Lamasy (Madagascar)

Lamasy is based in Antsirabe, Madagascar and play in the Symphonic/Melodic Black Metal style. The band features Fenohasina Solonantenaina on keyboards, Mayhen Memy on rhythm guitar, Harmino on bass guitar, Douda on drums, Elie Rindraniaina on guitar and backing vocals and Izaia Mampionona on vocals. Lamasy has two full-length releases to their name, Fanambaràna (2009) and Faminaniana (2011) and have established a fairly distinctive and easily recognizable style and image for metal out of Africa.

This is the official video for the song, Lamasy...

And here's the same song, played live...

Hafatra, also live...



And Fanoherana...

Carthagods (Tunisia)

Carthagods are from Tunisia and the current line-up features the talents of Khemakhem Mehdi on vocals, Ben Sassi Tarak on lead guitar, Ben Salem Houssem on bass guitar and Ben Hamed Aymen on drums. The band was formed in 1997, but played mainly cover songs of acts such as Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Metallica and Pantera. They began to gravitate towards original material around 2001, but suffered a double blow when one of the original guitarists, Wassim Kileni left and his replacement died. They have shared the stage with singers such as Paul Di'Anno and Tim 'Ripper' Owens and regularly feature at the 'Rock Tunisia' event.

Here's "Memories of Neverending Pain", which shows a slightly softer side of metal out of Africa

And the second video shows Carthagods doing an Iron Maiden cover with Paul Di'Anno and Marcel Coenen...

Sand Aura (Egypt)

Right. After a pause that was longer than anticipated due to some connectivity problems, I'm finally back to share some more metal out of Africa with you. This time, north to Egypt for a prog metal band by the name of Sand Aura, who are based in Cairo. The band was formed in 2007 and feature the talents of Muhammed Hassany on vocals and Shung and Mo'men Reda on guitars. The style is progressive folk metal, but with a decidedly Middle-Eastern flavor. They have one full length release, 'Elegy of the Orient' (2012) to their name. They also appear on the Metality 'Sounds of the Middle East Volume 2' compilation. The videos are audio only. Here's 'Aljahelia'...

and 'The Orphaned Child' parts 1 and 2...



Visit this link for a detailed review of their debut album.

Before Crush (Angola)

I'm continuing my mission of introducing you all to metal out of Africa. Based in the Benguela Province of Angola, Before Crush started out as an alternative punk band called Nightmare Today, incorporating themes of personal struggle and warfare, but also of personal empowerment into their music. Over time, the style evolved to the metalcore of Before Crush. The band features Ary and Costinha Cassoma on guitars, Daniel da Silva Portela on drums, Wilson Alexandre Portela on bass guitar and Ladino Cumpanhe on vocals. The band released an independent EP entitled Idolos Ancorados in 2010. They sing in Portuguese and English.

Here's Before Crush with 'A Bruxa'



And 'A Grand Conquista'...

Wrust (Botswana)

Wrust are based in Gaberone, Botswana and play death metal. Active from 2000, they have three releases - An demo called 'Mirth of Sorrow' (2003), a full-length album called 'Soulless machine' (2007), which was recorded in 2006 in South Africa and an EP called 'Too Deep' (2011). Wrust has shared the stage with acts like Sepultura, Entombed, Carcass and Conquest for Death. The band features Stux Daemon on guitar and vocals and Dem Lord Master on drums. Wrust are currently in the studio, recording a new album which may be released around April 2013. If you want to check out what to expect from this brand of African heavy metal, here's the video of 'Why me?' from their 2007 release.



An audio only version of 'The Renegade'...

And a live performance of 'Cleansing Ritual'...

Finally, I've also tracked down an online interview with Wrust mainman Stux Daemon.

Introduction - What this blog is about

Hi, my name is Carine and I live in Cape Town. I've always loved metal, but I've only recently realized how many heavy metal bands there are across the African continent, many of them virtually unknown outside their native country, since Africa is primarily associated with other genres of music. So here's my mission. I plan to provide a window, for metal, as it is played in Africa. No critical reviews or indepth analysis. Just a bit of added visibility. By way of introduction to the metal scene in Africa, here's a Dutch video clip, with English subtitles, featuring two of Gaberone's 'metal cowboys'. In the next blogpost, I plan to feature a death metal band from Gaberone, Botswana.