Bands by Country

I'll be out tomorrow, so I'll post the next two countries on the list.

INDIA is next, and one of the hardest to pin down due to its many layers of cultures and history (they recognize 23 official languages and I believe use about 12 different alphabet scripts!)

I wanted to find a good "Vedic" type of metal, but these guys are more of progressive/death band called Demonic Resurrection:

The South-East Asian country of INDONESIA is next. Compromised of over 17,000 islands and many cultures, this country does have a good underground metal scene that's geared towards the more black/death scene. The first and I still think the coolest and most musically challenging band from that country I know of is Kekal. Although they started out as a full on black metal band, these days their music barely has a hint of metal in it. But the album this song comes from is still one of my favorites all time:

IRAN is the next county on the list (the name means Aryan in the Persian language as an ethnic identifier).

An ancient people with many ups and downs and changes throughout history, the metal scene in this currently oppressive society is very small, but what ever few bands they have usually gravitate towards the more brutal forms of metal, which is natural in societies that restrict many freedoms we take for granted.

This band Arsames is a one I heard about back in the the MySpace era circa 2006 when it was fun to discover bands on that site, and they play a competent form of death metal that could go head to head against many well established bands:

IRAQ is next. A land mass in which roughly some of the earliest and possibly first civilizations sprang forth such as Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Mesopotamian, Assyrian, Chaldean (Abraham's people), nowadays resembles a battle torn old street-corner prostitute: everyone knows where she is, everyone's probably been through her, but no one really wants to go there anymore.

The band presented, Acrassicaudua, made headlines when they were featured on global metal documentary and for being persecuted by the authorities for playing metal in Iraq, and the support they received from Metallica. Hopefully now that they reside in New York, they can give us a full-length:

IRELAND is next. I have a fascination with the Irish culture, I can't put my finger on why. Maybe it's the Guinness. Maybe it's the redheads. When I think of Ireland, Celtic folk music is the image I have. This band Cruachan has been around a while, and play their music in that style:

The State of ISRAEL is next. Possibly the craziest place in the world, bar none. Israel has some really good bands that have made it all the way to international fame. The band I'm going to present is a diverse one in Orphaned Land, with Jews, Muslims, and Christians within the group, and the album this song is from is about the unification of all three to bring about world peace (they can always dream right?):

ITALY is next and the last of the I countries. With nearly 5 thousand bands and a history of metal, the band I'm going to present is the first Italian band I knew of in the late 90's by way of Metal Blade. Italy has always seemed to me to favor the power metal sound, and Labyrinth is just that:

The island nation of JAMAICA is next. Primarily known for Reggae music and its variants, there are no real metal bands to be found (a crappy one-man black metal does exist, but it would have been better had it not). In fact, for Jamaica, I'm gonna take a detour and present a band that's not from here, but in keeping with the international theme, giving a nod to its most famous musician and heavy music.

This is a famous Bob Marley song made more famous by Eric Clapton, but this version is from a Malaysian band called FTG (F*ck the Government):

JAPAN is next. We all know the love that the Japanese have for all things metal. Many European and American bands have had bigger success there than in their own hometowns. And how can anyone discount the number of bands that have released some of the greatest live albums that in many cases brought them to international fame (Judas Priest, Deep Purple, Cheap Trick, Iron Maiden, etc.)?

The Japanese have some cool bands of their own, and many of the less traditional forms are really strange. But, this spot is going to go to their most famous band and one that is still kicking to this day 30+ years in the business, Loudness:

The country of JORDAN is next. Named after the famous Jordan River in the Bible, its inhabitants are a who's who of many different near eastern cultures that have inhabited the land for thousands of years, the primary one being Assyrians.

Of course, no metal scene really exists here, even though they are probably one of the most pro-western middle east countries around. For some reason, these countries tend to have more death metal bands than anything else, and that's what Tyrant Throne is all about, with its interesting song title. And this ends the J countries:

The Central Asian Turkic country of KAZAKHSTAN is next. The land of Borat (but not really), besides its Kazakh people, it also has a sizable Russian population.

The band I'm gonna feature is called Ulytau (which means Holy Mountain), and they play instrumental folk-metal, Kazakh style:

South KOREA is next. I don't know anything about their metal habits, but they seemed to like the heavier stuff more, and this band Crash is pretty good at thrash:

A little late for today's band, but the country is the tiny Arab nation of KUWAIT. They only have a few bands, but this one called Depth is killer. They play a progressive form of death metal and hopefully will release a full length in the future:

KYRGYZSTAN (say that ten times fast) is next and the last of the K countries. Another independent Turkic state in central Asia like its brothers in Kazakhstan, not much of metal here, except for this one band Darkestrah that has been around for a decade or so and now resides in Germany. They play a progressive form of folk-black metal, and I swear the the first part of this tune and its main refrain is a Turkish song I've heard in its original folk form:

The Southeast Asian country of LAOS is next. They only have one band listed. The language may throw you off, but the music is not that bad for this band called The Exile:

The Northern Baltic country of LATVIA is next. The surrounding countries are know for their folk/pagan/black metal leanings, and this band Skyforger fits the bill (maybe it's my sense of humor, but this video is funny in its maximum cheesiness):

LEBANON is next, sitting on top of Israel and having the Mediterranean Sea on its shores. The home of the the ancient Phoenicians, who gave us something we use every-single day, the Alphabet. The history and the peoples and Empires that have come through and ruled are numerous and give the country its cultural flavor.

The territories in these regions seem to like the brutal stuff, and this band Oath to Vanquish is a good death/grind band:

The northern African country of LIBYA is next. Interesting, it was at one time inhabited by the Phoenicians, same as the above country. Libya is all over the news in the last few months for the wrong reasons, and there really isn't any band that exists there. I was able to discover this band, but I have no info on them:

LIECHTENSTEIN is next. I'll admit, I'd never heard of this country, but it's a tiny landlocked nation sandwiched between Austria and Switzerland with a population of barely 36,000 which is probably the reason why.

Being such a small nation, the metal scene is tiny and the biggest name band they have going is a Gothic metal group called Elis. Not my cup of tea, but I don't think I've posted many Goth bands:

The Northern European Baltic state of LITHUANIA is next. A relatively small country, their metal scene is not the biggest.

The band Obtest has been around for nearly 20 years and released many album in the pagan/black tradition. Wish they had some kind of official video for at least one song:

The last of L countries is LUXEMBOURG, a small country sandwiched between France and Germany. I couldn't really find one decent band or video, hope this is satisfactory:

Today I'll post two countries since I'll be out all day tomorrow.

The Republic of MACEDONIA is next. A small country in Southeast Europe, its history is closely related to Greece. This band Serpentine Fire has old-school thrash leanings:

The island country of MADAGASCAR off the coast of Africa is next. Not much going on here, and all bands were listed as thrash/death, and that's what this band is about:

The Southeast Asian country of MALAYSIA is next. It consists of thirteen states and three federal territories and is separated by the South China Sea into two regions, so it looks a bit strange on maps.

Even though Islam is the official religion of the state, there are lots of bands from these territories, and most of them are of the black/death/thrash variety, which seems to be the case in far off Asian lands.

This band Cromok has been around for over 20+ years:

MALVIDES is next. A small group of islands off the coast of India, nothing to really speak of except a small group of bands not worth mentioning. This band Scared Legacy has decent music but the vocals just kill it, imo: