Heavy Metal

How playing heavy metal in Iran can put your life in danger
Music

How playing heavy metal in Iran can put your life in danger

Rock in a Hard Place — Journalist and life-long heavy metal fan Orlando Crowcroft spent six years penetrating the rock and metal scenes in the Middle East, finding a new generation of rockers, rappers and metalheads who are flogged, imprisoned and exiled for writing songs that give a voice to those otherwise unheard. This is an extract from his book, Rock in a Hard Place.

Written by: Orlando Crowcroft

Subvert the stereotypes. Just do what you love.
Culture

Subvert the stereotypes. Just do what you love.

Jobs for the boys/girls? — Whether it's making biker cupcakes or heavy metal quilts, some people are determined to find their calling in life – no matter how unlikely it seems.

Written by: Mike Belleme, Shelley Jones, Shane Herrick

Metal band Baroness on the art of not freaking out
Culture

Metal band Baroness on the art of not freaking out

Touring as therapy — An accident halted the rise of Savannah’s most ambitious metal band, splitting them apart. But, as frontman John Dyer Baizley explains, the catharsis of getting back on the road keeps them sane.

Written by: Cian Traynor

Kirkuk's only metal band are defying ISIS in Iraq
Culture

Kirkuk's only metal band are defying ISIS in Iraq

Death and metal in a divided state — Forged in the crucible of oil-rich and conflict-ridden Kirkuk, the story of Iraqi band Dark Phantom is pure metal. But in a city littered with Isis sleeper cells, going underground is no affectation. It’s a means of survival.

Written by: Campbell MacDiarmid

The heavy metal bands fighting authority in the Middle East
Magazine

The heavy metal bands fighting authority in the Middle East

Defiant Sounds — Huck 54 is packed with stories of defiance, like Iraqi heavy metal band Dark Phantom, whose provocative music rallies against government corruption. Constantly forced under the radar by political leaders and Islamic extremists, they are part of a wave of metal acts fighting the power across the the Middle East. Here are some of the loudest voices.

Written by: Adam White

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