Geodissonance

Is Heavy Metal a Threat to Afghani Culture? Local Youth Shreds to Differ.

The White Page

Geo·dissonance: the metal movement is proliferating to all corners of the globe. In its relentless display of vitriolic truths and the ugliest questions of existence, we can hear the resounding riffs of heavy metal in the most conservative pockets of society. As your Punjabi, riff-worshiping correspondent, I've created Geodissonance to report the controversy: as metal unveils dissonance in cradles of brutality around the world.

To some, the notion of “Western” culture may call to mind dust bowls, the Wild West, and cheesy cowboy flicks; to much of Afghanistan, it represents a threat to a national history, culture, and honor. In the last year in a half, local Afghani bands D.U. and The White Page have pushed for a cultural evolution, via incitation of a movement most notably “Western” in its roots: heavy metal. In November 2010, D.U. ripped out a cover of “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” the Eurythmics song that was effectively set into the air-waves by Ohio-based shock rocker, Marilyn Manson. If their intent was to “shock,” their goal was well-achieved; since their appearance upon the stage, as a bunch of raging, Afghani metalheads (à la leather jackets, metal chains, and long black hair whipping across their guitars and bass), many locals have identified the groups as “trashy Western music,” representing the “cultural imperialism” of the Western world. (more…)