Festivale de Football Day 22: Saudi Arabia

Be honest, if you were going to pick a genre that is beginning to proliferate amongst the Saudi underground, you wouldn't have expected doom metal. The Grieving Age count My Dying Bride and Anathema amongst their influences, so clearly this is a band who know their metal and have chosen specifically and intelligently. MDB and Anathema are very much at the thinking man's end of the goth/doom metal spectrum - less overtly prog than, say, Opeth, but definitely with more scope and grandeur than, say, Vader that we looked at recently.

Saudi Arabia is one the absolute toughest Islamic states in the world at the moment. Accusations of harbouring terrorists and the like aside, it isn't considered high on Dubya's Axis Of Evil, but still has one of the strictest interpretations of Islamic law, and under this music is very carefully monitored. Live music is generally restricted to weddings according to the great ubergirl87, and recorded music generally has to come under approval.

However, thanks to a really interesting piece in the Washington Post, I'm reliably informed that there are a number of bands of different styles, of which Grieving Age are just one. They peddle a pretty good brand of their doom-metal which, although pushing no boundaries, is certainly competent.

The Grieving Age - My Hopeless River (stream)

My other discovery was via the creepy/wonderful medium of MySpace: SA Metal has links to a bunch of MySpace profiles, including the impressively eclectic Sound Of Ruby. How very public spirited!

Sound Of Ruby - Get Me
Sound Of Ruby - Wannabe
Sound Of Ruby - Abuhadriah Road

Buy Saudi music here

Buy Sound Of Ruby/Grieving Age

Tags: Saudi Arabia; World Cup; metal; grunge; punk; Grieving Age; Sound Of Ruby

CIA Factbook: Saudi Arabia