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S9NE
Magical Metal Girl

Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2014 9:58 am
Posts: 250
Location: Sweden
PostPosted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 5:18 pm 
 

Inspired by the General Japanese Metal Discussion topic, I figured I'd make one for Korean metal, seeing as it's something I'm very much invested in. I'll start off by sharing this video I came across of Mike O'Dwyer, an American teaching English in South Korea, doing photoshoots for metal bands, with appearances from Fecundation, Doxology and Christfuck. The cinematography here is excellent, I just wish it could have been longer. There's potential to make a full-length documentary about Korean metal in this style.


Also, for anyone interested, I recently put together this compilation video of Korean power metal songs. The only band in the video that isn't listed on the archives is Time Concerto, as they don't have a valid release yet. I'm looking forward to their upcoming single "Beyond the Horizon" and hoping they'll put out a physical release in the future.
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Last edited by S9NE on Mon Oct 23, 2017 4:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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tahu157
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2014 10:22 pm
Posts: 1008
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 9:31 pm 
 

I haven't made too many ventures in Korean metal. However, this cover of Hear N' Aids' Stars is pretty great.



That video actually got me and my friend to try out Black Syndrome. We even went digging through the html of their classic metal samples page to rip the mp3s from the site at the time, lol. I've since bought the "I Want the Best" compilation for that same friend.

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Peyp
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon May 25, 2015 1:16 am
Posts: 209
Location: California, United States
PostPosted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 3:09 am 
 

Yeah, I'll be sure to check out the above later when I'm not listening to something else. Korean metal is always something I've dabbled in at the shallow end, but never got too deep into.

Like first off, there's a melodic black band called Sad Legend. They're not that fast and instead focus on overall sadness. There's The Crescents, which is much similar. I also hear Oathean is good but I've never listened to them.

Erehwon is a pretty good power metal band, but you have to get past the fact that they clearly do not know how English works.

But unfortunately, that's all I know. I'm definitely coming back here.
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Due to the unfortunate reality of our guitarist fucking my girlfriend of almost 7 years WITCHROT will be taking an extended hiatus. I however will continue the band in another space and time... Thanks for the support, stay heavy. Also our drummer died...


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S9NE
Magical Metal Girl

Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2014 9:58 am
Posts: 250
Location: Sweden
PostPosted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 4:02 am 
 

Peyp wrote:
Like first off, there's a melodic black band called Sad Legend. They're not that fast and instead focus on overall sadness.

Indeed, they're one of my favorite bands in general - such a shame they called it quits a few years back. Their debut album from 1998 is incredibly underrated in my opinion, and I'm hoping to add it to my collection soon, although it usually demands quite a few bucks.

Funny enough, they were also one of the leading factors of me getting more invested in Korean music as a whole, since they covered a song by Kim Jong-seo (a formber member of Sinawe, now one of my favorite artists) back in 2009.
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Dr_Fiemost
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Apr 11, 2017 12:19 pm
Posts: 127
PostPosted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 8:14 am 
 

I've been into korean rock and metal for some time, a lot of good music but unfortunately most of the bands don't last for too long.

Oathean is likely the most important band in the extreme scene, often using traditional instruments in their black/death music.


Skald was a good raw black metal project, but seems inactive now after two albums.


I especially love this song from Dark Ambition, mixing traditional sounds and singing with metal.


And then Gostwind, another project with strong tradiotional elements.
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S9NE
Magical Metal Girl

Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2014 9:58 am
Posts: 250
Location: Sweden
PostPosted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 9:49 am 
 

Speaking of mixing traditional elements - Jambinai, although not really a metal band, is a prime example of that. They're more along the lines of abrasive post-rock, but I'm sure metalheads will appreciate the song Time of Extinction. I saw them perform along with Black String at the 2015 Clandestino Festival in Gothenburg and they were amazing to say the least. Here's a photo from that performance:
Spoiler: show
Image
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Bingewolf
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2017 9:59 pm
Posts: 864
Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue Oct 24, 2017 1:19 am 
 

Question: I am interested in hearing music coming from DPRK/North Korea. Is there any metal coming from the hermit kingdom?

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S9NE
Magical Metal Girl

Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2014 9:58 am
Posts: 250
Location: Sweden
PostPosted: Tue Oct 24, 2017 3:49 am 
 

Bingewolf wrote:
Question: I am interested in hearing music coming from DPRK/North Korea. Is there any metal coming from the hermit kingdom?

There was a hoax going around a while back that this brutal death metal demo was made by a North Korean band, but considering their living conditions, that's pretty far-fetched to say the least.


As for actual North Korean music, here's a recording from an opera called The Flower Girl, which was later adapted into a movie in 1972.


And of course there's a fair share of political music such as this.
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Bingewolf
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2017 9:59 pm
Posts: 864
Location: United States
PostPosted: Wed Oct 25, 2017 2:03 am 
 

S9NE wrote:
Bingewolf wrote:
Question: I am interested in hearing music coming from DPRK/North Korea. Is there any metal coming from the hermit kingdom?

There was a hoax going around a while back that this brutal death metal demo was made by a North Korean band, but considering their living conditions, that's pretty far-fetched to say the least.


As for actual North Korean music, here's a recording from an opera called The Flower Girl, which was later adapted into a movie in 1972.


And of course there's a fair share of political music such as this.


Thanks for the info but I'm a bit more curious...

In terms of the band you call a hoax, is it a proven hoax? I know there is likely a very small amount of metal in DPRK due to the government but I am intersted if there are any proven metal acts in the region. Thanks!

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S9NE
Magical Metal Girl

Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2014 9:58 am
Posts: 250
Location: Sweden
PostPosted: Wed Oct 25, 2017 5:32 am 
 

Bingewolf wrote:
In terms of the band you call a hoax, is it a proven hoax? I know there is likely a very small amount of metal in DPRK due to the government but I am intersted if there are any proven metal acts in the region. Thanks!

There was a whole other thread discussing this back in 2012, so you can read through that if you want.

But basically, on Spirit of Metal (aka one of the most unreliable metal sources), there are only two bands listed as originating from North Korea. Our band in question, Red War, and Teagirl. From what I can tell, there isn't any real confirmation as to where these two bands are from, but everything considered leads us to believe that metal bands, let alone death metal and pornogrind in the latter case, being recorded in North Korea is just not possible. Simply buying instruments and effect pedals to make it is out of the question. Not to mention, with such strict censorship of western media, how are they supposed to get inspired to create such music? Even if they somehow did, it wouldn't reach far seeing as how they would have gotten severely punished for it with the goverment keeping a close watch on everyone, including confiscation of the material. There exists this photo of a supposed demo tape, claiming to have 30 copies, but this was also taken from an unreliable source, Metal Kingdom.

Anyway, I could go on, but let's leave the North Korea issue aside for now.
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Bingewolf
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2017 9:59 pm
Posts: 864
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 2:48 am 
 

S9NE wrote:
Bingewolf wrote:
In terms of the band you call a hoax, is it a proven hoax? I know there is likely a very small amount of metal in DPRK due to the government but I am intersted if there are any proven metal acts in the region. Thanks!

There was a whole other thread discussing this back in 2012, so you can read through that if you want.

But basically, on Spirit of Metal (aka one of the most unreliable metal sources), there are only two bands listed as originating from North Korea. Our band in question, Red War, and Teagirl. From what I can tell, there isn't any real confirmation as to where these two bands are from, but everything considered leads us to believe that metal bands, let alone death metal and pornogrind in the latter case, being recorded in North Korea is just not possible. Simply buying instruments and effect pedals to make it is out of the question. Not to mention, with such strict censorship of western media, how are they supposed to get inspired to create such music? Even if they somehow did, it wouldn't reach far seeing as how they would have gotten severely punished for it with the goverment keeping a close watch on everyone, including confiscation of the material. There exists this photo of a supposed demo tape, claiming to have 30 copies, but this was also taken from an unreliable source, Metal Kingdom.

Anyway, I could go on, but let's leave the North Korea issue aside for now.


Thanks for the info. I do agree that the evidence you demonstrated was not sufficient for belief. However, I am curious about any North Korean scene. If it does exist, I'd like to know. If it doesn't, we can move on...

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S9NE
Magical Metal Girl

Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2014 9:58 am
Posts: 250
Location: Sweden
PostPosted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 7:16 pm 
 

For people interested in the history of Korean heavy metal, I recommend watching this video from Arirang TV, as part of their Rock on Korea series.

They interviewed artists such as Shin Dae-Chul of Sinawe, Ju Sang-Gyoon of Blackhole, Bak Yeong-Cheol of Black Syndrome, Lee Shi-Yeong of Moby Dick, Bak Yeong-Su of Zihard, Lee Hyun Suk (neoclassical shredder), etc.
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Immortal666
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 6:32 am
Posts: 942
Location: Philippines
PostPosted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 8:23 pm 
 

The only South Korean metal band I've heard is the thrash metal band Mahatma. They visited the Philippines some time back and performed a couple of shows. They have 3 albums so far and I have a copy of the middle one, "Perseverance". It has one bad review in M-A. I think it's pretty decent thrash, the gruff vocals remind me of Max Cavalera's vocals back when he was in Sepultura. The "Painkiller" cover was undewhelming though. Here's one of their songs.


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cweed
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2004 7:48 pm
Posts: 541
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 10:23 pm 
 

I've lived in SK and have been going to shows here for about 5 years now, AMA!!

Also, if anyone's bored/curious, when I have time I write about Korean black metal, Korean snacks, and Korean horror movies on my website (shameless plug, sorry!). You can check it out at:
http://maliciousintent.org/

OR if you'd like to start with part 1 of the series:
http://maliciousintent.org/black-metal- ... d-cheetos/

I also interview Korean metal bands from time to time (in English, but sometimes I have the interview available in both English and Hangul); just search around my site and you can find them.

Cheers!
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Warty_basaloid
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2016 11:32 am
Posts: 366
PostPosted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 7:28 am 
 

Picked up a noisy war metal album by Nocturnal Damnation (South Korea) from the bargain bin the other day.

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S9NE
Magical Metal Girl

Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2014 9:58 am
Posts: 250
Location: Sweden
PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2018 4:50 pm 
 

Just posted this interview with the people behind the Korean metal documentary K-pop Killers. Highly recommend watching the doc if you get the chance, by the way.
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