In Indonesia, 3 Muslim Girls Fight for Their Right to Play Heavy Metal

[benjipwns]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/02/world/asia/indonesia-voice-of-baceprot-girls-heavy-metal.html

They are Voice of Baceprot, a rising band in Indonesia, a country where heavy metal is popular enough that the president is an avowed fan of bands like Metallica and Megadeth.

“A hijab and metal music are different,” said Firdda Kurnia, 17, the guitarist and lead singer, referring to the traditional Muslim head scarf she and her bandmates wear. “A hijab is my identity, and metal is my music genre.”

Last month, they performed before a crowd of 2,000 senior government officials, business leaders and student groups in the capital, Jakarta, as part of a celebration of the country’s 72nd independence anniversary.

Initially, the girls said their parents forbade them from performing. But they ignored the order, playing in secret, and they soon developed a local following through live shows. Videos of their performances posted to Facebook quickly went viral, expanding their fan base.

However, that exposure on social media also opened them up to death threats, which the girls said were made by Muslim hard-liners.

“They said that if we produce an album, they would burn it, and some people threatened to decapitate us,” Ms. Eusi said.

Beyond the death threats, they also dealt with a more prosaic form of disapproval: “Our school principal is a conservative Muslim, and he says music is ‘haram,’” or forbidden under Islam, Ms. Eusi added.

The band, which has four original songs that mix English and the Indonesian language, is recording its first album. During live shows, they also cover songs by musical influences like System of a Down, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Slipknot and Rage Against the Machine.

Won't someone think of the children?!?

[Joe Molotov]

wearing a hijab is not very metal

Hijab can also be used to refer to the seclusion of women from men in the public sphere, or it may denote a metaphysical dimension, for example referring to "the veil which separates man or the world from God"

Sounds metal af, bro.

[seagrams hotsauce]

wearing a hijab is not very metal

We gotta fedex these girls some black metal spikes and studs so they can trve up that 'fit

[chronovore]

wearing a hijab is not very metal

Playing music despite threats of decapitation is about as fucking metal as you can get.

[chronovore]

There's plenty of women doing that in Saudi and Indonesia without wearing hijabs, they're just not getting coverage. So sorry if some flavor of the week article on "do you believe these people play metal? omg these ones wear hijabs" doesn't do much for me.

[Tasty]

Wrath is just jealous his heavy metal band failed and he can't blame hijabs.

[benjipwns]

There's plenty of women doing that in Saudi and Indonesia without wearing hijabs, they're just not getting coverage. So sorry if some flavor of the week article on "do you believe these people play metal? omg these ones wear hijabs" doesn't do much for me.

the real debate should be if the music is even metal let alone heavy metal