Bangladeshi heavy metal


Bangladeshi heavy metal or Bangla heavy metal was originated from the evolution of British and American heavy metal bands of 1980s. Bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica and Megadeth have had the greatest influences on Bangladeshi heavy metal musicians. Other 70s bands to influence are bands like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Motörhead. First bands to deploy heavy metal in Bangladesh are bands like Warfaze and Rockstrata. The most prominent era for heavy metal movement was between early 90s to early 2000s. Warfaze, Rockstrata, Aces and In Dhaka are often considered as the "big four founders of heavy metal". Other 2000s metal bands are bands like Artcell, Aurthohin, Cryptic Fate, Powersurge, Mechanix, Metal Maze, Vibe and Stentorian. Alternative bands like Nemesis, Arbovirus and Black also played some alternative metal songs over the years. Warfaze, Artcell and Aurthohin together is the most popular rock/metal trio of Bangladesh.

History

1960s and '70s (Pre-Origin)

Antecedents: 1960s (Blues Rock)

Although there are no identical Bangladeshi metal bands formed in 1960s and '70s, but some blues based rock bands helped to emerge heavy rock in Bangladesh. Such a band was "Windy Side of Care", formed in 1964, Dhaka. Being one of the earliest rock bands to form in Bangladesh. Mainly inspired by rock n' roll artists like Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard and The Shadows, they mixed psychedelic rock, hard rock, blues rock with Bengali Classical music. Initially they didn't intend to record their stuffs but to mess with their gigs. They used to jam at Shahbag Hotel. They jammed at high volume, so loud that they were told to turn down their volume by their grandfather. Their long instrumental jamming through high amps, powerful distortion and frequent whammy bar sets an early example of heavy rock in Bangladeshi music scene. They didn't go commercially successful but their early works and experiments indicates the major movement of heavy rock in Bangladesh. Although they are very less known to modern fans, but some of their records were recovered. They got a deal with EMI record labels to record an album in 1968.

Heavy rock influence: Mid to late '70s

Later in the 1970s, many pop rock and psychedelic rock bands were formed in Bangladesh. Although most of them did not play or contribute much to heavy metal but some bands like Miles, Feedback and Feelings played some hard rock songs in their concerts drawn from psychedelic and blues rock. Miles, despite being a pop rock and blues rock band, used to play few hard rock songs in their live concerts, around the early 1980s. James from Feelings was a pioneering psychedelic rock artist of Bangladesh. He too approached with heavy rock riffs and solos. Late Ayub Bachchu was a member of pop rock band, Souls, who later formed his own band, LRB. Ayub Bachchu too came forward with his technical guitar playing by following the bluesy styles, which also helped emerging heavy rock in Bangladesh.

1980s and 1990s (Origins)

Foundation: 1980-1993

The 1980s was the most important decade for foundation of heavy metal in Bangladesh. heavy metal and hard rock became very popular among young music fans. The young musicians picked up their instruments and started to cover hard rock and heavy metal songs. They also followed the styles of English and American metal bands styles - growing long hair, forming bands with English name, wearing tight jeans, t-shirt, boots etc. However, due to cultural impact and strictness many boys weren't allowed to grow long hair until they became famous. Back in the '80s, there wasn't any internet connection or much broadcasting facilities in Bangladesh for foreign heavy metal bands. But there was also a local shop called, "Rainbow", in Dhaka, which used to distribute foreign metal bands' albums. The shop played an important role for inspiring Bangladeshi musicians with foreign metal acts. The shop is still activate. Primarily drawing influences from NWOBHM bands such as Iron Maiden and Motörhead with an early influence of 70s traditional heavy metal bands such as Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, many underground hard rock and heavy metal bands were formed in Dhaka from early 80s to mid 80s. It was an immediate response of New Wave of British Heavy Metal music from Bangladeshi musicians. Many psychedelic rock and blues rock artists of Bangladesh also inspired them to go forward. While some young guitarists at that time were also impressed by the guitar playing of neoclassical metal artists such as Ritchie Blackmore, Randy Rhoads, Yngwie Malmsteen, Jason Becker and Paul Gilbert. The first ever Bangladeshi heavy metal band to be formed was "Waves" on 25 December 1981, Frankfurt, Germany. The band was formed by three Bangladeshi teenagers - Iftekhar, Mahmud and Mithu living in the Germany. Their early influences include hard rock and metal bands like AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, Thin Lizzy and Van Halen. They returned to Bangladesh in 1983. In 1984, Waves recorded 3 songs for BTV for its upcoming Eid show but BTVs GM called the entire show an "Opo-Shankscrity" and decided not to air Waves. Following that incident, Waves was banned from performing at the venues in Bangladseh including BTV. Many line up changes happened while some of the members moved abroad. They covered "Heaven and Hell" of Black Sabbath in 1985. A video footage can be found on YouTube about their lead singer asking their audiences if it was right banning Waves from performing on BTV and if they would want to cut Iftekhar's long hair. Waves disbanded in 1985. And after almost 10 years they released their only album, Purono Smriti. They have been inactive for ever since after 1996. In 1984, Warfaze was formed. They were young heavy metal fans from St.Joeseph. At the time heavy metal wasn't yet mainstream music in Bangladesh. Mainstream music included genres such as pop, folk and blues. So, Warfaze started as a cover band. They used to cover English hard rock and heavy metal songs of bands such as Deep Purple, Iron Maiden and Dokken. After multiple line-up changes and 7 years later of their formation they released their self-titled debut album, "Warfaze", in 1991 under Sargam records. The album is considered one of the most influential heavy metal albums of Bangaldesh. Songs like "Boshe Achi" and "Ekti Chele" were big hits. Warfaze continued working on their following albums - "Obak Valobasha", "Jibon Dhara" and "Oshamajik" in the '90s. Although at the time, there were few bands who played heavy riffs and solos, but there were no bands who had a singer like Warfaze's first singer, Sunjoy. Most of the metal/hard rock bands' vocalists where singing in melodic vocals with heavy riffs. But Sunjoy's powerful high-pitched screaming voice helped developing the idea of heavy metal singing. He was inspired by and often followed the singing style of Ian Gillan. His screams in "Ekti Chele" is a perfect example of it which lasts for about 20 seconds. Sunjoy has been the most influential heavy metal vocalist of Bangladesh. On the other hand, Warfaze's lead guitarist, Kamal's fast arpeggios with alternate and sweep picking, tapping, dive bombs and melodic structures uses created heavy metal riffs and solos in their songs. Kamal is one of the pioneering shredders of Bangladesh. His shredding solos took Warfaze's music to neoclassical metal edge. Warfaze along with their music also helped to improve rebellious lyrics in Bangladeshi Rock music. Most of their songs were about anti-establishment, complicated lives and socialism. Both of their albums, "Jibon Dhara" and "Oshamajik" indicate it. While Jibon Dhara was more about political theme, Oshamajik was more about social struggles. Their lyrics helped pushing the boundary of romantic lyrics. Warfaze has been the most important rock and metal band of Bangladesh for their influence and consistency, running for over three decades and still going. Rockstrata, another metal band was formed in 1985. They too were students of St.Joseph college. They were initially inspired by Black Sabbath. They used to cover various songs of Black Sabbath. Later they gained interest in Iron Maiden. They released their self-titled debut album in 1992. Their music, especially guitar riffs were heavier compared to other rock bands of their time. But after releasing their debut album, they became inactive for over 20 years. Although they returned to the scene with their second album, "Notun Shaader Khoje" ' in 2014. Both Rockstrata and Warfaze have been cited as the first heavy metal bands of Bangladesh by music critics. However both being contemporaries to each other, Warfaze and Rockstrata had significant differences in their musical styles. Rockstrata sounded more brutal and heavy which could be compared to doom metal music of Black Sabbath. While Warfaze approached more as a technical and fast-paced band pretty similar to speed metal sound of Deep Purple. In Dhaka, another band formed in the late 80s to early 90s, was also influential towards hard rock and heavy metal. They released their debut album in, "Nishshobdo Kolahol" in 1992. But they too became inactive after mid 90s. Meanwhile, another hard rock trio named "Kirtinasha" ' who formed in 1988, released their debut album, ""Kirtinasha" in 1993 under Asia Voice records. Kirtinasha was one of the fewest bands who didn't release their albums under Sargam label. They were one of the pioneering hard rock bands of Bangladesh who recorded some of their earliest stuffs in 1988 but didn't release anything until their debut album. Kirtinasha's songs were about natural calamities, anti-love, conflicts, narcissism, terrorism and deaths. Kirtinasha never went mainstream like Warfaze or Rockstrata. But their song, "Dhoroni" was successful among hard rock fans of that time. Kirtinasha had no activity after mid 90s. Their members pursued their personal lives and left the music industry after mid 90s. Aces was another popular rock band formed in late '80s. They were very technically proficient but didn't release any album. Thus they faded from the music scene after '90s.

Emergence: 1994-1999

Followed by the groundbreaking success of Warfaze and Rockstrata, several heavy metal and hard rock bands were formed between mid to late '90s. Bands such as Artcell, Cryptic Fate, Aurthohin and Vikings were the main ones. Ever since then they have been playing important roles for developing different heavy metal genres in Bangladesh. Cryptic Fate is a prime example of it. They formed in 1993 and released their debut album, "Ends Are Forever", in 1994 which was written in English. Ends Are Forever was the first ever English metal album recorded by a Bangladeshi artist. Cryptic Fate was the second most important metal band of Bangladesh. They were one of the leading bands of next generation Bangladeshi heavy metal music. They started to write in Bengali in their later albums. Although they started as a traditional heavy metal band but their next albums included more complex guitar solos and drumming. Thus their songs became very influential towards development of progressive metal in Bangladesh. Their songs often contained fast-tempoed heavy riffs and deep voice which reached to progressive-death metal edge. Cryptic Fate often wrote lyrics about liberation war of Bangladesh. Cryptic Fate is the longest most active metal band after Warfaze. There have been some important metal bands from early '90s to late 90s, who were popular during that time but didn't go mainstream or didn't remain active. Bands like these include - Legend, Psychodeth, Trashold, Phantom Lord, Metal Warriors etc. Gibran Tanwir formed, Deth Row, in 1991, which did its first show in 1994 and was a huge part of underground Metal scene. Gibran had a band called, Glad Tiders with Sohel and drummer Daiyan Mir.Psychodeth, another metal band formed in the early 90s, used to do a lot of shows together. Thrashold was formed by Zia of Shironamhin in 1992. Zia was a teenager at the time. The band used to play few live concerts but it didn't go for long. Zia later approached his career as a folk and alternative rock musician.

2000s and 2010s (Mainstream)

Development of Subgenres: 2000-2010

In 2000s heavy metal started to become mainstream in Bangladeshi music scene. Thrash metal bands like Metallica and Megadeth had directly influenced young musicians of Bangladesh. As a result, the thrashier tone had become more common in Bangladeshi metal bands. The groove metal sound also became common among musicians. Primarily inspiring by English and American thrash and groove metal bands with ground breaking success of Bangladeshi metal bands in the 90s, many underground bands were formed in early 2000s. By the beginning of 2000s, Aurthohin released their debut album, Trimatrik in 2000. After that they constantly released their albums the next years, 2001, 2002 and 2003. They have been one of the most important bands for laying out different genres of heavy metal in Bangladesh. Aurthohin's leader, Sumon used to arrange different types of musical instruments to experiment with genres. He featured growling along with screaming in his songs. Singers such as Imtiaz and Rafa were invited to work for his albums. They backed up Sumon for growling and screaming when Sumon was unable to sing in metal voice. Some of their most notable growls in songs are such as Guti-From Hell, Shaat Din and Protirup . Meanwhile, their first lead guitarist, Piklu, developed his guitar skills. He mastered on various fast-scales with different types of picking techniques. He then started to play various genres such as heavy metal, thrash metal, speed metal, groove metal etc. Piklu was one of the most important metal guitarists in history of Bangladeshi metal. Piklu is often considered as the first guitarist to play fast-paced heavy metal riffs. Piklu's fast-paced guitar riffs and solos helped bringing the extreme metal tone in Aurthohin's songs. Several extreme metal guitarists were inspired by Piklu's guitar playing. Aurthohin's song,"Shaat Din" from "Notun Diner Michile" spanned for 28 minutes and 31 seconds. Being the longest track ever recorded by a Bangladeshi rock artist. "Shaat Din" features various music arrangements, eleven guitar solos, several bass solos and brutal growling as well as melodic vocals, pianos rhythms and violin solos, being a good example of progressive metal. Sumon's slap bassing also helped to create the funky sound for the band, emerging genres like funk rock and funk metal. Aurthohin due to Sumon's illness stopped their activities after 2003. But when Sumon started to recover from his illness, they continued their works from 2008. Vikings, another award-winning band of the 90s released their debut album, "Jiboner Kolahol" in 2000. They featured heavy riffs in their songs. Their songs also featured massive whammy bar and pedal uses. Although they soon became inactive for over a decade but returned to scene with their movie soundtrack. Meanwhile, Artcell, another promising band formed in 1999, released their debut album 2002. Being the Bangladesh's most popular progressive metal band. Their main inspiration was Metallica. They used to cover various songs of Metallica at the earliest years. Warfaze also inspired them as a Bangladeshi metal band. They released their second album, "Oniket Prantor" in 2006. They have had the biggest hits for their catchy riffs and vocals. Two of their most famous songs, "Poth Chola" and "Oniket Prantor" both featured catchy acoustic plucking which helped making their music go mainstream even among general non-metalhead music fans. On the other hand, Lincoln, their lead singer's melodic vocal skills attracted many fans to their songs. Artcell has been one of the most technically proficient bands of Bangladesh. Their drummer, Shaju's fast and technical drum solos set a new example in Bangladesh. Shaju is often considered as the greatest and most technical drummer of Bangladesh. Some of his notable drumming are - "Oniker Prantor", "Dukhkhyo Bilash", "Poth Chola" etc. On the other hand, Ershad's technical guitar solos made their songs even more complex. Artcell's songs, combined with soft melody and complexity, helped making progressive metal go mainstream. Artcell also wrote some of the most complex lyrics in history of Bangladeshi rock music. Their primary lyricist was Rupok. But after his death, Ruman Ahmed wrote songs for them. During the mid 2000s, a music show program called, "Rock Link", hosted by Bassbaba Sumon and Jewel, used to promote several rock bands of Bangladesh. The show promoted many metal bands too. After mid-2000s several extreme metal bands were formed. Severe Dementia, being the first death metal band in Bangladesh, was formed in 2004. Severe Dementia was originally named as, "666". But due to cultural impact, it was named to Severe Dementia. Severe Dementia, however was no the only first metal band to play death metal. But their popularity crossed any other death metal in their time. The first death metal sound was introduced by bands like Cryptic Fate, who contributed to death metal riffs but didn't carry on it. Severe Dementia didn't release any full album. But they released an EP album, "Epitaph of Plassey" under Indian record label, "Demonstealer Records". Their music included blast-drum beats, fast-paced guitar riffs, guttural growls and screams. Their lyrics also were about ancient historical events and brutality. Powersurge was formed in 2006 as a thrash metal band. In 2006, De-illumination was formed. Sazzad Arefeen with help of Shams Mansoor Gani experimented with classical and symphonic music. Sham's background keyboards helped creating the music of Symphonic Metal. Thus it led them being the first symphonic metal band of Bangladesh. They released only one album in 2010. Sazzad Arefeen also reformed his own side project, Sazzad Arefeen's Angry Machine and continued his works there. Hallucination is considered to be the pioneer of Bengali melodic death metal. Formed in the year 2010 Hallucination has released one single and one studio album Krittrim Prithibi. The album was released digitally in Bangladesh by Incursion Music in 2013.They are the first ones in the music industry to introduce the bkash way of buying an album and in addition they are also the first band to release a Bengali album in compact discs in the Oceania continent.Their first album Krittrim Prithibi is the benchmark for Bengali Melodic Death Metal.

Fusion Genres and Experiments: 2010 and Onwards

At the end of 2010s many alternative rock bands were formed. However, they, too, played some heavy metal songs. Bands such as Nemesis an Black and Arbovirus have been the most notable ones. Arbovirus, despite having very few elements of metal in their songs, gained much popularity for their alternative and nu-metal musical styles. They are seen as a metal band by general music fans of Bangladesh. While, Nemesis often featured heavy solos and riffs which helped emerging the alternative metal in Bangladesh. Bands like Funeral Anthem, Minerva and Hallucination also helped making new extreme metal albums. But not all of them became successful. Combining the spirits of melodic structures with speed metal, Funeral Anthem became one of the pioneering power metal band of Bangladesh. In 2013, Minerva released their debut album, "Biday Shongbidhan" . The album contained deep growling voice with groovy riffs and solos. Although not being the first groove metal band, but Minerva earned huge popularity as a groove metal band. In 2015 they held a tribute concert for Bangladeshi rock artists - Azam Khan, Nogor Baul, LRB, Mile, Warfaze, Aurthohin, Cryptic Fate, Artcell, Black, Nemesis, Arbovirus, Powersurge and Mechanix. Hallucination is another notable band, which was formed in 2010, Dhaka. Hallucination played melodic death metal songs with heavy metal elements. They released their full-length debut album, Krittrim Prithibi in 2013 and they are considered the pioneers of melodic death metal act in Bangladesh.Bay of Bengal, another band form Chittagong was formed in 2016.. They released only one album in 2016. Their influences include, Megadeth, Pantera, Eluveitie etc. They collaborated folk and classical elements with heavy metal. According to their official Facebook page, they identified themselves as an experimental metal band. Their music feature flute solos, which often sound like, "Eluveitie". Bay of Bengal gained success from publishing their music videos on YouTube. One of their music videos was created to raise awareness about suicide. Their lead singer Bakhtiyar said on the matter,
There have been some solo acts by musicians too. Oni Hasan is a prominent Bangladeshi guitarist. He was initially the guitarist of band, Vibe. Later he joined Warfaze in 2008 in absence of Kamal. Oni Hasan worked on the albums - Pothchola and Shotto. He showed some extraordinary guitar skills. His influences include Dimebag Darrel, Jason Becker, Marty Friedman etc. Although Kamal started the neoclassical metal act by playing technical solos on Warfaze's songs since the beginning, but Oni helped taking it further. After leaving Warfaze in 2014, Oni worked as solos artist. He released some instrumental tracks with other musicians. Most of his songs included shredding and jamming. Oni is currently living in UK for his study. He became popular internationally. Oni Hasan was endorsed by Carvin guitars.

Underground Metal Bands

Over the years there have been significant underground metal bands who didn't go mainstream. Most of these metal bands were either black metal or bands having satanic lyrics. Satanik a black metal band was formed in early 2000s, almost never went mainstream for their satanic themes. Although in their interview they denied being a devil or satan promoting band. Their lead guitarist Nayeem said,

Other bands include, Barzak, Bloodlust, Orator, Nafarmaan and Poizon Green. Poizon Green had initial success but only among hardcore metal fans.
Apart from controversies bands, there have been lots of metal bands who didn't go mainstream and remained as underground bands. Bands such as Scarecrow, Metal Maze, and Exenemy are some notable ones. Musicians like Rafa and Jewel played important roles for development of underground metal bands. Many compilation albums have been released throughout the years for promoting underground metal bands. Popular underground mix albums are - Lokayoto, Agontuk 1 and 2, Underground 1 and 2, and Republic. Although these albums were recorded in intention to promote underground bands but many popular rock and metal bands like Aurthohin, Black, Arbovirus, Artcell also played on those albums. Underground 1, composed by Kamal, was a big hit.

International popularity of Bangladeshi metal bands

Although most Bangladeshi metal bands are not listened worldwide due to the Bengali language but because of some international ranking websites some bands have come to knowledge internationally. For example, Warfaze was ranked 5th in "Best Hard Rock Bands" on TheTopTens. Sometimes they pushed even further and ranked 4th, surpassing classic hard rock bands like Aerosmith, Queen, Bon Jovi and Van Halen. Their current drummer and leader Tipu said on the matter,
Five metal bands, Ionic Bond, Karmna, Trainwreck, Infidel and Torture GoreGrinder were selected for participating WOA metal battle. Artcell was also ranked as number 1 as best Asian hard rock/metal band on TheTopTens. Surpassing bands like Boris and X-Japan. Warfaze was raked 4th on the list. Bassbaba Sumon, was also ranked as number 1 on "Best Slap Bassists" list. Surpassing bassists like Les Claypool, VIctor Wooten and Flea. He earned a significant position among top bassists. Although most of these Bangladeshi artists were added by Bangladeshi music fans, but they got well known and were praised by many foreign music fans.

Controversy

Although there are no controversies or conflicts of Bangladeshi heavy metal bands internationally, but some conflicts started between fans considering the "sound of heavy metal". Such a small conflict was when Aurthohin was denied being a metal band on Metallum. Moderators of Metallum never explained their reasons and the situation didn't affect anyone.

Current Status of Bangladeshi Heavy Metal

Even though heavy metal in Bangladesh was very popular from late '90s to early 2000s, but in recent events and analysis it shows that the popularity of Heavy Metal is decreasing. Many soft rock and alternative rock bands are taking the place of heavy metal. Bands like Shunno, Old School, Lalon and Recall came forward in the medias and radios. So, newly formed metal bands are not getting enough recognition or becoming mainstream. Foreign music scenes, especially music from India - Bollywood music and hip-hop music are dominating the radios and television. Most radio channels and televisions are only interested in broadcasting soft music and pop. Only few hit metal songs are played sometimes. There aren't much broadcasting facilities for newly formed metal bands.

Important Record Labels

Although most record labels now are interested in recording any metal albums, but in '90s it was very difficult to record a heavy metal album. Sargam was the first record label to record a heavy metal album. If it wasn't for Sargam, then it would be much more difficult and would take a lot more years to release any metal albums by heavy metal artists. Sargam was interested in recording various genres of albums. All metal bands - Warfaze, Rockstrata, In Dhaka and Aces were signed by Sargam. Sargam signed a deal with Rockstrata with 30k tk to record their debut album, "Rockstrata". A mixed album called, "Hooray" was huge inspiration towards metal bands of today. It was the first movement for heavy metal.
has produced and composed several metal artists' albums including most of Aurthohin's albums and Artcell's second album, "Oniket Prantor". He was a guitarist/vocalist for Warfaze on "Oshamajik" album.
Other record labels are record labels like G-Series, Ektaar Music Ltd, Soundtek, Deadline Music and Incursion Music. G-Series is the most important record label of Bangladesh after Sargam. They have recorded a number of metal albums through 90s, 2000s and 2010s. Almost all notable metal bands are signed with G-Series.