Watain are down one of their touring members as guitarist Set Teitan has bowed out of the group after a photo of him giving a Nazi salute circulated on social media. This marks the second time the band has come under fire for the same offense with the same musician, as Teitan was alleged to have previously made a gesture during a live show in Stockholm that some interpreted as a Nazi salute, which the band denied at the time.

The band's Erik Danielsson reached out to Metal Sucks with a statement on the matter, revealing that Teitan had decided to step away in the midst of the controversy, but also added that the gesture in the photo was made in jest. The exasperated vocalist also called out those who claim that the band have a political agenda and sent a "heartfelt fuck off to all those who insist on feeding on the mindless moral witch-hunt hysteria that is now festering on worldwide heavy metal culture." See his statement below.

The gesture on that picture was done in jest 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.

We furthermore spit upon the ill-willed ignorance of all those who maintain that Watain have any political agenda whatsoever, for 20 years we have proven otherwise and people should know better by now. Finally we would like to send a heartfelt fuck off to all who insist on feeding the mindless moral witch-hunt hysteria that is now festering on worldwide Heavy Metal culture. Hail Satan!

Back in January at the time that Teitan was first accused of making the gesture during a show, the band stated, "Fucking hell, come on folks! As everyone should know by now, Watain band members have no ties to nazi ideology neither publicly nor personally, and with this statement we want to put an end to further unnecessary speculation in this tiresome subject. What we give praise to in our songs and in their lyrics could very well be seen as the very anti-thesis to some utopian right wing ideology of the past. 'saluting' one of our many enemies on the sacred ground that is our stage would not make much sense. That is something we are sure our fans and supporters -who we are proud to say are from every possible 'race,' gender, nation and cultural background can testify to." The alleged concert incident takes place at approximately 48 seconds into the video below.

See Watain Guitarist's Alleged Nazi Salute

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