The places we talk about when we talk about extreme metal of the old school variety often emerge through the lens of a strong Westward-leaning bias. We talk about places like Tampa, Florida; the San Francisco Bay Area; Birmingham, England; Gothenburg, Sweden; Oslo or Bergen, Norway. Those with a cursory knowledge of the Asian scene might make mention of obvious places like Tokyo or Nagoya, Japan, or perhaps drop a more obscure reference such as Bandung, Indonesia, one of the true yet oft overlooked death metal capitals of the world.
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Few, if any, would make mention of a place where metal bands rank among the most popular acts in the country—Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Yes, Dhaka—the Bengal capital and one of the most densely populated urban centers on the plane— boasts a scene rife with bands riding a fresh wave of old school revivalism, a fanatic tide wherein Sepultura never released anything after Max Cavalera ingloriously departed, Metallica folded following …And Justice For All, and the alphabetical Morbid Angel discography skipped over that horrific "I" record altogether. The history of Dhaka heavy metal goes back to the early 80s, perhaps not surprising considering the country's British colonial history, which was exploitative and tumultuous time period from which bands of an extreme nature still draw lyrical inspiration to this day.Thirty years ago, hard rock and heavy metal bands like Warfaze (who are still active today and among the most popular bands in the country of some 156 million odd souls), got their start, later paving the way for heavier bands, such as prog rock favorites Artcell, to achieve mainstream success in the 90s. In the late 90s and early 2000s, Dhaka's first extreme metal bands started to emerge. Bloodlust (widely regarded as the country's first death metal band) was there in those early days, as was death thrash three-piece Orator (formerly Barzak), and Weapon; many may remember them as a Canadian band, but Weapon actually originated in Dhaka, where founder Vetis Monarch was born and returned in 2004 to record the Within the Flesh of the Satanist demo.
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Today, the crop of bands looking to keep that old school spirit alive in Dhaka are as numerous as ever. The current Dhaka extreme metal scene is comprised a slew of raw and cultish worshipers, the demo-era days of Schuldiner, Becerra, and Quorthon nourishing the spoils of their own underground resistance. Here, in no particular order, are ten of those counted among the blessed and the sick.From the ashes of the blackened death metal band Barzak (2003-2008), Orator has arisen as one of the leaders of old school thrash in Dhaka, the most widely popular sub-sect of the local extreme scene. The band likes their thrash with a heavy dose of death metal and seems to enjoy the Exploited just as much as Exodus did back in the days when Paul Baloff was terrorizing posers up and down Interstate 880.
Since making their live debut outside their home country in Bangkok in 2010, the band has run the gamut over the course of their four releases, already putting out a demo, an EP, a full length, and a live album. The band has managed to tour regionally several times over the years, and missed out on a chance to play Maryland Death Fest several years back (reportedly due to visa issues). Currently, Orator is signed to the Singaporean bastion of all things unabashedly old school, Pulverised Records.Hailed as one of the bands that has helped draw both regional and international attention to the Dhaka scene, Severe Dementia play a tech-tinged version of old school death metal with touches of musical styles native to the Indian subcontinent. Lyrically, Severe Dementia take the Bolt Thrower/Hail of Bullets approach, focusing on historical military conflicts in their oft-embroiled homeland. Their debut EP, Epitaph of Plassey, for example, tells the tale of the Battle of Plassey fought between the Bengal people and the Dutch East India Company in 1757.
Orator
Severe Dementia
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The band also features members of Powersurge, a thrashy groove metal act that came to national prominence in 2007 when it won the D-Rockstars band competition which was broadcast nationwide—a win that played no small part in cementing thrash as the most popular form of extreme music in the country.Though secularism is one of the four founding principles of the 1972 Constitution of Bangladesh, it is still a country wherein over 85 percent of the population is of the Muslim faith, and one where calling your band Nafarmaan—"The Blasphemer" in Bengali—is more than likely to raise a few eyebrows.Nevertheless, since 2008, the band has forged ahead with its brand of anti-religious blackened death metal. They often appear at gigs run by one of Dhaka's foremost extreme metal organizers, distro owners, and fanzine publishers, Primitive Invocation—the same group which brought over Manzer (the first international metal band to play Dhaka) in 2010. Sound-wise, think of them as a more black metal version of Angelcorpse with far rawer musicianship and production. Nafarmaan has a single EP to its name to date, Quayamat Lullaby, which was put out by Sweden's Salute Records in 2014.Fan favorites Enmachined were formed in 2011, but that line of their bio could just as easily read 1985. This is a band that worships Overkill, Nuclear Assault, and Flotsam and Jetsam as much as they do Judas Priest and Motorhead. The vocals are definitely over the top, switching back and forth on some tracks between low growls and falsetto screeching that toes the line of tongue-in-cheek. The Dhaka trio also function as their own private poser patrol, mowing down the false and the corrupt (Bangladesh ranked as the 145th least corrupt nation out of 175 countries surveyed in 2016) with their socially and politically conscious brand of buzzsaw thrash.
Nafarmaan
Enmachined
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Nekrohowl
Exalter
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Burial Dust
Warhound
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Abominable Carnivore
Old Witch Cemetery
Joe Henley is defending the old school on Twitter.