Playlist of the Week

Over the weekend, I noticed that it had been a year since I created my playlist Asian Metal which has been renamed Sounds of Asia: Heavy Metal. I thought I would post it here tonight for its one-year anniversary.

I created this playlist because I was inspired by the frontwoman Ji-In Cho of the band And Then She Came/formerly known as Krypteria. Ji-In Cho is German-Korean. I spent the last quarter of 2020 listening a lot to Krypteria and And Then She Came. After listening to Ji-In Cho's bands incessantly, I was inspired to go on a deep dive and explore the heavy metal scene throughout the entire continent of Asia. I went on both Spotify and YouTube to seek out music from countries in Asia. It really did not take me very long to fall down the proverbial rabbit hole. 

During the course of the past year, I found myself listening to a lot of metal from Japan. I also spent a few hundred dollars on imported CDs from Japan too. Perusing Japan's metal scene via the internet has been a wonderful journey. I have discovered the country's metal scene is incredibly diverse from the folk/metal sounds of Onmyo-Za, gothic metal sounds of Eleanor, power metal sound Lovebites, symphonic metal sounds of Ancient Myth, and the brutal death metal sounds of Serenity in Murder. 

China (along with Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong) has a great metal scene as well. I love the black metal sounds of Black Kirin, and post black metal sounds of Bliss-Illusion. Countries like South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, India, and Philippines also offers some excellent metal music but for the most part, I find myself listening mostly to Japan and China.

I have posted a list of my personal favorite songs from the past 12 months. These songs really reflect my taste in the bands that I listen to on a regular basis.

Songs to Check Out:

"The Song" by Black Kirin
"Leaves Burned to Ashes" by Serenity in Murder
"Blue Romance" by Blodwen
"Stay the Night" by Schonberg
"Phantom of the Kingdom" by Ghost Cries

"When Destinies Align" by Lovebites

"The Hymn of Despair" feat. Quam of Bloodshed by Reborn VN
"Valkyrie" by Silent Elegy