Tag Archives: Heavy metal

Extreme metal and authoritarianism in Indonesia

In the mid-1990s, Indonesia’s authoritarian regime viewed extreme metal as a direct challenge to its enforced ideals of harmony and social stability. Live metal concerts were banned, and the government under President Suharto actively reinforced stereotypes of metalheads as communist-affiliated “folk devils”, a narrative perpetuated via mass media, government institutions, and religious leaders. This systematic marginalization pushed extreme metal to the fringes of the national music scene, forcing musicians and fans to rely on local communities in Yogyakarta, Jakarta, Bandung, and Bali—not only as spaces for musical expression but also as nodes for sustaining social networks. In response, extreme metal subcultures adapted their resistance strategies, embracing verbal and sonic transgressiveness, organizing independent do-it-yourself (DIY) gigs and independent recording and distribution, and maintaining strong intercity connections that kept the musical movement alive.

The crowd at the Jogjarockarta festival 2023. Photo by Umar R./MetalTalk

Since the fall of Suharto’s authoritarian regime in 1998 and the subsequent period of Reformasi (Reformation), the Indonesian government’s relationship with extreme metal subcultures has shifted. No longer vilified as a threat to social order, extreme metal is now viewed as a marketable commodity aligned with the country’s creative economic agenda. This shift is evident in the rapid expansion of regional metal music festivals that regularly draw thousands of fans, often sponsored by cigarette companies, mainstream clothing brands, and beverage corporations. Additionally, some Indonesian metal bands have secured grants from state-funded projects, enabling them to perform at international festivals and further integrate into the global metal scene.

Indonesia’s former president Joko Widodo sporting a Napalm Death t-shirt.

Widodo with his security detail at an Indonesian metal concert in 2014.

Indonesia has emerged as a significant hub for large-scale heavy metal festivals, most notably Hammersonic–recognized as Southeast Asia’s largest annual heavy metal music festival–which most recently took place in Jakarta in May 2024 and is slated to return in 2025. This growing acceptance of the genre reflects a broader cultural shift, one that reaches even the highest levels of government. Former President Joko Widodo—widely known as Jokowi—has openly expressed his enthusiasm for heavy metal, signaling a rare alignment between subcultural music scenes and political leadership. As Pri Ario Damar, Dean of Performing Arts at Institut Kesenian Jakarta (Jakarta Institute of the Arts), explains, “Indonesia is a moderate Muslim country, which is why we’re more open to foreign influences, including heavy metal music, compared to some more conservative nations.”

Whether this openness will persist remains uncertain, particularly given Indonesia’s political trajectory. Elected in 2014 on a wave of reformist optimism, Jokowi eventually came to embody the dynastic and anti-reform politics reminiscent of earlier regimes. His successor, Prabowo Subianto, is a former military general who served under Suharto.

This according to “From our own voices: The meaning making of subculture among extreme metal musicians in Indonesia” by Oki Rahadianto Sutopo and Agustinus Aryo Lukisworo (Metal music studies 9/3 [2023] 359–367; RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2023-20530).

The photo at the beginning of this piece is of the hijab-wearing, female metal trio Voice of Baceprot, the first Indonesian band to perform at the 2024 Glastonbury Festival in the U.K.

Below, a vlog of an Indonesian metalhead’s journey to Hammersonic 2024.

Related Bibliolore posts:

https://bibliolore.org/2017/10/23/heavy-metal-and-antiquity/

https://bibliolore.org/2015/01/06/heavy-metal-cookbooks/

https://bibliolore.org/2018/07/02/karinding-attacks-heavy-metal-bamboo/

https://bibliolore.org/2025/02/28/nusantara-heavy-metal-and-malaysias-long-hair-ban/

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Filed under Asia, Politics, Popular music

Nusantara heavy metal and Malaysia’s long hair ban

In 1989, the Malaysian band Search became a cultural phenomenon across the maritime Southeast Asia region (locally known as nusantara, or archipelago), successfully exporting their unique style of Malaysian hard rock and heavy metal, which came to be known retrospectively in the Malay language as rock kapak (literally “axe rock”). Their success paved the way for cross-border collaborations in Indonesia and elsewhere, including recordings, tours, and a feature-length film. Following the release of their 1985 debut album Cinta buatan Malaysia (Love made in Malaysia), Search emerged as leaders in the emerging Malay hard rock scene. As heavy metal and rock music gained popularity among youth across the country, Malaysian authorities attempted to limit its spread by imposing a ban on long-haired rockers in 1992. The government justified this measure by associating rock and metal with antisocial behavior, drug use, and other undesirable activities. Search found themselves at the heart of this controversy, as the ban restricted the broadcast of their music on national radio and television. Instead of altering their appearance, Search chose to defy the ban, leading to concert permit denials by government officials.

The Cinta buatan Malaysia cassette tape.

This episode underscores the connections and tensions stirred by Malay rock, which acted as both a crossing of nation-state borders and a challenge to religious and moral boundaries. The former can be understood in the context of inter-regional popular music exchanges within the nusantara region, while the latter reflects Malay rock’s resistance to authoritarian moral policing. The boundary crossings enacted by Search illustrate how the mobility of Malay rock, seen as an informal cross-nusantara movement predominantly led by male, working-class youth, opposed the conservative policies of ethnonational states. While Search’s movement across the region represented a porous crossing of domestic and regional borders, it was the emotionally resonant aspects of their popular ballads that attracted a wide audience across maritime Southeast Asia and even influenced politicians who sought to control their public image.

Search in 2022.

Despite the challenges posed by the long hair ban, Search persevered, consistently releasing albums and singles throughout the 1990s and 2000s, even as rock’s popularity declined in favor of pop, hip hop, and R&B across Asia. Their most recent album, Katharsis, was released in 2017.

This according to “Crossing borders and crossing the line: Nusantara mobilities of Search and the Malay rock phenomenon (1980s and 1990s)” by Adil Johan (Indonesia and the Malay world 51/151[2023] 257–278; RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2023-16963).

Below are links to two classic Search music videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM-5hmqKXPY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGDvEJJfwH4

Other Bibliolore posts on international heavy metal:

https://bibliolore.org/2019/07/11/martyrdom-and-mapuche-metal/ https://bibliolore.org/2018/07/02/karinding-attacks-heavy-metal-bamboo/ https://bibliolore.org/2018/01/25/extreme-metal-in-iraq-and-syria/

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Filed under Asia, Migrations, Performers, Politics, Popular music

Metal Blade Records, pioneering heavy music label

Metal Blade Records was founded in 1982 by Brian Slagel, who felt that Los Angeles metal scene was not receiving the attention it deserved from the record industry. Slagel–then employed at the metal emporium, Oz Records, and developing one of the earliest metal fanzines, The New Heavy Metal Revue–enlisted friends to distribute a recorded compilation of unsigned acts. The label’s first release, The New Heavy Metal Revue Presents Metal Massacre, included Black ‘N’ Blue, Metallica, and Ratt. Although intended as a side project to promote his fanzine, favorable response spurred Slagel to release more Metal Blade compilations as well as separate LPs by bands such as Dark Angel, Demon Seed, Destruction, Fates Warning, Flotsam and Jetsam, Hellhammer (aka Celtic Frost), Lizzy Borden, The Obsessed, Omen, Sacred Reich, Slayer, Sodom, Trouble, and Voivod.

By the mid-1980s, the label was considered a linchpin of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, providing an alternative to the AM-friendly hard rock of Def Leppard, Motley Crue, and Quiet Riot. Metal Blade’s commercial potential was greatly enhanced by a distribution agreement with Enigma/Capitol Records in 1985. Not only was the label now able to better promote established artists, but its newly created subsidiary, Death Records, aggressively pursued cutting-edge talent, including Atheist, Cannibal Corpse, Corrosion of Conformity, Cryptic Slaughter, and The Mentors. In addition, the company broadened its roster to encompass alternative and AOR fare as exemplified by the likes of Armored Saint, Goo Goo Dolls, Junk Monkeys, Nevada Beach, and Princess Pang.

In 1990 Metal Blade signed a multitiered distribution deal with Warner Bros. which freed the label to concentrate on artist development. Dissatisfaction with the arrangement, however, led Metal Blade to return to independent status with distribution by R.E.D. In the meantime, the company continued to cultivate talent, most notably Amon Amarth, Cradle of Filth, Goatwhore, 200 Stab Wounds, Crisis, The Crown, Cirith Ungol, God Dethroned, Whitechapel, King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Six Feet Under, and The Black Dahlia Murder. It also helped facilitate the revival of powermetal by acquiring Destiny’s End, Labyrinth, and Sacred Steel.

Metal Blade celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022. When asked about label’s longevity, Slagel said, “In the very beginning, none of us [in] the L.A. metal scene ever thought metal was going to get as big as it has. Looking back on it, it was just amazing to be in that city at that time. You had Mötley Crüe and Ratt on one front, and then Metallica, Slayer, and everything else on the other coming from the same city at the same time. We were all just dumb, young kids, and we loved the music. I couldn’t play an instrument, so I figured, well, I guess I’m going to try [doing a record label]. . . I think metal is in a really good spot now. There are a lot of new bands coming up that we’re pretty excited about.”

Read more in Encyclopedia of recorded sound (2005). Find it in RILM Music Encyclopedias (RME).

Below is a short documentary featuring Brian Slagel and others discussing the origins and significance of Metal Blade Records on heavy metal history.

Explore some previous related Bibliolore posts:

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Metaldata

In 2021 the Music Library Association and A-R Editions issued Metaldata: A bibliography of heavy metal resources, the first book-length bibliography of resources about heavy metal.

From its beginnings in the late 1960s and early 1970s, heavy metal has emerged as one of the most consistently popular and commercially successful music styles. Over the decades the style has changed and diversified, drawing attention from fans, critics, and scholars alike. Scholars, journalists, and musicians have generated a body of writing, films, and instructional materials that is substantial in quantity, diverse in approach, and intended for many types of audiences, resulting in a wealth of information about heavy metal. 

Metaldata (RILM Abstracts of Music Literature 2021-3687) provides a current and comprehensive bibliographic resource for researchers and fans of metal. This book also serves as a guide for librarians in their collection development decisions. Chapters focus on performers, musical instruction, discographies, metal subgenres, metal in specific places, and research relating metal to the humanities and sciences, and encompass archives, books, articles, videos, websites, and other resources by scholars, journalists, musicians, and fans of this vibrant musical style.

Below, YouTube’s Metal library.

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Forging and legitimizing Dutch metal

 

Dutch heavy metal came of age in 2001 with the first mainstream success of the symphonic metal band Within Temptation, whose single Ice queen reached the number two position in the national Top 40.

The woman-fronted group initiated a trend that became internationally associated with the Netherlands and Dutchness. In 2007 the German magazine Rock hard labeled the genre melodic-dark-metal with female vocals, and counted the Netherlands among the leading nations in this field. Within Temptation has received support from the Ministerie van Economische Zaken en Klimaat, which is interested in stimulating the export value and copyright revenues of Dutch artists.

The next step was formal education: Metal Factory was founded in 2013 to teach instrumental skills and the ins and outs of band organization, management, communication, and touring.

This according to “From thrash to cash: Forging and legitimizing Dutch metal” by Pauwke Berkers and Julian Schaap, an essay included in Made in the Low Countries: Studies in popular music (New York: Routledge, 2018, pp. 61–71).

Above, Within Temptation’s guitarist Ruud Jolie teaches at Metal Factory; below, the official Ice queen video.

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Black Sabbath and Nietzsche

Black Sabbath draws upon gods who are older than Satan. Dionysus and Apollo, pagan gods from ancient Greece, were there with Black Sabbath at the birth of heavy metal.

Nietzsche wrote about the importance of the satyr chorus in ancient Greek tragedies. Wild, horny goat men, satyrs became the Christian model for Satan. Heavy metal iconography invites us to see past those satanic images to the lustful satyrs of long ago.

If Nietzsche had been a Black Sabbath fan he would have written lines like “What good is heavy metal that does not carry us beyond all heavy metal?”

This according to “Gods, drugs, and ghosts: Finding Dionysus and Apollo in Black Sabbath and the birth of heavy metal” by Dennis Knepp, an essay included in Black Sabbath & philosophy: Mastering reality (Malden: Blackwell, 2013, pp. 96–109). Above and below, the group’s Grammy Award-winning God is dead?

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Extreme metal in Iraq and Syria

Heavy metal music can be a means of artistic expression; it can also be an accessory of war. Making its first appearance in Iraq and Syria in the 1980s, it has functioned as an agency of power, endurance, anger, and abuse. Artists, fans, and the military of al-Mašriq have found that metal can be used for catharsis, rebellion, or torture.

The extreme metal subgenres of thrash metal, death metal, and black metal have become important components of the Iraqi and Syrian civil conflicts. In these contexts, metal music can be a source of empowerment for both civilians and the military; it can be the only stability that some draw from during the continual devastation to their communities, and in exceptional circumstances it can provide passage out of the region.

This according to “Resistants, stimulants, and weaponization: Extreme metal music and empowerment in the Iraqi and Syrian civil conflicts” by Sam Grant (Metal music studies III/2 [2017] pp. 175–200).

Above and below, the Kirkuk-based Dark Phantom, one of the groups discussed in the article.

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Heavy metal and Classical antiquity

The early 21st century witnessed a surge of interest in comics and cinema regarding Classical antiquity, inspiring new studies in Classical reception. Heavy metal has also drawn on historical and mythological Classical material for subject matter, but this genre has received little attention from academics.

Classical reception in heavy metal illustrates an independent engagement with antiquity by the world outside academia, illuminating ways for scholars and students to better understand the impact of the field on contemporary media. Since the late 1970s Classical works, themes, and characters of Greek and Roman antiquity have inspired the lyrical, musical, and visual content of a number of heavy metal groups, with topics including works by Homer and Aeschylus, the founding of Rome, and the rise of the Principate.

This according to “Heavy metal music and the appropriation of Greece and Rome” by Osman Umurhan (Syllecta classica XXIII [2012] pp. 127–52).

Above and below, Ex Deo, one of the groups discussed in the article.

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Metal music studies

metal_music_studies

In October 2014 Intellect launched Metal music studies, a journal that aims to provide an intellectual hub for the International Society of Metal Music Studies and a vehicle to promote the development of metal music studies.

This new journal presents research and theory in a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary subject field that engages with a range of parent disciplines, including—but not limited to—sociology, musicology, humanities, cultural studies, geography, philosophy, psychology, history, and the natural sciences.

Below, Metallica’s Enter sandman, one of the songs discussed in the inaugural issue.

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Heavy metal cookbooks

hellbent4cooking

Heavy metal, a genre once considered a dangerous and transgressive force in popular culture, is now increasingly constructed as a light-hearted source of fun, comedy, and entertainment in a growing number of popular cultural forms.

Nowhere is this development clearer than in the recent phenomenon of the heavy metal cookbook, whereby domestic cookery is (sometimes seriously, sometimes comically) reimagined as part of a metal identity. Such cookbooks reveal not only how transgressive cultural forms can become incorporated and domesticated by the mainstream, but also how transgression can be repurposed to suit the changing lives of music fans as they age.

This according to “Hamburgers of devastation: The pleasures and politics of heavy metal cooking” by Michelle Phillipov (International journal of community music VII/2 [2014] pp. 259–72).

Above, the cover of Hellbent for cooking; below, the members of Warrant discuss a popular dessert with a friend.

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