Swedish metal band temporarily parts ways with guitarist who made Nazi salute

Watain said they temporarily parted ways with the band's guitarist following a circulated photo showing him giving the Nazi salute. (Facebook)

Watain, a Swedish metal band, announced it has temporarily parted ways with its guitarist after a picture circulated online showing the musician making the Nazi salute.

The band’s frontman, Erik Danielsson, said Set Teitan would be “stepping aside for a period of time” due to the outcry from the photograph, NME reported. Teitan joined Watain in 2007.

Danielsson claimed Teitan’s gesture in the photograph “was done in jest.”

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“That’s as much as we have to say about that, but to put an end to this tiresome and time-consuming nonsense, the guitarist in question has decided to step aside for a period of time to avoid further hopeless discussions on the subject,” Danielsson told MetalSucks, a website that reports on metal bands.

Danielsson said the band “spit upon the ill-willed ignorance” who claimed the guitarist had “any political agenda whatsoever.”

He ended the statement saying, “Finally, we would like to send a heartfelt f--- off to all who insist on feeding the mindless moral witch-hunt hysteria that is now festering on worldwide heavy metal culture. Hail Satan!”

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Brooklyn Vegan, a music blog based in New York, reported Teitan appeared to gesture the Nazi salute during a concert in Stockholm a few months ago.

The band responded to the video stating, “As everyone should know by now, Watain band members have no ties to Nazi ideology, neither publicly nor personally.”