In which I go further down the (metal) rabbit hole

Having recently tripped over the concept of Finnish folk metal, I thought I'd dive further into the world of metal in cultures other than the mainstream Euro-US traditions. Well. Korpiklaani is only the tip of the Scandi iceberg! I'm not sure what it is about Scandinavia, but they seem to have produced some amazing metal bands. Cold weather? Long winter nights? A lot of vodka* and schnapps? Who knows? 

The long, cold, winter nights theory doesn't really hold up when it comes to Asian and Middle Easten metal. Yes, it's a thing. And made even edgier by the fact that a lot of Middle Eastern metal bands are actually breaking their country's laws simply by being Middle Eastern metal bands.

One such is the Saudi band is Al-Namrood, who can't play live gigs in their country for fear of being
arrested and executed. Yep, executed. Their music is heavily anti-Islamic, which is a crime under the fundamentalist Islamic sharia laws of Saudi Arabia**. They are also critical of the country's laws regarding
the (non)status of women. The band's bassist goes by the pseudonym of Mephisto, and the band's name, Al-Namrood, literally translates as 'non-believer', so hardly any surprise that they keep a low profile in their home country where heretical behaviour and speech is not only frowned upon, but punishable by death.

A more interesting outfit, to my mind anyway, is the Indonesian all-female metal band, Voice of Bracepot. Crashing through the stereotype of angry white men playing metal, these are angry hijab-wearing Asian women. Far from being anonymous, they have a huge social media following, write and perform their own material and have toured internationally. Last year they toured Europe, including sold out concerts in London and Manchester.



American historian and musician, Professor Mark LeVine, has recently published a book on Islamic heavy metal. We'll play 'til we die is part Middle Eastern travelogue and part journey through the musical evolution of Middle Eastern and Islamic cultures, to the emergence of heavy metal and its cultural connotations.







* Korpiklaani have actually launched their own vodka!

** Did I ever tell you about the time I accidentally strayed into the Saudi Embassy in Canberra? No? Another time, perhaps.


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