Continuing the History of Metal through short (trivia packed) chapters and accompanying playlists.
Thanks for all the support of Part 1 of these ongoing series! You asked me for more, here it is :)
Work in progress, will be posting irregularly (but...
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Most people know that Metal has always been quite popular in Japan. With acts like X Japan and Loudness, the Land of the Rising Sun has had their share of internationally successful bands, in the meantime Kawaii Metal has grown into a phenomenon, and every record requires that special bonus track for the Japanese market. However, Metal's popularity in the Far East has stretched well beyond the Japanese islands.
Local Asian scenes have existed for quite some time, but in the last few years, these have started to flourish. More bands are achieving international success, something that until recently was limited to a handful Japanese bands. There's a couple of reasons for this. First, in an evermore connected and globalized world, it has been easier than ever for bands and audiences to seek out and find each other online. Also, the quality of Asian bands has been improving fast. Most importantly however, the local scenes are starting to truly find their own identity. In the past, many Asian bands were very good at copying the sound of their heroes, without really making it their own. This has now changed, as many bands are incorporating traditional Asian music and influences into their songs. A great example is Black Kirin, who not only include Chinese folk music, but also traditional Chinese Opera spoken word passages, creating musical stories rather than just songs.
The combination of traditional Asian music with Metal (often Melodic and Blackened Death Metal), has been dubbed Oriental Metal. Although the term has been used to describe Metal music with any Asian influences, on this playlist we focus solely on bands coming from the Far East.
As said before, several bands on this playlist have started to attract international attention, however one band's success trumps all of them: Taiwanese powerhouse Chthonic is the unquestioned leader of this Oriental Metal scene. The traditional influences and instruments never overtake their modern and aggressive Melodic Death Metal but complement it just right.
Chthonic isn't just a force making waves in the world of Metal, it has become a viable political entity. Band leader and singer Freddy Lim actually is an elected politician in Taiwan, fighting for human rights and independence.
Not all bands on this playlist play oriental metal however, there're still several bands coming from the Chinese, Taiwanese and Japanese scenes that play their modern take on Power Metal and Metalcore like Lovebites, or Beyond the Daylight. Either way, Metal clearly is more alive than ever in the Far-East and we're excited to find out which bands will conquer the West!
Playlist:
01. Bloody Tyrant: Ode To The Falling Rain (2015) - from Taiwan
02. Aldious: We Are (2017) - from Japan
03. Bridear: Light In The Dark (2015) - from Japan
04. Before The Daylight: Ashes to Ashes, Dust To Dust (2014) - from China
05. Chthonic: Defenders Of Bu-Tik Palace (2013) - from Taiwan
06. Deadsquad: Patriot Moral Prematur (2013) - from Indonesia
07. Ironbard: Skyland (2012) - from South Korea
08. Galneryus: Hunting For Your Dream (2012) - from Japan
09. Black Kirin: Yellow River (2015) - from China
10. Chthonic: Takao (2011) - from Taiwan
11. Fearless: Lord Of Twilight (2012) - from China
12. Silent Hell: Reject (2013) - from Taiwan
13. Anthelion: Obsidian Plume (2014) - from Taiwan
14. Yaksa: The Walk With Demon (20150 - from China
15. Lovebites: Don't Bite The Dust (2017) - from Japan
16. Thousand Eyes: Day Of Salvation (2018) - from Japan
