Impaled Nazarene is a Finnish extreme metal band that formed in 1990 and started as black metal but have incorporated elements of grindcore, thrash metal and death metal, and grew towards hardcore punk for a while
After growing increasingly unpolished in delivery, the band made a shift, beginning in 2000 towards a sound that has been described as "a benzedrine-fueled combination of thrash metal and Iron Maiden". "it was clear that now that we had finally two guitar players that we kind of like wanted to get away from that punky kind of writing style and started just wanting to get more back to the metal feeling".
In June 2017 the hardcore festival Ieperfest in Ypres (Ieper), Belgium, removed Impaled Nazarene from the line up after threats of violence from protesters. The reason for the protest was the band's lyrics condoning homophobia and rape. The festival organizers issued the following statement:
Dear music lovers, After a firm debate - that's what you do in a democracy - the organization decided to cancel Finnish band IMPALED NAZARENE (in mutual consent). Otherwise we can no longer guarantee everyone's safety at our beloved festival. ... Ieperfest consists entirely out of volunteers. People with boundless love for music, but also full-time jobs, families and children. Threatening the personal integrity of our volunteers and visitors in today's context of attacks and raging violence... some of you should think twice!
In November 2024, there was a stir about the Eindhoven pop venue Effenaar in the Netherlands, after it had booked the band for the Eindhoven Metal Meeting on December 13 and 14. A petition 'no far-right bands in the Effenaar', in which the arrival of Impaled Nazarene was strongly condemned, was signed more than a thousand times.