Warming up for my first HC experience - Abismo

Good evening legions,

And I swear I was being a good girl until someone, who happens to share names with a delicious tequila (Don Julio), decided to share a link with me, which made me realize that working at 10:37pm, on a Wednesday evening, is absolutely over-rated; thus, I shall stop wasting my energy with something I can do tomorrow morning, right!? In case I am not right, that's too bad because I already lost interest in editing what I was doing in the first place.

Given that I am only two days away from my first HC experience ever (if I don't remember any other ones, then this is indeed my first one...), I decided to succumb into the world of HC in the hopes that I wouldn't find out that I am allergic to anything other than naughty naughty Black Metal (which seems to be my latest cuppa tea BTW). For the sake of mankind, I am still very tolerant and appreciative of other genre. Not only that; it turns out that I am digging this latest recommendation quite a bit, to the point that I have now been caught in between the sticky web of HC suggestions on Youtube - yes, I have listened to two Madball songs, one Sick of it all, and some other stuff listed there.

In two days from now (well, more like 2 days and 12 hours, because shows here are a freakin' matinee), I will be joining dozens of HC fans (mostly minors) emanating from the various corners of this city, at the Amistad Para Todos Vol 1. show to watch some seriously awesome bands perform (I am dying to see Pitbull Live!) and to witness how they destroy each other in an absurd mosh pit, while I document the best of it with my camera. I have been told that the lighting situation is likely to improve at the Mama place, as the organizer does believe in throwing great shows, which include awesome lighting that will favor my photographic skills. Whether or not that happens, I am still very excited about the show.

Going back to the song that was sent to me: this band has quite the trajectory within the HC seen of Colombia. They have been together since '98, but like every other band, they have undergone a few lineup changes throughout their musical career. That's all I know! As I've said before, I will not pride myself on knowledge I do not have, so straight up, I had only heard of them... Fortunately nothing bad, but not enough to have a clear opinion about them, or the HC scene in this country, for that matter. The band is called Abismo. The song I heard has a rather interesting energy behind it; even though it is truly a great example of what HC, is it has something else that makes their beat quite addictive. I thought the video was very well done and I particularly enjoyed the specific focus on the players, and the depth of field used throughout the video. 

FYI: Abismo will be part of the lineup playing at la Mama this Saturday, so I will make sure to take tons of photos, headbang if I have to and, lastly but certainly not least, bring you more details regarding their performance. 

For the time being, I will leave you with the video that my friend, the tequila homonym, sent me, enjoy!

-Stay Metal-

Fraulein Andrea MMXI

Experiencing the Colombian Metal Scene - Loathsome Faith

Greetings Legions,

As I wonder through the city of Bogota, it is almost inevitable not to want to see what the Metal Scene is up to around here. As many of you already know, I have always been a sucker for Latin American Metal, particularly for the one that emanates from this Country. I spent most of my time at the radio station promoting a scene that does not get the attention it deserves, aside from that given by those who are really intrepid and love seeking new sounds. Oh Latin American Metal, how you always manage to captivate me in the most intriguing ways *sigh*.

Given that good timing seems to be my ally when it comes to checking out new bands, I had the chance to experience the local scene at its best. Yesterday (27/08/2011) at a tiny place called Teatro La Mama, somewhere in Chapinero (I am still trying to get used to getting around this city - not an easy thing BTW), a terrific show was waiting to be discovered. Before I get into the praising, into the applause and all the positive things that I enjoy highlighting, I do have to complaint about a few things (only 2, or 3), the main one being: TIME! 

Mind you, where I come from, a show usually starts around 7 or 8pm. Here, NO WAY JOSE... They have to start at freakin' noon! Well, not really, I kid a tiny bit. But the one yesterday was scheduled to start at freakin' 3 in the afternoon. Jesus "Cerveza Aguila" Christ! Yes, Major WTF indeed! Fortunately, like everywhere else in Latin America, things get delayed for absolutely no reason, and in this case the show started at 4. Either way, I arrived at around 5pm. Now I get into more ranting (more like disappointment, I suppose). One of the main reasons I went to this place was because a Tribute to one of my Favorite bands, Brujeria, was lined up to play yesterday. When I arrived that was the first thing I inquired, and of course they said: Oh, those, no they didn't play... Just like that, no emotion, no reasons, no nothing... My heart shed a tiny tear, and of course, the only thing left to do was to drink the pain away... 

Enough of ranting and drinking, let's highlight the good things. Eventually, I went inside the venue, with enough time to see the next band set up and get ready to rock. And here is where I shed my love and contentment. I will not be a cynic biotch and tell you that I know everything about this band because I really do not and that would be just moronic. I went with an open mind and slightly predisposed to like the band, since I had only heard good things about them and additionally, I had the chance to see their guitarist (Mr. Andres Zamudio) busting some moves, completely by accident and without requesting anything. By the way, before we go on any further, I am talking about Loathsome Faith, from my very own Bogota (yes, the one where I still find it challenging to get around). So, here I am, surrounded by a whole bunch of minors, who have more stamina than anyone else I have ever seen, and they are just waiting to dislocate their necks and beat the shit out of someone else (OH yes, that's another minor detail: To be in a Mosh pit in Colombia requires some SERIOUSLY HUGE balls... Some women here have bigger balls than many men I know back where I come from... If you are still skeptical about what I mean, let me illustrate).

I got sidetracked, but then: MAGIC! The band started playing and the energy surrounding me was absolutely unbelievable. It wasn't just the energy, it was also the talent behind the band itself. You may call me bias and all you want (and I could honestly care less) but any band where Esteban Souza plays has my sign of approval, period. That man is a machine, an android, an improved version of any drummer mankind has ever seen - ok, enough- I hope you get the point. It takes some serious courage to even attempt to keep up with his talent; thus you can imagine this band's lineup: simply breathtaking. The singer, Mr. Angel Niño (he looks like neither one; if you don't understand, go to http://translate.google.com and then you will agree with me) is a monster! His presence on stage, his energy, the voice, everything was simply brutal! I already mentioned my admiration for Mr. Andres Zamudio and I restate that the guy is great at what he does. When it comes to stage presence, he reminds me a bit of Brian Welsh from Korn: Completely emotionless, but Holy Shit! 

After two songs, I just let myself go, and that was probably the best idea I had the whole night (aside from going up some stairs later on to take some photos, which didn't occur to me before...). I enjoyed every single song, particularly the one I will leave you with. Quite frankly, I don't know if this song touches a sensitive fiber in my body or it dares to combine many different factors that make me want to bounce against the walls (the song may kick some serious ass, but I still do not dare to mosh in this country - or anywhere else, for that matter). Truth being: I can't stop listening to this song, and here I am sharing it in the hopes that you join me in joy and bang your head to a terrific Band.

Oh, and before I forget. I did manage to capture a few shots of the band LIVE. I apologize but the lights at this Mama place sucked some serious Afro-descendant member... Either way, feel free to check them out:

-Stay Metal-

Fraulein Andrea MMXI

Kabul Rock City

Featured Article:

Ali M Latifi - Al Jazeera 

Afghan youth take on corruption with Heavy Metal

In November 2010, four 20-something Afghans took the stage at a private party in a Kabul French restaurant. As the young men walked on stage, their long black hair, leather jackets, hoodies, electric guitars, a bass, and a drum kit conspicuously took the place of the traditionally Afghan tabla, harmonium, and robab. This was Afghanistan's "first heavy metal band," D.U., who proceed to rip into a cover of shock-rocker Marilyn Manson's cover of the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)".


The shock rocker's disturbing and gritty take on a pop song built almost entirely on computers may seem to some as out of place in today's Afghanistan, but it is in fact a perfect continuation of Afghanistan's long legacy of music and poetry. From Rabia Balkhi's fabled odes, to her beloved writing on the walls of a hamam (bath) with the very blood gushing out of her jugular veins in the final moments of her life, to an iconic Afghan singer-songwriter singing about crushing defeats in a life full of "death and despair" in the 1970s, the rich history of poetry and music in Afghanistan has often veered onto darker paths than the devotionals to the beloved that have made Afghan-born Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi the world's best-selling poet.


Though icons of Afghan music like Ahmad Zahir, Farhad Darya, and the band Stars have been mixing Western and traditionally Afghan styles of music since the 1970s, D.U. is part of a new wave in the youth-led Afghan music scene. Along with the White Page and Afghan-American singer-songwriter Ariana Delawari, D.U.'s music has the distinct character of post-Taliban Kabul. This is music that is as much affected by the artists' time outside the nation as they are brazenly vocal affronts to Taliban-era repression of Afghan culture and self-expression.


Sweet Dreams

For D.U., the lyrics of Sweet Dreams describe the only Kabul they, along with their peers, have ever known. "It deals with reality. You are used and abused by other people as the poor are taken advantage of by the powerful and rich," said D.U.'s lead singer, who after on-going criticism by conservatives recently decided the band members must conceal their identities. In Kabul, the refrain from what was once a synth-heavy piece of 1980s British pop becomes a statement on a society where the youth, who make up the majority of the nation's population, have had to watch as every institution has been accused of fraud and corruption from the presidency to the over 1,600 international NGOs and the banking system.
  
A society in which they can perform loud, raucous music full of aggression within shouting distance of a masjid, where their vocals soar over the Azan (call to prayer), but only behind Michael Meyers-style masks. It is a society in which two bands made of long-time friends have opposing views of the notoriety their performances have earned them. Attacked and branded as "satanists", whose music "is too dark, negative", and therefore "un-Afghan", led the members of D.U. to conceal their identities. Lead singer of The White Page, Mirwais Mohsen, on the other hand, says "the band has no fear of retribution" and granted Al Jazeera permission to publish their names.


"We can't sing about going to get coffee with your girlfriend because that isn't happening in Kabul right now," said the lead singer of D.U., who has an avid listener of heavy metal for 12 years now. For the members of D.U. and the members of The White Page, another rock band in Kabul, life in Afghanistan today is a paradox.


On the one hand, the children chase after them as they go gliding through Kabul and Herat on the skateboards the children have come to call Karachi gakha (little carts). But on the other, they live in a city "where while walking down the street something could explode" leaving dozens of those very children dead, said D.U. 's lead singer.


My World

In his initial embrace of Western music as a refugee in Pakistan, bandmember Mohsen fell in love with hip hop but soon left it after hearing the likes of System of a Down and Tool. The son of the director of Afghanistan's National Institute of Music, Mohsen says he was drawn to rock music because of its subject matter. D.U., too, felt drawn to rock by "the very pure topics in the music." "We have to talk about real issues in society and metal allows us to do that", says the lead singer of D.U., who has always felt connected to various genres of rock. That connection eventually led the members of D.U. and The White Page from their first loves of Iranian pop, Farhad Darya, and Western classical music to a full-on embrace of heavy metal.


Dress You Up

Meanwhile, nearly 8,000 miles away in Pasadena, California, Ariana Delawari would go from donning lace gloves and bandanas as she danced and sang along with Madonna songs in her bedroom, to parties in the living room of her childhood home where her father's friends played live covers of Afghan singer-songwriter Ahmad Zahir.  From the statement-making songs of the Material Girl and the King of Afghan music (Ahmad Zahir), Delawari would go on to embrace the protest music of John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Bjork, K'naan, and Radiohead. As Dylan asked, "How many years can some people exist / Before they’re allowed to be free?" Delawari's mother would tell her tales of revolutionary figures like Che Guevara and Ahmad Shah Massood.


This constant mix of the Western and the Eastern, the political and the cultural, would form the groundwork for Delawari's debut album, Lion of Panjshir. Named for the controversial military commander, Ahmad Shah Massood, whom the Wall Street Journal dubbed "the Afghan who won the Cold War", Delawari travelled to Kabul in 2007 to record the album with three ostads (masters) of traditional Afghan instruments.


Sitting on the floors of a house in war-torn Kabul, this Afghan-American girl - who used to idolize a woman made famous by pushing religious and sexual barriers, was in fact continuing in a centuries-old tradition of a student learning from the masters of classical Afghan instruments. Delawari's lyrical delivery, which has been compared to the likes of Devendra Banhart, may have labeled Taliban tactics as bullying, but the music of the robab, tabla, and harmonium - played by heart, were the same notes that have been passed down from master to student for hundreds of years in Afghanistan.


War Within a Breath


Growing up in Afghanistan, Iran, California, India, and Pakistan may have led to very distinct life experiences, but the members of D.U., The White Page, and Ariana Delawari were all linked by a shared Afghan culture and a drive to create music that was reflective of that diversity of experiences. "We want people to know through our music that you are still alive on this day. That you need to solve your problems", said the lead singer of D.U. Music based on life in refugee camps and war zones may prove unsettling for some, but for D.U., the questions and unease felt by the audience is part of the fun. "In art you have to do something that discomforts people. When the audience asks what is that, and thinks it's gross, it's very powerful."


Inspired by the protest artists of her childhood, Delawari sets out to move people with music she says is based on her life. For the David Lynch-produced Lion of Panjshir, Delawari used the connection she felt to the American artists "who used their liberty to speak for truth" to write an album that is deeply political, while also addressing themes of love, legacy, and transcendence.

"As an Afghan I feel like how can I not address the years of destruction and injustice our people have been living with," says Delawari of an album that includes a re-write of an Ahmad Zahir song originally about infatuation. The song about wanting to enter the house of the beloved becomes a rumination on the notion of home in a nation with one of the world's largest number of refugees on Delawari's album released some 40 years after the Ahmad Zahir classic. One track prior in that same album, Delawari tells the story of a young Talib who must watch his mother struggle as she tries to provide food for her family as a robab, violin, and rain stick play in the background. Delawari says the message of the resulting album is to ask "what happens when a land is forgotten, when we pound on the doors of our government and no one listens?" This is a question that as an Afghan-American, Delawari could ask the governments of the two nations that have informed both her identity and her music.


For The White Page, the medium itself is the message. "We want peace through our music, but it is not inherently political," says Mohsen of the Persian-language music the band is currently writing. On stage they may look more like The Ramones or the Foo Fighters, but D.U. and The White Page both want to incorporate elements of traditional Afghan music in their original compositions. Whether it references poems of the world's best-selling poet Rumi (born in Balkh, Afghanistan), who has been a source of inspiration to musicians in the Persian-speaking world for decades now, or includes traditional Afghan musical instruments D.U. and Mohsen say both bands always want to have Afghan elements in their music. Of course, this is still metal, which means "classical poetry with growling vocals," says D.U.


Mohsen says he does not care for many of the new Afghan singers. Instead, he falls asleep every night to the Hindi classical music he and millions of other Afghans listen to. His unique fusion of Black Sabbath-style growling with Rumi and Hafez's poetry about love and faith will appeal to the youth of Afghanistan, whom Mohsen says are scouring the internet and the racks of pirated albums that line the Western sections of Afghanistan's music stores for new sounds.


This fusion of the staples of Afghan music – tabla, harmonium, robab, and Persian poetry – with the aggression and growling that both bands see as central to Metal, is a continuation of an ongoing global trend of making something you have had a long-time connection to more your own, whenever newer styles of music infiltrate a nation's popular culture. "The more hybrid the music is, the more people get into it because it really feels like its 'their' music,'" says Mark Levine, a professor of history at UC Irvine and author of Heavy Metal Islam.


For Delawari, this mix of the traditional with the Western is important as an expression of the depths of Afghan culture. "The history behind our instruments is incredible. The world needs to know where these sounds originated from," says Delawari, whose new music video for her single "Be Gone Taliban" is meant to be a visual expression of that history.


Rebel Yell


Though all three acts have had to face criticism for their distinctive musical styles, for them it is a natural progression both personally and culturally. "You don't need to be Westernized to be modern and contemporary … It's not a bad thing to be mixed between cultures," says D.U.'s lead singer, who along with his brother and bandmate lived in Iran for 18 of the ongoing 30 years of war in Afghanistan. D.U. calls criticisms of their music as being too Western or antithetical to a conservative view of Afghan culture a cliche. "We never want our music to be too Western. We are us," says D.U. of a band comprised of proud muslims. "We are us. We are Afghan."


Levine says authoritarian groups, whether it is 1997 Egypt or Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, often label new art forms as "satanic" because "these kids' creation of alternative, autonomous subcultures was a threat to their patriarchal, authoritarian control." Even for more secular regimes, like former Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak's, Levine says labeling "music [that] sounded strange and violent" as a corruptive force can be a very political move. In doing so, Levine says these leaders had stumbled upon a way to "score points with conservative religious forces", something that many of current Afghan President Hamid Karzai's most unpopular policy decisions were seen as being motivated by.


Delawari, who always felt connected to Afghanistan, despite growing up in Pasadena, California, admits that to some her incorporation of Afghan classical instruments in her music may be seen as an act of youthful rebellion "more anarchical than if I were born in Kabul wanting to have a punk band or metal band." Thus, Delawari, rather than embracing the dance-pop of her childhood idol, traveled to Kabul in 2007 to include traditionally Afghan elements in her music. She says she can "see how young people in Afghanistan are drawn toward something different from tradition."


The music resulting from this mix of cultures and rebellious spirits goes beyond simply blurring genre lines to creating a contemporary context for the Afghan music scene. Whether  the artist discovered their favourite acts on the radio cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway, on internet file-sharing services in Pakistan, or in the racks of bootlegged CDs in Kabul music stores, each one used the music that inspired them – from Janis Joplin and Zaher Howaida to Metallica and Bjork – to make statements  about an Afghanistan that has gone from being known for hospitality, poetry, and music to having a reputation for  Kalashnikovs, chadoris (burqas), and drugs.


In an ultimate act of rebellion against the Taliban-era forced conservativism, The White Page and D.U. will be joined by other bands from Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan and Pakistan at the Sound Central festival in Kabul this autumn. D.U. says that during these performances, the thing that the band values the most - "the volume of energy we want to pass on to the people" - will be put to a test. "We are the tongue for the Afghan youth to speak their feelings. We want them to have their energy spent on something creative and new, not wasted on street fights," D.U. says of their role in Afghan society.


The bands that until recently played for largely ex-pat audiences want to look out into a sea of people and witness "crowds of Afghans head-banging and moshing" on the streets of an ancient city.