Marilyn Manson has a tour planned this summer and he’s bringing a neo-Nazi with him. Manson has been in the hot seat for a plethora of reasons in the past, most recently due to a 2024 HBO documentary where his ex-fiancé, Evan Rachel Wood, alleged Manson had raped her. Manson won’t be the only person on stage with major allegations looming. Accompanying his act is Five Finger Death Punch, another band whose frontman faces allegations of domestic violence. But the most concerning act in the lineup might be Slaughter to Prevail, a band with a neo-Nazi frontman who’s taken only the most lukewarm steps to cover his tracks.
Alex “Terrible” Shikolai, lead singer and lyricist for Slaughter to Prevail has admitted to having been a member of an unnamed Russian neo-Nazi group before the band’s immigration to the U.S. in 2022. His involvement in the Russian neo-Nazi scene was first reported on in 2015 when the band’s entire European tour was canceled and the band’s booking agency, Doomstar, severed ties with them. This didn’t deter bands and labels in the U.S. from working with STP. They were signed to Sumerian records in 2016, just a year after a public call to cancel their tour of Europe. They also played at that year’s “Summer Slaughter” festival, a touring metal festival headlined by some of the genre’s biggest names, including Cannibal Corpse.
It is unclear when, but at some point prior to moving to Florida, Shikolai had his most prominent Nazi tattoo, a black sun on his elbow, covered or removed. He would go on to state in a YouTube video that he “does not regret about that”—“that” being his time in the neo-Nazi movement
“I had a black sun on my elbow, I was hanging with the right wing guys, I was fighting” Shikolai said in the interview, referring to the Nazi sonnenrad or black sun symbol. “I’m happy I have had this experience.”
Shikolai also allegedly put out two statements, one in English on his Facebook disavowing his former comrades and one in Russian on his VK page, a Russian social media site, where he says antifa made him say what he said and that he still holds his beliefs. His Russian post is deleted but you can find quotes of it in the post’s comment section.
Though Shikolai simply refers to it as “fighting,” the Russian neo-Nazi movement is known for particularly brutal group attacks, levied mostly towards women and elderly immigrants and usually carried out by groups of young white men clad in bomber jackets with shaved heads. These videos are often posted online with the intent of inspiring similar acts in young, impressionable men.
Shikolai’s lyrics aren’t inherently about the white supremacist movement, but they do have a heavily nationalistic theme with a focus on a strong “might makes right” sentiments so common to fascism. They are also quite violent. One song titled “I Killed A Man’’ ends by repeating the lyrics “I killed a man” around 10 times or so with little other lyrical content throughout the song.
Shikolai makes and sells stylized masks that he also wears on stage. You may have seen versions of the mask depicting a golden devil with an articulated lower jaw on your TikTok “for you” page. One mask for sale online has several Norse runes on them, specifically the Odal rune, (which Shikolai also had a tattoo of) and the Tyr rune, which were both appropriated by the Nazis and used on their uniforms. Tyr is of particular importance to Neo Nazi skinheads, like the majority of the Russian movement, as they often stylize their “crucified skin” tattoo with the rune rather than the traditional cross. The band do not seem to be followers of Norse paganism despite using these symbols.
Shikolai also appears to have an affinity for the white power fitness brand “White Rex.” He both wears their gear and follows a page on his VK page called “White Rex Division Ural” White Rex is a blatantly white supremacist brand, claiming they “[advocate] pan-European pride and traditional values. White Rex encourages all Europeans to embrace the warrior spirit of their ancestors, and fight back against the modern world”. White Rex is banned in Germany for their extremist views.
Shikolai’s support of Nazi groups inevitably extends to music. He gave his support to Russian Neo Nazi band “You Must Murder” by liking their page and sharing their music on his VK profile in 2014. He also shared a photo of himself with right wing Russian rap artists Tony Raut and Gary Topor in 2015. On his VK page Shikolai follows a group called “Ural Fan Party” a group for Nazi hooligans from Yekaterinburg, Shikolai’s hometown and where he lived at the time that he was active in the Russian Nazi skinhead movement.
STP and Manson begin their tour this August, but these are not the only dates STP have booked in the near future. Notably they will be playing at “The New England Hardcore and Metal Festival” in Worcester, MA at the Palladium where they will play along side legendary bands from the heavily antifascist hardcore scene like BANE, Integrity, and Death Before Dishonor.