THE BEAST

Curious about the Metal scene in Vietnam? Then we have just the perfect guide to help you get acquainted with that.

After 1975, the Vietnamese culture, saw a sudden shift in tone and soon began to be defined by war and post-war angst.

Even to this date, the shadow of the napalm bombings remain hovering over the Vietnamese youth.

So, it’s really not all that surprising when the younger generation of the nation sought refuge in angry, upbeat music, especially in the US hardcore punk scene.

Punk, in itself, was a movement against the Vietnamese War in the US. It was a basement-bred music scene that primarily evolved in Washington, DC, and was defined by fast and loud music, with timely, angry lyrics.

Punk instantly caught on with the Vietnamese youth, and soon laid the way for Metal and Heavy Metal to be the genre that defines their youth today.

Metal as a reply to Punk.

Punk was of the opinion that rock had gone wrong and that the progressive instrumental elements of the Woodstock artists needed more anger to them.

But Punk soon began to seem outdated and boring to the later generation, as what they craved now was something called ‘hardcore.’

According to Kelefa Sanneh in the New Yorker, “Hardcore was born as a double-negative genre: a rebellion against a rebellion. The early punks were convinced that rock and roll had gone wrong and were resolved to put it right… But when Punk, too, came to seem lame, the hardcore kids arrived, eager to show up their elders. 

The idea was to out-punk the punks, thereby recapturing the wild promise of the genre, with its tantalizing suggestion that rock music should be something more than mere entertainment – that it should, somehow, pose a threat to mainstream culture.”

‘Hardcore’ soon began to create off-shoot genres, three of which were Metal, Heavy-Metal, and Thrash Metal.

What soon began in small pockets with ear-shattering amplifiers in the basements, got more and more popular with a thriving community in Vietnam.

Must Watch Metal bands in Vietnam.

1. Bức Tường (The Wall).

One of the earliest metal bands in Vietnam, when the genre just began to take flight in the nation. Formed in 1995, in Hanoi back, the band is a pioneer of the Hanoi heavy metal community and have similar stylistic features to that of Motorhead, Iron Maiden and AC/DC.

2. Khí Quyển (ATMOSPHERE)

ATMOSPHERE is considered to be the gods of thrash metal in the Vietnamese prog. metal scene. They ‘re much newer than The Wall, and not a lot is known about them.

However, their passion for the genre and a music style akin to Slayer has done a lot in helping metal grow in Vietnam.

3. FOCUS.

The youngest and perhaps the most popular metal band in Vietnam today, FOCUS, is solely comprised of young artists who were once law students in the Hanoi National University.

Though they have only released one EP so far, their tours and concerts have been instrumental in taking metal to where it’s at in Vietnam.

Catching the bands in action.

So if you’re quite curious about the metal scene in Vietnam and want to see these metal bands perform live, then just hop on to the next flight there.

As there’s an option to get Vietnam visa on arrival , you can just obtain a pre-approved visa letter through a travel agency. Then when you check-in at the international airport in Vietnam, just pick up the actual visa stamp upon arrival, and you’re good to go.

Metal in Vietnam is still quite young but has a lot of untapped potential for headbangers all over the world.