Death Metal
Durban Metal Scence
Durban the place of sun and surf , but deep down under lies the dark underground metal scene. Bands enter the night to perform for people like you and I. Metal bands listed as the best in durban such as Contrast the Water and the Dark Pledge Defiance, but are they really the best bands of this time and age or are they threatend by the new up and coming bands ? A few years ago Durban proved this as the last battle of the bands was proved to be rigged and the better bands fell short of the prize they had worked so hard for , why do they do this? I tell you no matter how good you are , what you do, what you say , how brilliant and well colaborated your music is there is a higher person who decides who will suceed and who will fail.
In 2008 I decided to do a survey around the country and found that durban had fallen into a political era where by the metal bands are either in with the crowd or you are just shunned and never talked about again, this brings me to the point of why durban’s metal scene is so small compared to Johannesburg and Cape Town . In Cape town you have a band called Mind Assault and Day Turns Night, two of Cape Town’s most popular bands, but other bands are still entitled to their fame and their rewards. I went to an event in Cape Town and the way bands offered ” with open arms” to help other bands get to the top and get the recognition they deserved was unbelivable. Cape Town definately has something to teach the durban crowds .I then landed in Johannesburg, the captial city of the metal scene, each scene as individual as the other. You had your goth’s , metal heads , even ravers at the clubs and events, but i saw a band that knocked the socks right off my feet , Erebus “wow is all i can say ” this band knows what they are doing and they need to become famous one day . As the story goes Erebus performed at the Red Door in Pietermaritzburg for the chance to play on the same stage as Devil Driver , they were the best band that night but as durban proves the same point over and over again a band called Reverend Henry Kane, a local durban band took the rewards away , for what , This band has nothing to offer and honestly were not that good even with the lead singers blonde hairdo, the band as a whole was not that impressive, but why did they get it? Politics… not because they were good, simply its all about who you in with and who you know . Recently I decided to continue my servey and went back to durban to try to dig up some more dirt and when I was there I found it… Well it found me! Burn was hosting the Burn The Bands ” known as the battle of the bands ” ,I felt it was my obligation to stick around and observe what was going on and durning the event I saw a band ” wow “ they honestly were a band, they had it all… talent, carisma and I felt so sorry for this band because I knew the better you are the more you suffer in the metal scene. This band perfomed so well and if you were standing in the crowd you feel the power and energy they release , sure they look scary but their melodic charm catches you in their grasp and you dont want to run away you actually want to stand there and move closer to listen. This band was called Cynical Origin, the most amazing band I have ever expierenced in South Africa . It’s no joke when I say this band should play overseas and not in this counrty, for they are more talented than any band I have seen , that same night I saw another band in their own genre, The hollow they called themselves they defiantley have something to offer and they stood out like a elephant in a hay stack , they also had a wow factor about them but not nearlly as much as Erebus and Cynical Origin . Early that evening I saw a band that really dissapointed me , a four piece band called Theatre Runs Red, a female death metal vocalist, sure they were good but the keyboards kept throwing me off, the actual structure behind the songs and yet people loved them for what I could not understand so I thought to myself let me poke around a bit more , then I found out that the owners of durban’s only metal club is Delia and Barry Drewett, and suddenly everything made sense to me, the funny thing about this is Barry Drewett is the lead singer for the band Contrast The Water and Delia Drewett is their manager, how conveniant, tell me if there is no politics behind the metal scene in Durban. I unfortunatley had to return home and wished I could stick around for the finals for the battle of the bands to see how it will go down, but I think I have a really good picture as how it will turn out and I know the bands that deserve to win… will not.
Please post any comments that you may have to offer and hopefully this is a start to ending the political era in durban.
“To all the deserving bands in Durban South Africa, I hope the future looks brighter”
Jenny Wilson aka ” Metal Jen”
About the Author
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