead subculture. Most early Oi! bands were not racist, but in the wake of Skrewdriver, some racist Oi! bands emerged, sometimes calling their music Rock Against Communism. The term Oi! itself
was not coined until the 1980s.

• Hatecore: Hatecore is essentially a racist version of hardcore punk, a musical sub-genre that emerged in the U.S. in the early 1980s. Some hardcore punk musicians later merged it with heavy metal music to create thrash or speed metal; there are racist versions of this as well.

• National Socialist Black Metal Music (NSBM): A racist version of black (or death) metal music, itself descending from heavy metal and hardcore punk. NSBM originated in Scandinavia in the late 1980s and still bears that region's cultural influences. Sometimes NSBM is less explicitly white supremacist than other sub-genres, and often it adds a vehemently anti-Christian component that the other sub-genres lack.

• Nationalist Folk Music: Sometimes known as folkish music or national socialist folk music, this term refers to songs and music that hearken back to a mythical, often Aryan, Germanic, or otherwise nationalistic past. In such music racism is often implied rather than explicit, which is one reason why
it is more popular in some European countries such as Germany, where explicitly white supremacist lyrics may be illegal.

• Others: Almost any type of music can be infused with white supremacist themes. Racist music distributors may sell racist country music or rockabilly, or racist techno or electronica music. There is still even a market for marches and songs from the Nazi era of the 1930s-40s. However, these are far less popular than the above subgenres.

Although hate music tends toward certain musical styles, it is not the sound of the music itself that defines a song as hate music. Unless the words contain musical allusions to Nazi-era songs or other racist music, the music itself is neutral. This accounts for the strange phenomenon of non-racists who sometimes listen to this racist music; they ignore the words and concentrate on the music, which is similar to other music they enjoy. The important thing to understand is that it is the lyrics or the bands that sing them that are most likely to define a song or band as hateful.

Hatecore music lyrics can have a variety of themes, but most fall into one of eight categories:

1. Anti-Semitic Themes: Because for most white supremacists, Jews are the ultimate enemy, anti-Semitic themes are common in hate music. One song by the group Final War (California), for example, condemns a "feeble minded fool" who has hung up his skinhead boots "to join the Zionist rule." Many songs perpetuate anti-Semitic stereotypes.

A song by the hate music group Squadron (Australia), "Our Time Will Come," uses such stereotypes as a call to action: "Sick and tired of watching the Zionists control and gain/Rich men on our TV screens looking so vain/Raping our nations, They take what they want/Join up now, join in the fight, it's time that they were stopped."

Others are even more explicit, such as the Nokturnal Mortum (Ukraine) song, "The Call of Aryan Spirit," whose English translation reads: "Everything I own/Is given to the damned Jewish tribe /My Blood is calling me, and I won't calm down /Until I taste the smell of their blood."

2. Racist Themes: All non-whites are potential subjects for hate music, but hate music especially targets African-Americans and non-white immigrants. "Repatriation," a song from Final War, rages against such immigrants by stating that "One way or another the evil has crept in/They are pouring through the floodgates again and again/It's time to close them up and shut them out/We are here to put an end to it, so we shout!" Some songs are crudely brutal, such as the Grinded Nig (Texas) song "Splatterday, Nigger Day": "Drive around in my van/We want to kill a nigger/They are in the city/Follow one into the alley/We all attack the nigger/He has seen his last
day."

3. Nazi Themes: Many hate songs focus on Nazi Germany or World War II. Rebel Hell's (Detroit) song "Iron Coffin" salutes the German Panzers that conquered so much of Europe: "First the Sudeten, then 'cross the Rhine/Over the top with treads to the grind/Drive into Warsaw, resistance to crush/For panzer battalions are leading the thrust." One song by Squadron, "R.I.P," glorifies Adolf Hitler: "So salute the true Leader, for he has never died/He'll always be remembered, he lives on in our minds/Their Jewish lies disgraced his name, hoping we'd forget/But Adolf Hitler still lives on, his spirit is not dead."

4. Skinhead Themes: References to the skinhead scene are common in hate music. The group Final War, for example, in their song "Pride and Tradition," sings that "Pride and Tradition will see us through/Skinhead army the proud and the few/Pride and Tradition will see us through/Rising above we're America's youth." References to skinhead violence are just as frequent, as in the Max Resist (Detroit) song "Boot Party": "Bootparty, bootparty, bootparty/It's you we invite to war/Bootparty, bootparty/You'll feel the heat of our boots tonight." Similarly, "Nowhere to Run," a song from The Unruly (New York), also urges violence: "You see the skins have had it up to here/With these people who act like queers/So we'll gather up our crew/And
we'll beat them all black and blue."

5. Confrontation/War Themes: Hate music not only tries to stir up anger and resentment, but also acts as a call to action. Confrontation and war are frequent themes in hate music, ranging from crude calls to strike at one's "enemies" to visions of future race wars or apocalyptic battles. H8 Machine's (New Jersey) song "Wrecking Ball" is typical: "Wrecking, destroy all of your enemies/Fight back, hit back, hit back takeout another victim/Break down, the walls of opposition." The song "Thirst for Conquest" by Rebel Hell evokes a grander image: "To war the call we hear, the world trembling in fear/Storming to power, hail to the call/Marching in as one, the blitzkrieg rolling on/As über alles meaning over all." So too does Before God's (Minnesota) "Under the Blood Banner": "Legions attack, shoulder to shoulder/Striking the alien hordes/In battle formation, defending thy nation/With fury we wage, lighting wars!" Sometimes the message is simply one of crude violence, as in the Bound for Glory (Minnesota) song, "Onward to Victory": "Onward to Victory, the blood is gonna flow/Onward to Victory, we're gonna overthrow/Onward to Victory, in our battle stride/Onward to Victory, with our racial pride."

6. White Racial Protection Themes: In keeping with the popular racist slogan of the 14 Words ("We must secure the existence of our race and a future for white children"), many hate songs focus on protecting or defending the white race, the white family, or white children. Such songs are often used to urge white men to take action. Thus, in the band Das Reich's (Wisconsin) song "Which Way White Man," white males are urged to take up arms: "White man wake up/Fence sitters we can't afford/In the name of the
Reich the White man's fight/It's time to take the sword." Similarly, Youngland (California) sings, in "Stand One, Stand All," for white men to "Stand one stand all, stand up, stand proud/and raise the white man's flag." Other bands focus on the notion of a "white man's land," as in Final War's track "Land of the White": "This is our land, this land I see/This is our land so White, Proud and Free/This is our land when we've won the fight."

7. Viking/Norse Themes: Especially in Europe, but also in the U.S., songs that evoke Viking or Norse themes are common. These occur with greater frequency in Europe not only because Odinism is stronger there but also because hate bands can make references to Vikings safely, while they might face legal action singing about Nazis or Jews. But, as is so common in hate music, the Viking/Norse themes are typically used to urge people to take action, as in the Brutal Attack (Great Britain) song "When Odin Calls": "Ashes to ashes and dust to dust/In Odin's name carry on we must/And for the fallen those so brave/The fight goes on until the grave." Similarly, Youngland sings, in "Next Door to Heaven (Valhalla is Waiting for You)," praise to whites who have taken action: "Now you have taken your place amongst the Nordic Kings/for the White race you've done such wonderful things."

8. Racist Martyr/Icon Themes: Much of white supremacy is devoted to building up a mythology. This ranges from a pantheon of villains (Jews, nonwhites, gays, and sometimes Christians) to an alternative past (typically ancient Aryan, Celtic, or Norse utopias). But it also includes an arsenal of heroes, fictional and otherwise, to inspire the white activist. Many white power songs reference these heroes.
One of the most hallowed white supremacist heroes is Robert Mathews, a white supremacist who in the 1980s founded a terrorist group known as The Order. Robert Mathews is a frequent subject of racist songs. In "R.J.M.," the group Max Resist praises Mathews: "Robert Jay Mathews/He was a man that wouldn't compromise/He would never surrender, never give up/Until the day that he died." The singer Saga (Sweden) eulogizes him in "Gone with the Breeze": In our hearts he did not die/Forevermore his flag will fly/One day the land will stand in his memory, Robert Mathews." Other songs urge people to be like Mathews. Das Reich, in "A Gun in My Hand" sings: "From a seaport's piers I see Bob Mathews' tears/Our borders why are they all unmanned?/They're violated everyday and the foreigners are here to stay/It makes me shine this gun in my hand."

Some songs even immortalize fictional heroes such as Earl Turner, the main character of William Pierce's white supremacist novel The Turner Diaries. To understand why this fictional “hero” could have a song written about him, you would have to read the book and then you might see why these people of less than average intelligence could look up to him. Das Reich's "The Ballad of Earl Turner" praises him: "Earl Turner, your deed was a success/Nuking all the feds got us out of a mess/Even though it was written in pure fantasy/Today we're all living in the Turner Diaries." Still other songs praise past or current white supremacist groups such as Combat 18, Blood & Honour, and the Hammerskins.