In Africa, rock and heavy-metal music is often dismissed as aspects of cultural imperialism. However, author and metalhead Edward Banchs argues that African musicians are performing rock and heavy metal that is just as emotional, aggressive and ambitious as that of their peers around the world.
Edward Banchs
Arts, Culture and Sport The quiet rise of heavy metal in Algeria
Unlike elsewhere on the continent where heavy metal and hard rock music are beginning to sprout, large parts of North Africa have enjoyed the styling of distorted guitars and pounding drums for decades. Even though Algeria has seen its share of political and social upheaval, and a well publicised civil war over the years, this has not deterred many from picking up electric guitars and lending their voices to the heavy metal world.
Arts, Culture and Sport The quiet rise of heavy metal in South Africa
Away from the eyes of the world, the sub-culture of heavy metal has been healthily bubbling under in South Africa, the result of a generation of musicians and fans growing comfortably with the country’s post-apartheid identity. South Africans have been enjoying rock and metal music for years, yet with a tincture of coverage outside the continent