First time I see this thread, so I have been acquainting myself with some doom/heavy metal african bands all morning!

First of all, I'm gonna say straight up I didn't find any band I thought was awesome but some stuff was promising. It's subtle, but there's definitely a local influence despite the overall very traditional feel in the music. Musicianship was definitely an issue in what I heard, in studio and especially live.

I'm not sure how one could infer african countries will never have good, or even great bands. The scene and its musicians just need to develop further. I'm guessing the infrastructures are still lacking in many countries to create winning conditions for a flourishing scene, which needs musicians but also fans.

I think one thing that would help immensely is if international acts came to visit once in a while. It doesn't need to be major acts, but quality second tier bands who really know how to put on a show would do wonders. You get two or three such bands (of varied style) as headliners, then african bands in support slots. IME, nothing creates hardcore metalhead as well as a superb live performance and a great number of musicians identify a particular live gig as the the turning point in their life when they decided to pick up an instrument, form a band or follow a particular musical path because it's such a visceral experience. But of course, creating such a festival would be a bitch financially and would have to be seen as an investment the first few years. I don't even know if that is possible.

The time will come! Meanwhile, this is fucking awesome:

So, an American dude wants to write a book about African metal because he liked what he heard. What the hell's wrong with that?
As an African who has also lived in the States and been into metal since he was a teen, I can state for a fact that scenes do exist on the continent and are growing, now more than ever.

To claim that African bands are terrible is fucking stupid. I honestly hear nothing terrible about this or this or this or this or even this.

I think what most people would like to see is a band successfully marry traditional African music and themes with metal as if only that makes it legitimate somehow. I would like that of course too but if there's bands that feel inclined to play straight ahead metal without feeling the need to dip into some native well, that is fine as paint with me.

Thank you! Egypt does have some quality bands, I am happy to report, and its share of crappy ones as well. Scarab is of course one of the good ones but be sure to check out Al Azif (yes, as in Lovecraft ), Anarchy, Wyvern and Sinprophecy.

Oh and Egypt is Africa. We certainly don't view ourselves as Middle Eastern. Maybe the folks in Tunisia do but not in Egypt and Algeria and Libya and all those glorious places. From a historical and ancient-cultural stand point we are closer to Sub Saharan Africa, plus all the conquests and what have you. From a religious and modern-cultural stand point is where the link to the Middle East is pronounced. But since I am not Muslim and prefer the Egypt of old, I, like so many others I know do not recognize Egypt as MENA but as African.

There's nothing on Wikipedia about African Metal. Clearly your search wasn't wide!

But let me help you out with images of actual bands;


Wrust (Botswana - Death)


Dividing The Element (Zimbabwe - Tech Death/core)


Metal Orizon (Botswana - Heavy/Hard rock)


Neblina (Angola - Gothic/Alternative)


Skinflint (past)


Skinflint (current) (Botswana - Traditional heavy metal)


Vale of Amonition (past)


Vale of Amonition (current) (Uganda - Doom/Folk)


Stane (Botswana - Thrash)


Before Crush (Angola - Metalcore)


Overthrust (Botswana - Death)


Threatening (Uganda - Power)



Lust Of A Dying Breed (Kenya - Deathcore)


Sasamaso (Madagascar - Heavy/Hard rock)


E-Force (Botswana - Thrash)


Satan Is Lord (Uganda - Black/Doom)


Demogoroth Satanum (South Africa - Black)

Those look badasss!

I checked out Skinflint and the South African power metal band Strident. Really good stuff actually. Skinflint sounds like Slough Feg in an African setting and Strident play ballsy Accept-styled PM.

Alasdair Bulmer on Invisible Oranges is currently writing a series on African metal and his articles are a riveting read!

Here's the first he did on Egypt;
"Culture Of The Undefeated"
http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2013/05 ... ndefeated/

The second installment was of Libya and Tunisia;
http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2013/06 ... d-tunisia/

The recent article is of Algeria and Morocco;
http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2013/08 ... a-morocco/

So he is working his way from the north downwards. I highly recommend these pieces for anyone looking to learn more about the scene. They are well researched and the closest to the truth than anything you'll come across regarding African metal.

That girl in that Skinflint band photo is pretty sexy

For those who might be interested: I have just done a quite detailed interview with Metal Orizon from Botswana:

http://kluseba.eklablog.com/interview-w ... -a96832545

Great read, kluseba.
Botswana has some really promising bands and although I wasn't initially impressed with what I heard from Metal Orizon, I think if they continue working that angle of infusing traditional influences within their music they will create something truly unique. I also appreciate the socially conscious lyricism.

I was also able to listen to Vale of Amonition's Those of Metal Afar full length recently and when heard in its entirety it is quite the journey. These three guys have crafted a landscape of weird but glorious music that is both gritty and ambitious. And very, very unique too. There's a bit of psychedelia thrown against the Celtic Frost thrash-isms of "Rebirth Through Fire" and the epic drama of "Egypt After The Chasm" calls Fate to mind. Definitely one to watch.

Well well, look what I dug up:

Thanks for this thread..... it's difficult finding decent bands in isolated scenes like this one, because usually the bands that do exist play "safe and accepted" genres of metal such as metalcore/deathcore/melodeath, and the others simply lack originality.....

I'll be checking out some of the more original/creative bands mentioned here though.....

Cool

Not sure if already been mentioned but here are a handful of established, disbanded and upcoming bands (ok some are rock, but let's be honest metal came from rock, blues and classical); who knows maybe a rock band could spark a metal movement in their country?:-

Country = band

Algeria - Lelahell
Angola - Before Crush
Botswana - Crackdust, Wrust
Burundi - Moutcho
Cape Verde - Krad
Egypt - Scarab
Ethiopia - Jano
Gabon - Iron Sliver,
Ghana - Dark Suburb,
Kenya - Absence Of Light
Libya - Terrorism Of Brutality, Tasnim
Madagascar - Behind The Mask
Malawi - Moto Buu, Mafilika
Mali - Songhoy Blues, Tinariwen
Mauritania - Noura Mint Seymali
Mauritius - Feedback, Amakartus
Morocco - Sakadoya, Analgesia
Mozambique - Darkest Place
Namibia - SubmissioN
Reunion Island - Nazca
Rwanda - Beauty For Ashes
South Africa - Wildernessking
Swaziland - Out Cry
Togo - Arka'n
Tunisia - Myrath, Persona
Uganda - Vale Of Amonition
Zambia - Wrecking Tanganyika
Zimbabwe - Dividing The Element


P.s. I have been running my own site - Global Metal Apocalypse - for 6 years now, giving coverage to rock and metal bands worldwide and are always searching for new emerging scenes.

Had to check out Haggis and Bong from South Africa. Oh yeah!

So how did Tinariwen end up in that list? Did you just pick random bands?

desert blues is really great though but it got much more overlap with the psychedelic rock scene than anything else.

All interesting,but where's the Mercyful Fate cover?

Latest bands I came across (not on MA):- Iron Sliver from Gabon, Roar of Heroes from Cameroon, Krad from Cape Verde and Arka'n from Togo.

Brilliant thread.

Was just reading about Durma on Bandcamp. What an insane sounding self titled album:

https://nyegenyegetapes.bandcamp.com/album/duma

Only band from the African continent that I have any experience with is Carthagods out of Tunisia, runs along similar lines to the power/progressive sound of Pagan's Mind with some elements of Orphaned Land's Mid-Eastern folksy affectations. Their second album "The Monster In Me" was rock solid.

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Ca ... 3540393587

Wow! I just read this entire thread and I am shocked that no one has mentioned the documentary that came out around 2-3 years ago called Death Metal Angola!

The documentary talks about the metal scene in Angola in general. And to answer some posters’ questions from earlier about civil wars, the bands featured in that documentary are directly musically inspired by their country’s dark war torn past. The documentary talks about metal in general so traditional heavy metal and metalcore is mentioned a lot, but there is one guitarist interviewed in the documentary that is very extreme metal oriented considering his attire (Slayer shirt) and the way he plays guitar ( a lot of fast tremelo picking) and his stated preference for more darker sounding music as opposed to newer metalcore music.

The documentary focuses on how metal music has served as a vehicle for the younger generation to vent their frustration and anguish over their country’s problems (and the various ways the problems have impacted their personal lives) in a nonviolent way.

I highly recommend the documentary to anyone reading this thread or anyone interested in metal from Africa in general. Here is the trailer:



In fact the entire movie has been uploaded to YouTube, but I just decided to just share the trailer.

up till the necro a few posts up, the whole thread was written before that

Really glad this was necroed. There are so many interesting bands in this thread, and I had no idea about that documentary, either. Good thread.

I am SHOCKED that this thread is 4 pages long and Nishaiar have yet to be mentioned

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QvajclfHu7c

From the ancient city of Gondor, Ethiopia, these guys produce a very ethereal, atmospheric and hypnotizing sound. They are probably as close as you can get to African folk metal. They already have 4 full lengths out plus some EPs. Go check em out. Highly recommended

I found this and was gonna mention them actually.

Also noteworthy (to me), is Nuclear Winter from Zimbabwe:
https://nuclearwinterzim.bandcamp.com/
https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Nu ... 3540459791

Admittedly never thought to look to Africa for metal, but glad to see that there's a number of countries there with growing scenes! I'd be all for hearing traditional African folk music combined with extreme metal, especially the percussive elements! That shit's awesome!

Checking out Wildernessking right now and they're pretty cool. Also listened to Demogoroth Satanum and they had some decent moments too. Nothing super groundbreaking, but these bands can always get better!

A few bands:

Blackgaze/Post-Black Metal - South Africa https://constellatia.bandcamp.com/album ... limbs-2020 (members of Crow Black Sky and Wildernessking)
Stoner Doom - South Africa https://ma-atbandza.bandcamp.com/
Stoner Doom - South Africa https://ruffmajik.bandcamp.com/
Stoner Doom - South Africa https://madgodza.bandcamp.com/album/gro ... inexorable
Atmospheric Black - Kenya/Uganda https://naturmachtproductions.bandcamp. ... in-despair

SA and African metal radio/band listings https://heavyhops.co.za/listings/

Haggis and Bong? Sound like my plans for Burn's Night. I dig the sound and I honestly believe bagpipes are pretty underrated, especially in metal.

Both bands are pretty cool.



This is my favourite song by a Kenyan band (and African for that matter):

It's one of my top five instrumentals.

You can purchase it here:
https://mortalsoul.bandcamp.com/track/solace

Crackdust are pretty cool. It's a shame we didn't get more music out of them.

I found Arka'n from Togo, Roar of Heroes from Cameroon - both not on MA as 'not metal' (I'd contest that any day but hey ho).

Blessings from Malawi was just added to MA - great friend.

Shine from Mali aren't bad

Libya - Tasnim, Jonathan Steel
Angola - Before Crush and there is a documentary on the Angolan Metal scene 'Death Metal Angola'.


Not strictly folk metal but Arka'n from Togo really include West African folk / myth into their music and imagery.

Nope, just a casual google and voila.

Zombies Ate My Girlfriend is the only African metal band I can think of off the top of my head. They do a weird, zany take on metalcore that's pretty unique. Their last album, Shun the Reptile, is quite good.

That was... unexpectedly awesome.

The South African scene is weird. Lots of quirky, oddball bands that also seem to focus on black comedy and South African humor as a lyrical theme and presentation style - even Vulvodynia (by far the biggest metal export from the entire continent, and they share a member with Haggis and Bong) definitely has a uniquely ZA presentation to their style beneath the meme humor of their early days and their current social media presence. They're also something of an outlier in their own country, since outside of Duncan, Luke, and their buddies and associates, there really wasn't much of an extreme metal presence before they came along and bands of that type from that part of Africa typically came from Botswana or Mozambique.

Not Subsaharan but Defacement from the Netherlands was founded by 2 Libyan refugees.
https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.co ... defacement

If one person lived their whole life under the threat of war, death and violence, I doubt if that would be the themes that would accompany one's musical expression. They were likely traumatized by the whole ordeal that reliving it thru their music is the last thing on their minds. They would write songs about love, peace and happiness because that's what they are yearning for. I noticed that most bands whose themes are about war come from rich, peaceful countries. It probably works the other way too when people from peaceful companies have this fantasy of killing and living in a war zone.

There's a Gondor in Ethiopia?!? That's metal as fuck. I dig the music too.

This is some fantastic music. Thanks so much for this recommendation!
It's sort of a head on collision between ritual tribal ambient and atmospheric black metal. Wonderful stuff. I'm listening now and their latest album is a particularly well realised version of the sound.

https://nishaiar.bandcamp.com/album/nahaxar