Harsh Continent: Five Essential Cuts from Africa’s Heaviest
The Encyclopedia Metallum lists at least 90,000 metal bands scattered across this doomed planet. While some are defunct, some have changed their names, and some have turned into parodies of their former selves, the point remains: metal is fuckin’ everywhere. At this point, no one should be surprised to hear about a sick new band from Sri Lanka, Guatemala, or Trinidad & Tobago, but it is always really interesting (to me, anyways) to encounter musicians who come from very different cultures than my own, and see what they’ve built with metal’s blackened blueprints. British writer Al Bulmer (who, full disclosure, is totally my boyfran) is of a similar mind. He has spent the last year researching and documenting the wide variety of heavy music and extreme sounds produced by avid metalheads in the majority of Africa’s 55 recognized states for Iron Fist Magazine and Invisible Oranges. The latest installment in his IO series on the subject focuses on Zambia and Zimbabwe, and you can find the previous five in the site’s archives.
I asked Al to put together a list of five songs from five different countries, and am particularly stoked on Barbaros – thanks to the Abbath vocals, it was love at first croak.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTPDMsgvvJA
Barbaros – “Azul Afi Gemuten (Hail The Dead)”
Berber black metal, Algeria (check out their Mayhem and Burzum covers whilst you’re at it).
Rex Mortifier – “’Spiritus Male Flamma de l’Infernus”
Raw black/death, Libya
Absence of Light – “Samadhi”
Behemoth-y black/death, Kenya.
Skinflint – “Dipoko”
Heavy metal. Botswana’s answer to Witchtrap.
V.O.D. (Voice of Destruction) – “Cruel Silence”
Late ‘80s hardcore that eventually evolved into ‘90s death/thrash. South Africa’s answer to Tuomiopäivän Lapset.
