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metal-1.md

Monday

Brazil

  • Military dictatorship closed off Brazil
  • Metal bands began recording in '85 just as the dictatorahip ended
  • Rock in Rio had 1.3m atendees
    • the presence of metal bands tame to the rest of the Western world overwhelmed Brazilians
    • "soundtrack of a new country", symbol of democracy
  • Sepultura, the first major Brazilian metal band, shocked people merely for coming from Brazil
    • Brazil "a place that seemed so different"
    • direct influence from outside metal bands; the story of seeing a band wear belts made out of bullets on an album cover and deciding to imitate it by gluing together batteries
    • added native Brazilian instruments to their music against the advice of their record label
    • "we don't need to copy the West; we should have our own identity"

Japan

  • Loud Park a major metal festival
  • When Slayer first came to Japan, they played in a theatre with seats
    • the crowd rushed the stage as soon as they started playing
    • the terrified ushers told them all to go back to their seats for the rest of the show
  • unlike for Americans, metal in Japan isn't about expressing rebellion or alienation from society
  • they treat metal almost as a game of roleplay, putting on a "demonic personality"
    • one fan said "usually I wear a suit and tie, but not here at a metal concert"

Deep Purple

  • Blackmore metal bar (named after Deep Purple guitarist Richie Blackmore)
  • Deep Purple came to Japan in '72
    • performed with lots of unexpected improvisation; Blackmore was turning his guitar upside down while playing
    • the crowd rushed the Bukodan stage
    • legendary performance

KISS

  • came to Japan in the 70s
  • couldn't get through immigration while wearing their makeup; cleaned it off and put it back on for the show
  • their pyrotechnics were very shocking, but their makeup was reminiscient of kabuki theater to the Japanese, which helped them relate to KISS

Megadeth

  • Guitarist Marty Friedman lives in Japan
  • does Japanese shows; many talkshows and music related programs
    • working on "Death Panda", a show with authentic metal music but with 48 teenage girls singing the vocals
    • "you could never do that in America"

visual kei music style

  • notable bands: Sex Machinegun, X-Japan
  • guys dress "glam meets goth meets metal", glamorous makeup and outfits
  • the "fastest heaviest music next to sappy ballads" on the same album
    • "I would never have the guts to put Barry Manilow songs next to heavy metal epics"
  • local fans often know nothing of international metal scene but international metal fans dislike visual kei
    • "Why is visual kei not metal?" "Because metal is something cool" (lead singer of Sigh)

India

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