Bands by Country

The little island of MALTA is next. Somewhere between Africa and Sicily, it's a small nation and interestingly the only European Union country which speaks a Semitic language due to its history (those ever-present Phoenicians ruled the land once).

I couldn't pass up playing a band called Metalmilitia, and I'm not certain if this is a cover song or an original:

MEXICO is next. Quite a lot of bands, mostly in the death/thrash realm. This band Brujeria has been around a long time and possibly the best known band.

Personal Mexico story kinda related to this video: I came back from Mexico with my buddies and the cops held us over for over 2 hours at the border because they wanted to know what 6 guys with citizenship's from Palestine, Syria, and Armenia were doing there. Apparently the officer told me they had to make sure we had no terrorist ties

The Eastern European country of MOLDOVA is next, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine. Not a big country or scene at all. This band Neuromist plays a progressive form of death metal, and fans of Death, Atheist, etc., will probably dig this:

I'm gonna put up 2 countries today cause I'll be out tomorrow.

Next up is MONACO, a sovereign city state at the edge of France with a small population of 36,000 people. The only band worth mentioning is one called Godkiller, an interesting band that has gone from death to black to industrial black to electronic metal throughout its history. The lyrics from this album I think all come from the book of Job and Jeremiah:

MONGOLIA is next. The least densely populated country in the world and possibly the last nomadic peoples left with one of the most storied past, nothing to really speak of metal wise. This band Hurd has been around nearly 20 years:

The southeastern European country of MONTENEGRO is next. A tiny country bordered by Serbia, Albania, and Croatia with a tint population and and only a handful of bands.

Vizant is the only band with a full length album and music video:

The Western African country of MOROCCO is next. Original home of the Berbers, just about all the dozens bands listed were either in the black or death camp. This band Sawlegen is not even listed in the MA site:

The southeastern African country of MOZAMBIQUE is next. Although Portuguese is their official language, metal bands are nearly non-existent. This is the closest thing to a metal video I could find:

The Southeast Asian country of MYANMAR is next. Now known as Burma, no major bands to speak of except for one called Nightmare. And this ends the M countries:

Next up is NAMIBIA, a Southwestern African country bordering South Africa and whose official language is English. Just a couple of bands, this one being their oldest called Arcana XXII:

The South Asian country of NEPAL is next. A small landlocked country between China and India, the metal scene is not big at all. This is a band called Vhumi:

NETHERLANDS is next. A Dutch kingdom in North-West Europe bordered by Belgium and Germany, it is also referred to as Holland. There are a ton of great bands from this area. This band Asphyx started out nearly 25 years ago and has reformed in the last few years to unleash their brand of death/doom metal on the world:

NETHERLANDS ANTILLES is next, also known as Dutch Antilles, a group of islands in the Caribbean. Only 2 bands are listed, and they stink. Actually, the 2 videos available are so bad in sound and quality, I just decided I'm gonna put up another band from the Netherlands because they deserve it. From one of my favorite music projects:

NEW CALEDONIA is next. Never heard of it? Neither had I until now. It's a tiny group of islands in the Southwest pacific and the official language is French. A small population with just a handful of bands. The only artist with an actual album is a shred/progressive artist named Pascal Allaigre who pretty much plays all the instruments:

NEW ZEALAND is next. Surprisingly, they have a healthy metal scene. The band I'm gonna feature is called Dawn of Azazel, and they were the first NZ band I had heard of because the media made a hoopla of the bands front-man being a police officer and singing such violent and anti-religious lyrics. Nothing like free publicity for a death metal band that otherwise would not get that kind of notice:

The Central American country of NICARAGUA is next. I think we know they like a lot death and thrash. This band Schizoid was one of the better ones:

The mighty metal country of NORWAY is next. It's always hard to pin down a country like Norway to just one band because they have had so many great bands that have changed and re-shaped the metal landscape. I mean, when you have Emperor, Mayhem, Immortal, Dark Throne, Burzum, Enslaved, Borknagar, Satyricon, Communic etc., in your ranks, not even including the pre-black metal era bands, it's a tough choice.

I'm gonna tip my hat to a band that's really hard to define, a band that has in its ranks members from most of the above mentioned bands. All of their albums have given me something to really appreciate for sure. I give you Arcturus:

I'm gonna hit up the next two countries today.

OMAN is next, an Arab state on the southeast coast of the Arabian peninsula. They only have 1 known band, and the are called Arabia and play black metal:

PAKISTAN is next, and due to their connection with India, they do actually have quite a few metal bands, which was surprising to me because their next door neighbor Afghanistan has none. This band is called Takatak:

PANAMA is next, the southernmost country of Central America. Death/thrash is the name of the game here. The band I'm gonna highlight might be of interest to many of you here. They are called Sargon and the drummer Alex Marquez has been in bands such as Malevolent Creation and Cephalic Carnage, while the bassist Kelly Conlon has been in Death, Vital Remains, Fires of Babylon and our very of Temple of Blood(!), although he joined I believe after this recording:

Next up is PARAGUAY, a landlocked country in South America bordered by Bolivia, Brazil, and Argentina. Here's a pretty cool thrash band called The Force that would fit in nicely with the new wave of bands out in the last few years like Fueled by Fire, Merciless Death, Hexen, etc.

Another South American country in PERU is next, bordered by Ecuador and Colombia. The band presented is another thrash band around for more than 25 years having opened shows for Iron Maiden and others called M.A.S.A.C.R.E, not to be confused with the one from Colombia also presented on this thread:

The PHILIPPINES is next. Lots of death/thrash bands from a region that has over 7,000 islands in its Republic in Southeast Asia. This band is called Bloodshedd and has been around nearly 15 years:

The Central European country of POLAND is next. These guys love their metal, and they have unleashed some of the best in extreme bands from the beginning. Behemoth and Decapitated are two of the first I ever knew about, but this band Vader was the first. And this is a video from their debut album in 1993:

PORTUGAL is next, being related to Spain by way of geography and closeness in language. The first ever Portuguese band I heard about was Moonspell, and since they are nearly 20 years old and have had international fame with their black/gothic/extreme style and love for HP Lovecraft, they will be the featured band: