Okay, so one of the things I like about Metal music is how diverse it is, there’s something for everyone, with dozens of sub-genres and tons of experimentation on the fringes. If you say you don’t like metal (and aren’t my mom), I’d argue you just hadn’t found the right sub-genre yet. One of my favorites is folk metal it’s fun, it’s distinctive and shows a love for their culture, but updated for a modern era. Most of it tends to be Scandinavian or Celtic, because most metal bands these days are European (or they’re aping other folk metal which is mostly Celtic). which is fine. My family background is a mish mash of Danish and Scottish for the most part, so hey, fine by me, I like getting in touch with my inner viking. But I always like hearing folk metal bands from other parts of the world. There were a few that Iiked such as band Orphaned Land, who are from Israel, but they’re kind of a drop in the bucket compared to all the Scandinavian and Celtic bands. But the other day I heard about a couple folk metal bands from China and Mongolia, which I just had to give a listen after it was mentioned one of them used throat singing. You ever hear of throat singing? Those guys can do some amazing things with their voices, it defies belief when you hear it. Tengger Cavalry from Mongolia has throat singing along with some traditional instruments all metaled up, and the result is pretty awesome.
So yeah, I was pleased with that find. And looks like they have a new album hitting in February which you can get on Bandcamp!
The other one I heard about was called The Nine Treasures, they are from Beijing, though they have Mongolian band members, so it’s a bit of a mix. They make more use of traditional instruments and melodies, and they reminded me a lot of a Chinese version of Korpiklaani (back when they were less about drinking songs and more about Finnish mythology and nature), and that’s definitely not a bad thing. They’re fairly new, they have only one album to their name so far, but it is a quality album!
And while checking them out on Youtube (the best way to sample new bands, I’ve found), I came across a band from Tunisia called Myrath, and they seem pretty cool. They are also apparently popular enough to actually have official videos!
Imported from Tumblr: http://rayegunn.tumblr.com/post/71734673175
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