I have been told that the appeal against the decision to put the Death In June album ‘Rose Clouds Of Holocaust’ on the German ‘Index’ of banned music, literature etc. has recently been filed with the appropriate German law court by the manufacturer and distributer of this work, Tesco Organisation, Germany.
As part of the appeal I was asked to elaborate on my previous statement which has already appeared on this and other internet groups/newslists. As an artist whose work is publically available world-wide and whose work is now becoming censored by a German government agency, thus effecting that availability, I feel that this new additional statement is now also made public:
“Dear Sir, As I have said in my previous statement I believe that any form of art worth it’s salt is open to interpretation, reinterpretation and misinterpretation and should not necessarily be explained in any way, shape or form by the artist himself. Even if it could be! But, there are limits to being misinterpreted especially when the interpretors become accusers, stone throwers and are from a government agency!!
“Holocaust” as a word is used often in the English language to describe something catatrophic and of a final nature. It is derived from the original Greek meaning “burnt offerings”. As I have also previously stated the title of the song ‘Rose Clouds Of Holocaust’ was inspired by 2 trips to the volcanic island of Iceland in mid-Winter and mid-Summer 1989/1990 where I experienced a spiritual epiphany/revelation. In conversation with a close colleague of mine in the healing thermal waters of The Blue Lagoon situated near the town of Keflavik near the capital Rejkavik we spoke of Life and its disappointments. I realised as we swam in the naturally heated waters surrounded by a howling blizzard with temperatures 17 degrees below zero, that much of my adult Life had been led by lies about a particular relationship I had been in since 1980. It was a relationship that would also inspire the songs ’13 Years Of Carrion’ and ‘Accidental Protege’ which are also on the ‘Rose Clouds Of Holocaust’ album which is the work by my group in question. The steam rising from the heated waters of the Lagoon in the middle of this freezing cold landscape, coupled with the strange rose/purple colour of the sky gave the whole scenario a ‘holocaustic’ atmosphere. Most of the island in this area is afteral just moss-covered lava fields. ‘Rose Clouds Of Holocaust’ ably describes that scenario. At least in English!
As in almost all of my writings the remainder of the text have many reference points;
“Festivals End As Festivals Must” – an old newspaper heading commemorating the 10th anniversary of the death by suicide of one of my favourite gay authors Yukio Mishima.
“From the Hooded Crows of Rome” – I used to live in Rome in the early 1990s and these were the first birds I would see upon arrival at the airport
“To The Falcons Of Zagreb” – a city I have often visited and from my hotel window I have a good view of the family of falcons that live in and fly and hunt between the twin towers of the city’s Cathedral
“Mother Victim Of Jesus lie down in Sydney’s dust” – a line on a tombstone I noticed while taking a walk in Rookwood Cemetary in Australia, the largest cemetary in the World.
I do not write in a straight forward fashion. I pull a word from here or a line from there that I may have written today of several years ago. I only know it looks ‘correct’ when I place them together on paper. What it means after that,…????? I can only say where some were inspired from.
The same applies to the song ‘Lifebooks’ which was based around a conversation I had with a very close colleague in a pub near Leicester Square, London about Magick and the Occult and how a mutual friend of ours, who subsequently died, was destroying himself with these dark arts. The colleague I had the conversation with also co-writes some of the text.
“The Swirling Sound Of Swastikas Like Rotor-blades Of Thought Threshing The wheat Out from The Chaff – All this is a Dream,…”
demonstrates a perfect use of alliteration ( “S,S,S….Th, Th, Th,…”) as it symbolically refers to the fans in the pub ceiling turning as we spoke that long afternoon about the pros and cons of dabbling with the Occult. But, naturally I could have said;
‘The fans in the pub ceiling turned around like propellor blades as we spoke of the advantages and disadvantages of dealing with the Occult’
For me I know what sounds better poetry in English!
But, evidently others in Germany really know what these words mean! I am in awe at their expertise and talent. However, I am confused why this album which has sold 10s of thousands and has been freely available via different distributers Worldwide for 10 years without any problems, including in Israel where I recently performed, has only now become the subject of the scrutiny of censorship? For that I have no answers.
In a nutshell, I do not deny the existence of The Holocaust. The Holocaust is and was a completely different experience to ‘Rose Clouds Of Holocaust’ as I’m sure any inmate of an extermination camp would testify. The people who claim the 2 are one and the same should be ashamed of their disgusting conceit.
Yours Sincerely, Douglas P. (DEATH IN JUNE)”
