Worldwide Metal: Vietnam
Vietnam is a country with an vast and bountiful history and culture. Sadly, the country has faced countless hardships. With the Vietnam War leaving lasting scars, leaving a devastating effect on the country in its wake. Despite that, Vietnam has made remarkable progress to rebuild in recent decades. With its surging economy, breathtaking agriculture and growth in tourism, the country has gotten back on its feet. From those hardships of the Vietnam War and issues the country has face regarding inequality and environmental concerns, what is the metal scene like there? Has the dark past of Vietnam led to that dark and dwelling times to inspire musicians to create brutal and heavy music both in sound and lyrical message?
The first band I’ll be covering is grindcore act Wừu. Formed in 2011, the project is a three-piece of straight-forward, chugging and chaotic grindcore akin to acts like Brutal Truth or Pig Destroyer. On the band’s third album, Sét đánh vô đầu, the barrage of growls and thrashy guitars and blast beats just instantly checks all the grindcore staples I love about the genre. If you can find it, their 2012 album Hoang tưởng is also a banger of a release and just as good as the band’s most recent material.
Now we check out my personal favorite genre of metal in death metal with our next act Mundane. Formed two years ago, the band takes that brutal, old school death metal sound of the Florida scene of the 90’s for the modern day. With vocalist Pi Odin giving off John Gallagher of Dying Fetus in his vocal cadences. The band’s 2024 debut Hồi đầu thị ngạn is one hell of a record and a strong debut for this up and coming act. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for their second album since their music definitely tugged at my death metal heartstrings.
Now we dive into the hopeless and bleakness of black metal with the band Vong. A one-person project, the band truly captures that dark, dread and melancholic nature of black metal and DSBM. With only release, 2022’s A Wander in Liminality (Definitive Edition), it give me instant vibes of so many countless styles of black metal. From the distortion heavy second wave black metal sound on “Lệ chi viên”, to an almost Bathory/Darkthrone fusion on “Storm Over The South Sea”. I hope more music is in the works for this project, since it captures the origins and roots of the black metal genre, and I want to see where the band would go with a follow up.
The last band I’ll be checking out is progressive metal act Hạc San. Since 2011, the band has taken their inspiration lyrically from the history and origin of not only Vietnamese history, but the country’s folklore and fairy tales. The band’s 2015 debut album Sét đánh ngang trời delivers a wide range of influences and sounds from progressive metal. The album’s opening track “Dưới đáy trần gian” has a Rush-esque synth, combined with Dream Theater vocals over a pretty proggy, but groovy Symphony X style guitar riff. The band did release new music in 2020 with Hồn - Trăng - Máu, containing one single 29 minute long piece of music. If you like symphonic and complex progressive metal, this is the band to check out.
That’s going to do it for my time visiting Vietnam. 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.
