Bangladeshi heavy metal
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Bangladeshi heavy metal or Bangla heavy metal was originated from the evolution of
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and American heavy metal bands of the 1980s. Bands like
Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
, Metallica and Megadeth have had the greatest influences on Bangladeshi heavy metal musicians. Other 1970s bands to influence are bands like Deep Purple,
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
and
Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...
. The first bands to play heavy metal in Bangladesh were bands like
Warfaze Warfaze (Bengali: ওয়ারফেইজ) is a Bangladeshi heavy metal band formed in 6 June 1984 in Dhaka by Kamal, Meer, Helal, Naimul, and Bappy. They are one of the early heavy metal bands in Bangladesh. The band had numerous line-u ...
and Rockstrata. The most prominent era for heavy metal movement was between the early 1990s 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 Artcell is a Bangladeshi progressive metal band formed in October 1999 by vocalist and riff guitarist George Lincoln D'Costa, lead guitarist Ershad Zaman, bassist Saef Al Nazi Cézanne and drummer Kazi Sazzadul Asheqeen Shaju. The first song th ...
,
Aurthohin Aurthohin is a Bangladeshi rock band formed in Dhaka in 1998 by Saidus Sumon (vocals and bass guitar), Tonmoy Rahman (lead guitar), Ponir (rhythm guitar) and Rumi Rahman (drums and percussion). They are considered to be one of the pioneering ...
,
Cryptic Fate Cryptic Fate is a Bangladeshi heavy metal band formed in 1993 in Dhaka. They are one of the pioneers of Bangladeshi metal music. Since 1993, they have released four studio albums and several singles in mixed albums. The original lineup consist ...
, Powersurge, Mechanix, Metal Maze, Vibe and Stentorian. Alternative bands like Nemesis,
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and
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also played some alternative metal songs over the years. Warfaze, Artcell and Aurthohin together are the most popular rock/metal trio of Bangladesh.


History


1960s and 1970s (Pre-history)


Antecedents: 1960s (Blues rock)

Although there were no Bangladeshi metal bands formed in the 1960s and 1970s, some blues-based rock bands helped to emerge heavy rock in Bangladesh. Such a band was Windy Side of Care, formed in 1964,
Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...
, who became one of the earliest rock bands to form in Bangladesh. Mainly inspired by rock n' roll artists like
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
,
Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
and
The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...
, they mixed psychedelic rock, hard rock, blues rock with Bengali Classical music. Initially they did not intend to record their output but to play gigs. They used to jam at
Shahbag Shahbag or Shahbagh (also Shahbaugh, bn, শাহবাগ, Shāhbāg, ) is a major neighbourhood and a police precinct or ''thana'' in Dhaka, the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. It is also a major public transport hub. It is a juncti ...
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 In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signa ...
and frequent
whammy bar A vibrato system on a guitar is a mechanical device used to temporarily change the pitch of the strings. Instruments without a vibrato have other bridge and tailpiece systems. They add vibrato to the sound by changing the tension of the stri ...
sets an early example of heavy rock in the Bangladeshi music scene. They did not become commercially successful but their early works and experiments indicate the major movement of heavy rock in Bangladesh. Although they are not as well known to modern fans, some of their records were recovered. They made 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 Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
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 (now known as Nogor Baul) was a pioneering psychedelic rock artist of Bangladesh. He too performed heavy rock riffs and solos. Late
Ayub Bachchu Ayub Bachchu (; 16 August 1962 – 18 October 2018) was a Bangladeshi rock guitarist, composer, singer and songwriter, who was the founder of the Bangladeshi rock band LRB and earned success as the lead singer and the lead guitarist of the ...
was a member of the pop rock band,
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, who later formed his own band,
LRB LRB may refer to: * Love Runs Blind, a Bangladeshi rock band * '' Lego Rock Band'', a game in the ''Rock Band'' video game series * Liquid rocket booster * Little Red Book, quotations from Chairman Mao * Little River Band, an Australian music act * ...
. 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
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for the 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 names, wearing tight jeans, t-shirts, boots, etc. However, due to cultural impact and strictness, many boys were not allowed to grow long hair until they became famous. Back in the 1980s, there was no Internet connection or many 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 in inspiring Bangladeshi musicians with foreign metal acts. The shop is still active. Primarily drawing influences from
NWOBHM The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term ...
bands such as
Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
and
Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...
with an early influence of the 1970s
traditional heavy metal Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ...
bands such as Deep Purple and
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
, many underground hard rock and heavy metal bands were formed in Dhaka from early to mid-1980s. It was an immediate response to
New wave of British heavy metal The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term i ...
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 Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guita ...
, Randy Rhoads,
Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...
,
Jason Becker Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He w ...
and Paul Gilbert. The first ever Bangladeshi heavy metal band to be formed was "Waves" on 25 December 1981,
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
, Germany. The band was formed by three Bangladeshi teenagers -'' Iftekhar, Mahmud and Mithu'' living in 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 three 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 venues in Bangladesh including BTV. Many line-up changes happened while some of the members moved abroad. They covered " Heaven and Hell by Black Sabbath in 1985. 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 (the audience) would want to cut Iftekhar's (their bassist) long hair. Waves disbanded in 1985 and after almost ten years they released their only album, ''Purono Smriti''. They have been inactive since 1996. In 1984,
Warfaze Warfaze (Bengali: ওয়ারফেইজ) is a Bangladeshi heavy metal band formed in 6 June 1984 in Dhaka by Kamal, Meer, Helal, Naimul, and Bappy. They are one of the early heavy metal bands in Bangladesh. The band had numerous line-u ...
was formed. They were young heavy metal fans from St Joseph. At the time heavy metal was not yet mainstream music in Bangladesh. Mainstream music included genres such as pop,
folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...
and blues. So, Warfaze started as a cover band. They used to cover hard rock and heavy metal songs by bands such as Deep Purple, Iron Maiden and
Dokken Dokken is an American glam metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. It split up in 1989 and reformed four years later. The band had several hit singles which charted on the Billboard Hot 100, such as " Alone Again", " In My Dreams", and " Burn ...
. After multiple line-up changes and 7 years since 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 Bangladesh. 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 employed melodic vocals with heavy riffs. But Sunjoy's powerful high-pitched screaming voice helped develop the idea of heavy metal singing. He was inspired by and often followed the singing style of
Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is a British singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...
. His screams in "Ekti Chele", which last for about 20 seconds are a perfect example of this style. Sunjoy has been the most influential heavy metal vocalist of Bangladesh. On the other hand, Warfaze's lead guitarist, Kamal's fast
arpeggios A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...
with
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and
sweep picking Sweep picking is a guitar playing technique. When sweep picking, the guitarist plays single notes on consecutive strings with a 'sweeping' motion of the pick, while using the fretting hand to produce a specific series of notes that are fast a ...
,
tapping Tapping is a playing technique that can be used on any stringed instrument, but which is most commonly used on guitar. The technique involves a string being fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion. This is in contrast to stand ...
, 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 a 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 An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...
, complicated lives and
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. Both of their albums, ''Jibon Dhara'' (Living Style) and ''Oshamajik'' (Anti-Social) demonstrate this. While Jibon Dhara was more focused on a political theme, Oshamajik was more interested in social struggles. Their lyrics helped push 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 riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompanime ...
s were heavier compared to other rock bands of their time. But after releasing their debut album, they stayed dormant for over 20 years. Although they returned to the scene with their second album, ''Notun Shaader Khoje'' ''(In Search of New Taste)'' 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 similar to the
speed metal Speed metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It ...
sound of Deep Purple. In Dhaka, another band formed in the late 80s to early 90s, was also influential to hard rock and heavy metal. They released their debut album ''Nishshobdo Kolahol'' in 1992. But they too became inactive after mid 90s. Meanwhile, another hard rock trio named Kirtinasha (Destroyed) who formed in 1988, released their debut album, ''Kirtinasha'' in 1993 under Asia Voice records. Kirtinasha was one of the few bands who did not release their albums under Sargam label. They were one of the pioneering hard rock bands of Bangladesh who recorded some of their earliest material in 1988 but did not release anything until their debut album. Kirtinasha's songs were about natural calamities, anti-love, conflicts,
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,
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and deaths. Kirtinasha never went mainstream like Warfaze or Rockstrata. But their song "Dhoroni" (Earth) was successful among hard rock fans of that time. Kirtinasha had no activity after the mid-1990s. Their members pursued their personal lives and left the music industry after the mid-1990s. Aces was another popular rock band formed in the late 1980s. They were very technically proficient but did not release any albums. Thus they faded from the music scene after the 1990s.


Emergence: 1994–1999

Followed by the groundbreaking success of Warfaze and Rockstrata, several heavy metal and hard rock bands were formed between the mid to late 1990s. Bands such as
Artcell Artcell is a Bangladeshi progressive metal band formed in October 1999 by vocalist and riff guitarist George Lincoln D'Costa, lead guitarist Ershad Zaman, bassist Saef Al Nazi Cézanne and drummer Kazi Sazzadul Asheqeen Shaju. The first song th ...
,
Cryptic Fate Cryptic Fate is a Bangladeshi heavy metal band formed in 1993 in Dhaka. They are one of the pioneers of Bangladeshi metal music. Since 1993, they have released four studio albums and several singles in mixed albums. The original lineup consist ...
,
Aurthohin Aurthohin is a Bangladeshi rock band formed in Dhaka in 1998 by Saidus Sumon (vocals and bass guitar), Tonmoy Rahman (lead guitar), Ponir (rhythm guitar) and Rumi Rahman (drums and percussion). They are considered to be one of the pioneering ...
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 this. 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-language metal album recorded by a Bangladeshi artist. Cryptic Fate was the second most important metal band in Bangladesh. They were one of the leading bands of next generation Bangladeshi heavy metal music. They started to write in
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
in their later albums. Although they started as a
traditional heavy metal Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ...
band, their next albums included more complex
guitar solos A guitar solo is a melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. In 20th and 21st century traditional music and popular mus ...
and drumming. Thus their songs became very influential towards development of
progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral ...
in Bangladesh. Their songs often contained fast-tempoed heavy riffs and deep vocals which bordered on
progressive death metal Technical death metal (also referred to as tech-death) is a musical subgenre of death metal that began and developed in the early- to mid-1990s, with particular focus on challenging, demanding instrumental skill and complex songwriting. Techni ...
. Cryptic Fate often wrote lyrics about the
Liberation War of Bangladesh The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali n ...
. Cryptic Fate is the longest most active metal band after Warfaze. There have been some important metal bands from early to late 1990s, who were popular during that time but did not go mainstream or did not 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 1990s, and performed in many shows together. Thrashold was formed by Zia of
Shironamhin Shironamhin ( bn, শিরোনামহীন ''Śirōnāmahīn'' English: ''Untitled'') is a Bengali rock band formed in Dhaka in 1996. Following as a rock group emerging from Dhaka's underground music in the late 1990s, they were distingui ...
in 1992. Zia was a teenager at the time. The band played only a few live concerts. Zia later approached his career as a folk and alternative rock musician.


2000s and 2010s (Mainstream)


Development of subgenres: 2000–2010

In the 2000s heavy metal started to become mainstream in Bangladeshi music scene.
Thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
bands like Metallica and Megadeth had directly influenced young Bangladeshi musicians. As a result, the thrashier tone had become more common in Bangladeshi metal bands. The groove metal sound also became common among musicians. Primarily inspired by
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
and American thrash and groove metal bands with ground breaking success of Bangladeshi metal bands in the 1990s, many underground bands were formed in the early 2000s. By the beginning of the 2000s, Aurthohin released their debut album, as did 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 a metal voice. Some of their most notable growls in songs include "Guti-From Hell", "Shaat Din" (Seven Days) and "Protirup" (Replica). Meanwhile, their first
lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
, Piklu, developed his guitar skills. He became proficient on various fast-
scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number w ...
with different types of picking techniques. He then started to play various
genres Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
such as heavy metal, thrash metal,
speed metal Speed metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It ...
, groove metal etc. Piklu was one of the most important metal guitarists in the 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 bring 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 (all played by Piklu), several bass solos (all done by Sumon) and brutal growling as well as melodic vocals, piano rhythms and violin solos, became a good example of progressive metal. Sumon's slap bassing also helped to create the
funky Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mid ...
sound for the band, incorporating genres like
funk rock Funk rock is a fusion genre that mixes elements of funk and rock. James Brown and others declared that Little Richard and his mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters, were the first to put the funk in the rock and roll beat, with a biographer stat ...
and
funk metal Funk metal (also known as thrash-funk or punk-funk) is a subgenre of funk rock and alternative metal that infuses heavy metal music (often thrash metal) with elements of funk and punk rock. Funk metal was part of the alternative metal movement, ...
. Aurthohin due to Sumon's illness stopped their activities after 2003. But when Sumon started to recover from his illness, they continued their work from 2008. Vikings, another award-winning band of the 1990s released their debut album, "Jiboner Kolahol" in 2000. They featured heavy riffs in their songs. Their songs also featured massive
whammy bar A vibrato system on a guitar is a mechanical device used to temporarily change the pitch of the strings. Instruments without a vibrato have other bridge and tailpiece systems. They add vibrato to the sound by changing the tension of the stri ...
and
pedal A pedal (from the Latin '' pes'' ''pedis'', "foot") is a lever designed to be operated by foot and may refer to: Computers and other equipment * Footmouse, a foot-operated computer mouse * In medical transcription, a pedal is used to control p ...
uses. Although they soon became inactive for over a decade but returned to scene with their movie
soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...
. Meanwhile,
Artcell Artcell is a Bangladeshi progressive metal band formed in October 1999 by vocalist and riff guitarist George Lincoln D'Costa, lead guitarist Ershad Zaman, bassist Saef Al Nazi Cézanne and drummer Kazi Sazzadul Asheqeen Shaju. The first song th ...
, another promising band formed in 1999, released their debut album 2002 and became Bangladesh's most popular progressive metal band. Their main inspiration was Metallica. They used to cover various songs by Metallica in their early years. Warfaze also inspired them as a Bangladeshi metal band. They released their second album, ''Oniket Prantor'' in 2006. They have had their biggest hits due to their catchy riffs and vocals. Two of their most famous songs, "Poth Chola" and "Oniket Prantor" both featured catchy acoustic plucking which helped make their music go mainstream even among non-metal 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 from 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 from Bangladesh. Some notable examples of his notable drumming feature on - "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 make progressive metal go mainstream.
Artcell Artcell is a Bangladeshi progressive metal band formed in October 1999 by vocalist and riff guitarist George Lincoln D'Costa, lead guitarist Ershad Zaman, bassist Saef Al Nazi Cézanne and drummer Kazi Sazzadul Asheqeen Shaju. The first song th ...
also wrote some of the most complex lyrics in history of Bangladeshi rock music. Their primary
lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...
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 the mid-2000s several extreme metal bands were formed. Dripping Gore being the first death metal band in Bangladesh released their first single in a mixed Album called Agontuk - 3 in 2005. However the band went to a never-ending hibernation in 2006 when the frontman and Vocal Anjan went to Australia for his studies. Severe Dementia, being one of the renowned death metal band in Bangladesh, was formed in 2004. Severe Dementia was originally named ''"666"'', but due to cultural impact, it was renamed to ''Severe Dementia''. Severe Dementia did not release any full-length albums, but did release an EP album, ''Epitaph of Plasse'' 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 (keyboardist from Warfaze) experimented with classical and symphonic music. Sham's background keyboards helped steer the music towards Symphonic Metal. Thus it led them becoming the first symphonic metal band from Bangladesh. They released only one album in 2010. Sazzad Arefeen also reformed his own side project, Sazzad Arefeen's Angry Machine and continued his work 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 (2013). 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 on compact disc in Oceania (Satanica Productions Australasia). Their first album Krittrim Prithibi (2013) is the benchmark for Bengali Melodic Death Metal.


Fusion genres and experiments: 2010 and onwards

At the end of the 2010s many alternative rock bands were formed. However, they too played some heavy metal songs. Bands such as Nemesis,
Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
and
Arbovirus Arbovirus is an informal name for any virus that is transmitted by arthropod vectors. The term ''arbovirus'' is a portmanteau word (''ar''thropod-''bo''rne ''virus''). ''Tibovirus'' (''ti''ck-''bo''rne ''virus'') is sometimes used to more sp ...
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 Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu m ...
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 the emergence of
alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...
in Bangladesh. Bands like Funeral Anthem, Minerva and Hallucination also continued to make 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'' ''(Farewell Constitution)''. The album contained deep growling voice with groovy riffs and solos. Although not the first groove metal band, Minerva earned popularity in the genre. In 2015 they held a tribute concert for Bangladeshi rock artists - Azam Khan, Nogor Baul,
LRB LRB may refer to: * Love Runs Blind, a Bangladeshi rock band * '' Lego Rock Band'', a game in the ''Rock Band'' video game series * Liquid rocket booster * Little Red Book, quotations from Chairman Mao * Little River Band, an Australian music act * ...
, Mile,
Warfaze Warfaze (Bengali: ওয়ারফেইজ) is a Bangladeshi heavy metal band formed in 6 June 1984 in Dhaka by Kamal, Meer, Helal, Naimul, and Bappy. They are one of the early heavy metal bands in Bangladesh. The band had numerous line-u ...
,
Aurthohin Aurthohin is a Bangladeshi rock band formed in Dhaka in 1998 by Saidus Sumon (vocals and bass guitar), Tonmoy Rahman (lead guitar), Ponir (rhythm guitar) and Rumi Rahman (drums and percussion). They are considered to be one of the pioneering ...
,
Cryptic Fate Cryptic Fate is a Bangladeshi heavy metal band formed in 1993 in Dhaka. They are one of the pioneers of Bangladeshi metal music. Since 1993, they have released four studio albums and several singles in mixed albums. The original lineup consist ...
,
Artcell Artcell is a Bangladeshi progressive metal band formed in October 1999 by vocalist and riff guitarist George Lincoln D'Costa, lead guitarist Ershad Zaman, bassist Saef Al Nazi Cézanne and drummer Kazi Sazzadul Asheqeen Shaju. The first song th ...
,
Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
, Nemesis,
Arbovirus Arbovirus is an informal name for any virus that is transmitted by arthropod vectors. The term ''arbovirus'' is a portmanteau word (''ar''thropod-''bo''rne ''virus''). ''Tibovirus'' (''ti''ck-''bo''rne ''virus'') is sometimes used to more sp ...
, Powersurge and Mechanix. Hallucination is another notable band, which was formed in 2010, Dhaka. Hallucination played
melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavine ...
songs with heavy metal elements. They released their full-length debut album,'' Krittrim Prithibi'' in 2013 and they are considered the pioneerineering melodic death metal act in Bangladesh.
Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line betwee ...
, another band form Chittagong was formed in 2016. They released only one album in 2016. Their influences include, Megadeth, Pantera,
Eluveitie Eluveitie ( ; )Chrigel Glanzmann: "...According to current research, it is pronounced in Bernese German as, i.e. ''"Elvèyti"''. But I don't know if this is correct. The gods know that.:: Metalist Magazine :: Interviews :: Eluveitie is a Swiss f ...
etc. They combined
folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...
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 video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
s on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
. 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 Darrell Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), best known by his stage name Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founded alongside hi ...
,
Jason Becker Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He w ...
,
Marty Friedman Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 unti ...
, etc. Although Kamal started the neoclassical metal act by playing technical solos on Warfaze's songs since the beginning, but Oni helped take it further. After leaving Warfaze in 2014, Oni worked as solo artist. He released some
instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...
tracks with other musicians. Most of his songs included shredding and jamming. Oni is currently living in the 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 did not go mainstream. Most of these metal bands were either
black metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emp ...
or bands having satanic lyrics. Satanik a black metal band (later performing technical brutal black metal) was formed in the early 2000s, almost never went mainstream due to 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 controversial bands, there have been many metal bands who did not go mainstream and remained underground bands. Bands such as Scarecrow, Metal Maze, and Exenemy are some notable examples. 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 with the intention of promoting underground metal bands, 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 Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken o ...
. However, due to some international ranking websites, some bands have come to be recognised 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 Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
, Bon Jovi and
Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...
. Their current drummer and
leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...
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, eclipsing bassists like
Les Claypool Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and author. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the ro ...
,
VIctor Wooten Victor Lemonte Wooten (born September 11, 1964) is an American bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He has been the bassist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones since the group's formation in 1988 and a member of the band SMV with two other ...
and
Flea Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...
. Although most of these Bangladeshi artists were added by Bangladeshi music fans, they became well known and were praised by many foreign music fans.


Current status of Bangladeshi heavy metal

Even though heavy metal in Bangladesh was very popular from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, recent events and analysis show that the popularity of heavy metal is decreasing. Many soft rock and
alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
bands are taking the place of heavy metal. Bands like Shunno, Old School,
Lalon Lalon ( bn, লালন; 14 October 1772 – 17 October 1890), also known as Lalon Shah, Lalon Fakir, Shahji and titled Fakir, Shah, was a prominent Bengali spiritual leader, philosopher, mystic poet and social reformer. Regarded as an icon of ...
and Recall came forward in the media and airwaves. As a result, 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 radio and television. Most radio channels and televisions stations are only interested in broadcasting soft music and pop. Only few hit metal songs are played sometimes. There are few broadcasting facilities for newly formed metal bands.


Important record labels

Although most record labels are now interested in recording metal albums, this was not the case in the 1990s. Sargam was the first record label to record a heavy metal album. Sargam made it possible for metal artists to gain a foothold in the industry. Sargam was interested in recording various genres of albums. Many major 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 for metal bands of today and was a significant movement for Bangladeshi heavy metal. After Sargam, other record labels like G-Series, Ektaar Music Ltd, Soundtek, Deadline Music and Incursion Music have recorded a number of metal albums throughout the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. G-Series is the most important record label of Bangladesh after Sargam. Almost all notable metal bands are signed with G-Series.


References

{{Authority control Heavy metal by location Bangladeshi music