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African heavy metal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

African heavy metal
Botswana death metal band Wrust in 2013
Stylistic originsHeavy metal
Cultural origins1970s, Africa
Typical instruments
  • Electric guitar
  • electric bass guitar
  • drum kit
  • vocals
Regional scenes
  • Algeria
  • Angola
  • Botswana
  • Egypt
  • Kenya
  • Libya
  • Madagascar
  • Morocco
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • South Africa
  • Tunisia
  • Uganda
  • Zimbabwe

African heavy metal refers to the heavy metal music scene in Africa, particularly in East African countries such as Kenya and Uganda, and Southern African countries including Namibia, Madagascar, Angola, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. It also extends into North African nations such as Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. African heavy metal is characterized by the use of European and American metal genres, usually blended with traditional African instruments and musical styles, creating distinct regional differences.

History

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Southern Africa

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The author Edward Banchs traveled extensively through African countries, exploring the most prominent metal scenes, and published a book covering the musicians and the rise and struggles of the respective cultures in the Sub-Saharan and island countries.[1] According to Banchs, South Africa has developed a robust metal community due to the existing music industry and a large population.[2]

South Africa

In South Africa, heavy metal was introduced from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s in Johannesburg and saw the relative success of bands such as Odyssey, Ragnärok, Urban Assault, and Voice of Destruction.[3] The arrival of metal music in the country was controversial. For example, the government and the N.G Kerk banned certain records from being imported, and fans of the genre faced hostility from the public, with accusations of Satanism.[3]

In South Africa, the fan base and band members are predominantly made up of White South Africans, unlike in other African countries, such as Botswana, where the fan base is predominantly Black.[4] The first black metal band in South Africa with all Black members, Demogorath Satanum, was formed in 2009 and works to change the perception of metal music as a genre for White people and to attract more Black fans.[5] Vulvodynia is a deathcore/grindcore band with both Black and White members.[6]

Botswana

The Botswana heavy metal scene started in the 1970s, with the introduction of classic rock, and evolved into a distinctive subculture with a cowboy-inspired aesthetic.[7][8][9] Wrust, Overthrust, and Skinflint have achieved some international success and recognition. The 2014 documentary March of the Gods: Botswana Metalheads documents the heavy metal scene in the country.[citation needed]

Other countries

Other southern African countries such as Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Madagascar have developing metal scenes as well. The documentary film Terra Pesada explores the metal community in Mozambique.[10] Namibia held a metal festival in Windhoek intermittently between 2007 and 2014, called the Windhoek Metal Fest.[11] Zimbabwe held its first documented metal concert in Harare in 2015,[12] and the first album in Shona, by the band Dividing the Element, was released in 2018.[13] The Angola metal scene was documented and featured in the film Death Metal Angola.[14]

Madagascar also has a growing metal community, covered by Edward Banchs.[15]

North Africa

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Heavy metal made an appearance in North Africa in the 1980s.[16] Bands in the region tend to be politically active, with members engaging in activism.[16] In January 1997, between 78 and 87 metal fans were forcibly removed from their homes and imprisoned under Egypt's statute against the "contempt of heavenly religions"[17] and for obscene acts, drug possession, and promoting extreme ideas. The media took hold of the information about the arrests and spread stories of drug use, Satanic rituals, animal sacrifice, and orgies.[18] Defendants were eventually released due to a lack of evidence, but some were held for as long as three weeks.[17] The metal scene retreated following the crackdown but came back slowly and cautiously to avoid suspicion in the 2000s, and it has since largely recovered.[19] The 2011 revolution in Egypt politicized metal further and caused the genre to gain popularity among mainstream audiences,[18] though the genre is still not fully accepted by society in Egypt. Security forces have prevented metal bands from entering the country, and, in 2012, the media and the Muslim Brotherhood accused metal fans of Satanism, although the allegations did not produce the same effects as those made in 1997.[20] Many bands have since left Egypt, finding that the end of the revolution has caused the scene to wane.[21]

The metal community in Morocco faced a similar series of arrests as Egypt. Nine musicians and five fans were sentenced to prison time for being anti-Islamic in 2003,[22] though they were eventually released, after Moroccans protested.[23] Despite the scrutiny metal fans face in Morocco, festivals like L'Boulevard, which feature hip hop as well as metal music from around the world, have gained popularity and government support,[24] and an organization called the Moroccan Metal Community organizes concerts and promotes Moroccan metal bands.[25]

Tunisia, Libya, and Algeria also have small metal scenes, but they struggle from lack of access to equipment, record labels, venues, and recording studios. Musicians also cite the revolution in 2011 as a reason for the genre's lack of development in the region.[26] Libya saw growth in its heavy metal scene following the Libyan Civil War (2011).[27] Algeria's metal community is strong, beginning in the 1990s as an underground movement during the civil war, though it has also sustained attacks by the media and the public.[28][29]

East, Central, and West Africa

[edit]

Eastern and Western Africa have seen less of a metal presence.[2] Kenya was first introduced to metal music in the 1990s, and it grew in popularity in the 2000s, with band such as Duma.[30][31] Kenyan musicians used Christianity and the post-election crisis of 2008 as inspiration for their songs.[32]

Central and Western Africa do not have a well-documented history of metal music. The band Arka'n Asrafokor from Togo have made a name for themselves internationally,[33] with their own brand of metal, which is strongly influenced by Togo's culture and music.[34] Their music has been described as "unlike any other unleashed in the metal world. As raw as it is refreshing, metal's rise in the continent had yet to hear such a full embrace of the pre-colonial experience that assaults your stereo, both lyrically and musically".[35] However, in 2020, the band admitted to being the lone embodiment of Togo's metal scene.[36]

Researchers attribute the shortage of metal music in African countries to multiple factors, including a lack of urbanization, inadequate internet access, and a dearth of venues and record labels.[32]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Winegarner, Beth (9 September 2016). "Edward Banchs' New Book, 'Heavy Metal Africa,' Explores the Heavier Side of the Dark Continent". Vice. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Black Death". FROONT. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b "From the Ground Up: A History of Metal in South Africa". Broken Amp. 19 October 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  4. ^ Marshall, Frank (31 March 2011). "Botswana's Cowboy Metalheads". Vice. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Meet Africa's First All-Black Black-Metal Band, Demogoroth Satanum". Revolver. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Local events around Phoenix, Arizona". 12news.com. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Africa is the last frontier for metal: Botswana's metal heads still rocking". CNN. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  8. ^ "Botswana's cowboy metalheads". Vice. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Black Death". FROONT. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  10. ^ "ABOUT – Terra Pesada | Heavy Metal in Mozambique". Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  11. ^ Davidson, Patrick (27 June 2014). "Return of the Windhoek Metal Festival". #metal4africa. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  12. ^ Davidson, Patrick (3 September 2015). "Zimbabwe gets first ever heavy metal concert". #metal4africa. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  13. ^ Rockpit, The (22 May 2018). "Zimbabwe's Dividing the Element Unleash the World's First Shona Metal Album – The Rockpit". Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  14. ^ Strochlic, Nina (21 November 2014). "Death Metal Angola: Heavy Metal in War-Torn Africa". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  15. ^ Banchs, Edward (30 November 2016). "Finding Sympathy for the Devil in Madagascar". Medium. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  16. ^ a b Hjelm, Titus; Kahn-Harris, Keith; Levine, Mark (14 May 2012). "Heavy metal as controversy and counterculture". Popular Music History. 6 (1): 5–18. doi:10.1558/pomh.v6i1/2.5.[permanent dead link]
  17. ^ a b Jehl, Douglas (11 February 1997). "It's Heavy Going for Sex, Satan and Heavy Metal". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  18. ^ a b Crowcroft, Orlando. (2017). Rock in a Hard Place: Music and Mayhem in the Middle East. Zed Books. ISBN 978-1-78699-018-1. OCLC 987775932.
  19. ^ "Heavy metal making a cautious comeback in Egypt". Reuters. 19 December 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  20. ^ Fouad, Ahmed (18 February 2016). "How heavy metal music is causing a stir in Egypt". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  21. ^ "StackPath". dailynewssegypt.com. 14 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  22. ^ Tremlett, Giles (11 March 2003). "Moroccan judge jails metalheads". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  23. ^ "Putting the rock into Morocco". 6 July 2009. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  24. ^ "Morocco: Rock, rap and heavy metal music fans rejoice in newfound freedom". LA Times Blogs – Babylon & Beyond. 20 April 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  25. ^ Bouazzaoui, Chaimae (11 September 2015). "Metal Is Not Satan's Work, Discover This Music before You Judge: Yassine Bourial". Morocco World News. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  26. ^ Antichrist, Oleks. "Tunisia – WW Metal reports". ANTICHRIST Metalzine. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  27. ^ "Libya's developing arts scene". BBC News. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  28. ^ "Algerian metal festival pits fans against conservatives". The Guardian. 24 November 2015. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  29. ^ Banchs, Edward (21 April 2015). "The quiet rise of heavy metal in Algeria". This is africa. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  30. ^ "Duma review – extreme Kenyan metalheads bring doom to the dancefloor". theguardian.com. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  31. ^ "Meet Kenyan Metal Band Duma". okayafrica.com. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  32. ^ a b Knopke, Ekkehard (1 October 2014). "Headbanging in Nairobi: The emergence of the Kenyan metal scene and its transformation of the metal code". Metal Music Studies. 1 (1): 105–125. doi:10.1386/mms.1.1.105_1.
  33. ^ Stoudmann, Elisabeth (18 July 2022). "Arka'n Asrafokor, au Paléo ce mardi : Dès que j'ai entendu du metal, j'ai senti sa connexion avec l'Afrique". Le Temps (in French). Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  34. ^ Bourdin, Nils (5 February 2020). "Arka'n: Metal is African". PAM. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  35. ^ Banchs, Edward; Hobson, Rich (26 October 2022). "10 African metal bands that are challenging heavy metal as we know it". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  36. ^ Segers, Guido (5 November 2020). "Interview: Arka'n Asrafokor: Togo heavy metal warriors". Echoes and Dust. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
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