Heavy Metal from around the world

[miko2]

After listening to Rudra and Agni on Friday, I joked with a friend at work who is a Buddhist (she always wears a Buddhist mandala necklace, and perhaps more importantly, has Buddhist Sanskrit tattoos). I asked her if she liked "Buddhist metal". SHe laughed. I showed her a bit of the above Hindu bands and she t hought those were very cool, and said her son would probably love them. I said there was probably Buddhist metal out there somewhere, and if I found any I'd let her know.

Later on my afternoon break I decided to look for Buddhist metal. What I found were referenced to a Mongolian metal band called Hurd. I also found that a Portugese death metal band called The Firstborn has written an entire album called The Unclenching of Fists based in Buddhist scripture, and is planning another. The leader of the band doesn't consider himself Buddhist but since beginning the project has become much more interested in Buddhist writing.

This means I have Christian metal (both pro- and anti-Christian; let's not kid ourselves that anyone writing Satanic lyrics is not still working in a Christian framework ^_^ ); I have Hindu/Vedic metal; I have a cd by Mezurkarbal, a heavy metal band from Turkey that I could probably pass off as Islamic metal, although that's like calling Metallica a Christian band I suspect (their name inside Turkey is Pentagram, so they go full in for the demonic connection I believe); I have a cd by Orphaned Land that is an Isreali band I could probably pass off as Jewish metal (they do write religious lyrics, but they seem to be more into a sort of Middle Eastern mysticism that assumes Jewish, Christian, and Islamic are all teaching the same core message from the one true God).

I also have, of course, Wiccan and Pagan bands of many stripes. My favorite folk band Korpiklaani writes often of Shamanism. The previous evening I had run across a "Native American grindcore" band, Resistant Culture.

So... I began to wonder, where or in what context can't I find heavy metal music? I'm probably not going to find a Saudi Arabian metal band or Iranian metal band, right? Well, who knows? You'd be surprised! So, here I am, trying to list one band for each country I can come up with.

Yes, this is what I do for fun sometimes. ^_^

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Let's start with the obvious. I have a lot of metal from North America and Western Europe. Heavy metal has always been very prevelant in North America and Northern Europe especially:

North America

United States: Kamelot
Canada: Kittie
Mexico: Don't think I own any Mexican metal, but here's a band: Elfonia

Western Europe

United Kingdom: Black Sabbath
Ireland: Cruachan
Iceland: I don't own any, but here's one band: Shiva
Faroe Islands: I bet you didn't even know this was a country. Tyr
Norway: Midnatsol
Sweden: Opeth
Finland: Nightwish
France: Heavenly
Germany: Blind Guardian
Denmark: Wuthering Heights
The Netherlands: Within Temptation
Belgium: Apparently I don't have any. But here's one: Enthroned
Luxembourg: Eh... don't own any, but I know there are some, I'm just not sure which ones are even halfway decent. Well here's one: Desdemonia
Spain: I have a cd by Arwen, but I'm intrigued by a folk-metal band that goes by the name of Mago de Oz (Wizard of Oz). ^_^
Portugal: Moonspell (I have one song of theirs I downloaded.)
Liechtenstein: Elis
Switzerland: I don't own any. Celtic Frost (Because Switzerland is very Celtic... well, it probably was at one time long ago anyway. ^_^ ) *EDIT* Oh wait! I forgot that Lunatica is from Switzerland -- and I own them!
Italy: Thy Majestie
Greece: I don't own any. Rotting Christ
Cyprus: Do not own. Arryan Path (Not a Nazi group, but Cyprus folk power metal.)
Malta: Do not own. Forsaken
Monaco: Okay, I didn't find any metal bands from Monaco, at all. But I'm sure there must be a couple! ^_^
Gibralter: Indeed there's a band there: Breed 77


Eastern Europe

Here is where things start to get tricky. ^_^

Poland: I don't own any. Behemoth
Lithuania: No I don't own anything from here. Obtest
Latvia: Skyforger Pagan metal!
Estonia: No, I don't own anything from here. Forgotten Sunrise
Belarus: I don't have any. Divina Enema
Ukraine: Don't own any... but I may want to: Holy Blood Christian folk black metal from the Ukraine? Ha!
Russia: Don't own any. Aria
Moldava: Don't own any. Dakon
Czech Republic: Don't own any. Lykathea Aflame
Slovakia: Do not have. Morgain
Austria: Visions of Atlantis
Hungary: Without Face
Slovenia: Don't own any. Barehanded
Romania: Don't own any. Interitus Dei
Moldavia: Don't own. Offertorium
Bosnia/Herzegovina: I own nuffink! Intefector
Serbia/Montenegro: I have none. Tales of Dark
Macedonia: Own nothing. Time Sand
Albania: Hard to even find a band to list: ThunderWay
Bulgaria: Have none. Music Station sounds interesting though... sort of a Bulgarian Dream Theater or Rush?
Croatia: Don't own: Hope (Christian death metal from Croatia? Indeed.)
Turkey: Mezurkarbul (Pentagram)

Okay, before we launch into a search for Asian and African metal bands, let's cover Central and South America (and what the heck, the Carribean as well). There are some well known metal bands here, especially from Brazil:

Carribean

Cuba: No, I have nothing, but it does exist: Medium
Jamaica: Couldn't find one.
Haiti: Could not find a Haitian heavy metal band.
Dominican Republic: There is a metal band in the Dominican Republic: Infernal Requiem
Puerto Rico: No I don't own it, but: Dantesco
Cayman Islands: There is no heavy metal band here that I could find.
Bahamas: Didn't find one here either.

Central America

Guatamala: Own nothing: Astur Ignis
Belize: Didn't find a band to list.
El Salvador: Don't own it: Dismal Gale
Honduras: Don't own, but found a band: Delirium
Nicaragua: I don't own any metal bands from Central America, if it comest to that: Vortex
Costa Rica: Don't own this either: Acero
Panama: Nothing found.

South America

Brazil: Sepultra is very well known, but I favor Angra for their folk and symphonic influences.
French Guiana: No band to list.
Suriname: Nothing found.
Guyana: No band found.
Trinidad and Tobago: No band found.
Venezuela: No band found.
Columbia: Don't have: Legend Maker
Ecuador: Do not own: Abismo Eterno
Peru: Do not own, of course: Ill Nino
Bolivia: Again, I have this not: Estertor
Paraguay: I found nothing for Paraguay.
Chile: Don't own it: Poema Arcanus
Argentina: Woo, folk metal from Argentina! I may need to pick them up: Tengwar
Uruguay: Do not own: Dawn of Defiance

Middle East

Okay, metal from pro-Western, mostly-secular Turkey I can understand. Isreal? Of course! Jordan? it's fairly pro-Western. Lebanon? Heavy metal is banned there, but they're relatively modernized so it still makes some sense. But what about seriously conservative Islamic countries like Saudia Arabia or Iran?

You'd be surprised.

Let's take it as read that I don't own any of these, apart from Orphaned Land.

Georgia: Ruins of Faith
Azerbaijan: Nothing found.
Armenia: Ambehr
Kazakhtan: Holy Dragons
Kyrgyzstan: Neocrima
Uzbekistan: Nothing.
Turkmenistan: Nothing.
Afghanistan: Nothing.
Pakistan: Corpsepyre
Syria: The Hourglass
Iraq: Acrassicauda
Isreal: Orphaned Land One of my favorites.
Jordan: Do not own. Ajdath
Lebanon: I don't own any, of course, but here you go: Kimaera
Iran: Believe it or not! Here they are: Ahoora
Palestine: You'd think there would be one, but I didn't find it.
Egypt: Worm
Kuwait: Nothing.
Saudia Arabia: Here's a surprise: Saudi Arabian grindcore. Creative Waste Now I've heard it all.
United Arab Emirates: Death metal in the desert: Nervecell
Quatar: Nada.
Oman: Zip.
Yemen: Zilch.

Africa

Not known as a hotbed of metal, right? Well, you'd expect to find metal in South Africa of course, but what about the rest of the country?

I'm cribbing a lot from the Metal Observer web pages which reviews cds from all over the world and allows you to search by country of origin... so from here on out I'm mostly going to list jsut the countries that they have entries for. I won't list all of the countries in Africa and Asia that don't have known metal bands, because quite a few (especially in Africa) don't.

South Africa: Voice of Destruction
Nambia: Surprise! Heavy metal from Nambia! Arcana XXII
Morocco: The Nightmare

Asia

Japan: While I'm partial to Feel So Bad, I probably should list the much more popular and original Dir en grey
India: Demonic Ressurection
Reunion Island: Nazca
Taiwan: Seraphim Gothic/symphonic metal, I might have to check them out!
Vietnam: Sword of Darknes
Thailand: Surrender of Divinity
Singapore: Rudra I like 'em. ^_^
South Korea: Oathean
Indonesia: Kekal
China: Ritual Day or I could mention Tang Dynasty which claims to be China's first metal band.
Phillipines: Kratornas
New Zeland: 8 Foot Sativa
Mongolia: Hurd
Malaysia: Nightshaders
Andorra: Persefone
Astralia: Last but not least. I could list AC/DC of course, one of the biggest hard rock acts the world has ever known, but I think I'll instead list the longest-running Christian death metal band on the planet -- they were, in fact, the first Christian death metal band on the planet, and they're still around. Mortification


I'm still missing a few to be sure. Isn't there any South Pacific Island metal? No Himilayan metal? I'm sure there must be!

Aha!

Nepal: Ugrakarma


I stayed up really late the last two nights, then I got up early this morning and spent the whole morning researching for this post when I really had other things to do. Now I'm even looking for a couple of these cds. It's not like I need new music -- I bought 2 new cds yesterday and another arrived in the mail, and I really haven't even listened to them yet. I'm such a dork. :p