Worldwide Metal: Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is a country of breathtaking beauty. The island nation endured a prolonged civil war. Spanning over 25 years that finally ended in 2009. In it’s wake, the country suffered dramatically. Society in the country was divided through almost two decades of war and unrest. On top of that, the country plunged into an economic crisis in 2022. With the crisis, it caused shortages of food, fuel, and essential goods. Despite these hardships, Sri Lanka stuck through the difficulties and hardship. Bouncing back with tourism and the economy coming back from its lowest depths. With a twenty-plus year war and an economical crisis, causing anger, uncertainty, depression and fear of potential death, did those difficulties create music that matched the heartbeat of the nation? Let’s check out the Sri Lanka metal scene and see how it’s people harnessed those hardships to make some great, heavy music.
The first band I’ll be talking about delves into the genre of black metal. Agathi formed in 2022 and from the band’s sole release in the 2023 E.P. Asamgna - අසංඥ, it gives off an almost blackened death metal/melodic black metal mix. Think Behemoth with hints of Uada. The band’s vocalist and bassist, Ghoradhwesha, has such a snarling, visceral vocal delivery that it was pretty epic sounding. Especially on the opening track “Vishala - විශාලා”. Definitely worth a listen if you want some grander scale black metal.
Next up, we hit the pit and tackle the thrash genre with the band Tantrum. A unique take on the genre, with the band adding elements of tech death, classical, blues, and jazz into their sound. The band’s sole release Rebellion is a good amalgamation of all the things I mentioned. With unique clean vocals and harsh growls of Javeen Zoysa, it was a complex musical listen that I dug a lot. Though I can’t find news of new music on the horizon, I hope new music is in the works. Since this act has a lot of potential and talent in its ranks.
Bandcamp
The last act i’ll be talking about today is the one-person DSBM band Accursed. Formed in 2011 and apparently has been dormant since the band’s sole release in 2014’s The Rain, the album captures that atmospheric, hopeless and bleakness of the DSBM and ambient black metal genre. With the rough demo-like production, harsh distortion and screeching wails of the project’s leader Winter, it encapsulates that darkened isolation the genre is known for and is a great listen for fans of Xasthur or Leviathan. Plus, you can get the album for $1 on the label’s Bandcamp, so you truly have no excuse not to pick this album up.
That’s going to do it for my time visiting Sri Lanka. Did you dig some of the bands I featured in this edition? Were there any bands you think other readers should check out? You can also let me know what country I should travel to next, so I can stamp my metal passport on my journey to discover Worldwide Metal.
