During the Purge the Church of the Church of the Reclaimer waged a war on information. This extended to any culture that fell outside the Reclaimer world view. The entertainment industry, musicians, and film makers were high priority targets. Most industry professionals walked away without a fight to avoid persecution. However, there were those that went underground and refused to submit to the Church. One of the most influential bands from this turbulent time was White Requiem, a Metal, Proto-Razor trio that refused to submit.
One of the few underground bands that survived the Purge and the years of theocratic rule that followed the Great War, during the height of the Church’s power White Requiem spat in their face. The band hid subversive messages of corruption and Church cruelty inside their lyrics. Using a network of fans the band was able to discriminate their music across the ASA outside the watchful eye of the Church. During this period White Requiem didn’t so much as tour as they did move from city to city to avoid prosecution for moral crimes putting on underground shows in burned out libraries or schools
On March 13th, 2138 the three member band along with a group of their supporters were captured outside an illegal speakeasy in Toronto. On March 15th White Requiem along with twenty six other men and women were Purged by Fire in the Metro Convention Centre. The news spread like a virus through the underground and riots sprang up across the continental ASA in the weeks that followed. Recordings of Requiem’s music found new inroads to Church controlled school campuses fueling the growing resistance movement in the ASA.
While over sixty years old White Requiem’s music is still considered highly influential in the rock world. Their legacy of underground resistance and refusal to submit to an authoritarian regime continues to resonate with the disenfranchised and forgotten working class of the modern age.
