Heavy Metal in the Holy Land

Heavy metal may be suited for the Middle East after all, especially in a sacred place like Jerusalem. The city had their annual Metalfest Tuesday night set to high expectations. As one fan put it, heavy metal and the holy land make a good match:

“Fear, we live by fear since we were young. People tell us the Holocaust, the Arabs, we live with fear. In metal concerts you come you see your people, it’s a safe place to loosen up.”

Bands like Acropolis (they call themselves “Hebrew Metal”) and Shworchtsechaye (literal meaning is Black Beast, vocalist Yehi’s photo is shown above) seemed to be popular acts at the show. In fact, Shworchtsechaye is a real decent extreme metal band. Click on their name and check out their MySpace page.

Personally, I would love to hear a metal version of the Hava Nagila. Oi vey! You get so tired of the traditional version.

Listen to a radio broadcast report on the festival’s bands here.