World Metal Congress programme

TWIN V LTD AND OLD EMPIRE PRESENT...

WORLD METAL CONGRESS CONNECTING THE GLOBAL HEAVY METAL COMMUNITY

ABOUT US Alexander Milas Lifelong music journalist.

Founder and director of creative solutions company Twin V.

Joshua Retallick Founder of London-based music and events promotion company Old Empire.

Dr. Lina Khatib Head of the Middle East programme at Chatham House.

Dr. Niall Scott Reader in philosophy and popular culture, specialising in heavy metal music studies at the University of Central Lancashire.

I

f you’ve ever been to a heavy metal show and loved it, if you’ve ever hung out with fellow fans of the music and felt like you’re a part of something, then you’ll already know why we’re doing this. Because tens of millions of people around the world feel exactly the same way.

Nearly 50 years since Tony Iommi recorded the riff heard around the world, we thought it was time we brought that world together for a truly global event. To connect, to debate, to challenge, to understand, and above all, to celebrate.

The programme you hold in your hands represents a true labour of love made real by the support of Arts Council England, Camden Brewery and people like you who’ve come from all over the world to join us – for what we hope will be the start of something truly great!

Enjoy – and stay metal.

Thanks from Alexander, Lina, Niall, Josh and everyone at World Metal Congress.

GLOBAL METAL SELLS, BUT WHO’S BUYING? Friday

- 11:30-12:15 - Main space

Heavy metal is a global phenomenon, but how big is it, what is it worth, and what is the music industry doing to connect with more distant markets?

From the impact of Brexit to surprising revelations from the digital sphere, our first panel of the day will bring together a stellar panel of key decisionmakers and influencers to give us the industry’s view of a genre with truly worldwide appeal.

Sammy Andrews CEO, Deviate Digital.

Julie Weir

Steve Strange Co-founder, X-Ray Touring.

Label Head, Music For Nations.

Vicky Hungerford

Walter Hoeijmakers Artistic Director, Roadburn Festival.

Kamran Haq Promoter, Live Nation.

Director and booker, Bloodstock festival.

THE NEW MOB RULES Friday

- 12:45-13:30 - Main space

No two scenes are the same. What do metal communities from non-Western countries look like and how do they work? What challenges do artists face getting their music heard abroad, and what obstacles do global fans face in getting access to it? With an international panel from a wide range of backgrounds, our second panel of the day will shine a light on the familiar and not-so-familiar plights of the international metalhead and what the industry can do to unlock the potential of global markets.

Tom O’Boyle

Zaher Zorgati

Freelance journalist and university lecturer.

Dr Asya Draganova Lecturer in Media and Communications at Birmingham City University.

Vocalist of Tunisian prog metal band Myrath.

Sahil Makhija, Demonstealer

Flower KC Director of Nepal’s Silence festival.

Frontman of Mumbai’s Demonic Resurrection and host of Headbanger’s Kitchen, India.

COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN Friday

- 14:45-15:30 - Main space

From thriving in war zones to flying in the face of oppressive regimes, global metal is nothing if not a triumph over adversity. But how does that play out in the media, and should we be paying more attention? Does a niche interest deserve mainstream coverage? How has the internet and social media transformed the landscape for fans, bands, and artists? And is global metal really the real next big thing?

Kim Kelly

Dom Lawson Music journalist.

Daniel P Carter Host of Radio 1 Rock Show and Someone Who Isn’t Me podcast.

Freelance journalist.

Richard Burgon Labour MP for Leeds East and metalhead.

SPREADING THE METAL DISEASE Friday

- 16:00-16:45 - Main space

Heavy music is one of England’s most enduring musical and cultural exports.

How do we explain its global appeal? It it about more than just the music?

Why should we pay attention to the international metal underground and markets, and what will the next 50 years look like? Our final session of the day will grapple with metal’s big existential question: what now and what’s next?

Barney Greenway Vocalist of Napalm Death.

Lina Khatib

Lisa Meyer Founder of Home of Metal and Capsule.

Yusef Shah

Middle East metal impresario and head of the Middle East at Chatham House.

Sabina Classen Vocalist for Afghanistan’s Afreet and District Unknown.

Vocalist for Holy Moses and Temple of the Absurd.

E R IE

M E R

P K U

Jake Shuker

SYRIAN METAL IS WAR Monzer Darwish

Saturday

- 12:00-14:00 - The Stage

Bombs, snipers, and power outages have done nothing to dampen the metal spirit in Syria. Sticking up a finger to the ferocious civil war there, Syrian metal musician and filmmaker Monzer Darwish shot this captivating documentary on location during the ongoing conflict and smuggled the footage with him as he fled on a rubber boat to Europe. This film is testimony to the trials and tribulations of the metal community in one of the most dangerous countries on the planet today.

The film screening will be followed by a Q&A session with director Monzer Darwish and Maysaloon frontman Jake Shuker.

UNITED FORCES Saturday

- 14:00-14:45 - The Mix

Heavy metal is often referred to as a community, but are we really all in it together? What does it really mean to be part of the global metal family? Metal fans like to boast the open mindedness of the scene, but is metal as diverse and open as it could be? And how can the metal scene become even more accessible to everyone?

Pippa Lang

Sahil Makhija, Demonstealer Music Journalist and PhD researcher on Metal and Youth at Kingston University.

Frontman of Mumbai’s Demonic Resurrection and host of Headbanger’s Kitchen.

Dr Stefano Barone

Arif Rot Sociologist at UCLan specialising in Tunisian heavy metal and rap culture.

Vocalist with Singapore’s Wormrot.

INHEAVYTHE MAIN SPACE...

METAL FUN THROUGHOUT SATURDAY!

JO QUAIL 15:45-16:15

London-based cellist Jo Quail draws upon myriad influences, creating music that unites diverse audiences. While influenced by the music of Bach, Debussy, Tavener and Bartok – plus contemporary artists Trent Reznor and Perry Farrell – Jo’s music follows its own path. Coupling extended cellistic techniques with looping technology, Jo creates elegiac soundscapes entirely live, with no prerecorded elements. Whether eerily intimate or magnificently rich in layers and textures, Jo’s music will take you on a transcendent journey.

HEAVY METAL MARKET BOOKS, RECORDS, JEWELLERY, CAKES AND MORE! All day Saturday

Books! Records! Cakes! Artwork and much, much more! Help prop up the Brexit-bound ailing UK economy with some choice goods from our trusted purveyors of top heavy metal accoutrements provided by these carefully curated selection of traders…

HAQ 123 14:00-14:30

Zac (age 10) on drums, Millie (age eight) on vocals and Dave (old) on bass make up HAQ123! A power trio from Birmingham, brought up on the sounds of Sabbath and energised

by Haribo.

E R IE

M E R

P K U

Professor Nelson Varas Diaz

SONGS OF INJUSTICE:

HEAVY METAL MUSIC IN LATIN AMERICA Saturday

- 15:30-17:00 - The Stage

Join this riveting journey of heavy metal’s struggles as it is produced and performed in the extremely challenging context of Latin America.

Under the political stresses of colonialism, dictatorship, terrorism and neoliberal exploitation, Songs of Injustice highlights metal artists from Peru, Chile, Argentina and Mexico whose music has helped them to overcome social injustice.

The film screening will be followed by a keynote speech by director Professor Nelson Varas-Diaz, titled Documenting Latin American Metal.

FIGHTING THE POWERS Saturday

- 14:14-15:30 - The Mix

Metal has a proud history of annoying the powers that be, but what is the role of the metal community in social change? From promoting social awareness to being a force for political activism, what are metal’s big hits and misses?

Join us with a panel of English and global experts to discuss if heavy metal’s power still resonates in society and where the battlegrounds lie.

Kim Kelly

Dr Niall Scott Freelance journalist.

Reader in philosophy and popular culture.

Dr Jasmine Shadrak

Tim Hoffmann Denigrata vocalist and Senior Lecturer in Popular Music at the University of Northampton.

Project Manager, Wacken Open Air Festival, Germany.

Saturday - From 7pm - Main space World Metal Congress is proud to present a live metal showcase featuring some of the best bands from around the globe!

WORMROT

Hailing from Singapore, Wormrot were formed in 2007. Ever since, they’ve been touring extensively in the USA, Europe and across the whole of Asia. Aside from the usual underground shows in salubrious venues such as a converted garage in Denver, a farm in France, a few squats in Europe and a cave in Penang, they’ve also played at events like Glastonbury Festival (UK), Maryland Death Fest (US), Obscene Extreme Festival (CZ), Scion Rock Fest (US), SXSW (US), Netherlands Death Festival (NL), Incubate Fest (NL), Bloodshed Fest (NL), Baybeats (SG), Earslaughter Fest (CA) and many more!

DAWN RAY’D

Politically-charged UK crust black metallers Dawn Ray’d are riding on a wave of popularity after their excellent release The Unlawful Assembly (Prosthetic Records) which is equal parts malice and spite, ethereality and exultation. From clean singing to full thrashing pace, the band “breathes new fire into black metal’s small but sturdy leftist tradition, crafting potent, violin-laced atmospheric black metal songs that double as battle hymns for the class war.” (Noisey)

ZOMBIES ATE MY GIRLFRIEND Zombies Ate My Girlfriend are a high energy metal band from Cape Town, South Africa. Formed in 2012, their latest fulllength album Shun The Reptile was released to critical acclaim in November 2018.

Renowned as one of South Africa’s top metal acts, the band have enjoyed sharing stages with a slew of bands including Protest the Hero, The Darkest Hour, 36 Crazyfists, Monuments, August Burns Red, Unearth and DevilDriver. In 2016, ZAMG were crowned champions of the Wacken Metal Battle at the legendary Wacken Open Air festival in Germany, making them the first South African band to achieve such a feat! Zombies Ate My Girlfriend will be making the journey to play at the World Metal Congress with support from the Wacken Foundation.

UNYIELDING LOVE

From Belfast in Ireland and signed by the always consistent Sentient Ruin Records, Unyielding Love’s debut album The Sweat of Augury is a voracious assault of top-notch blackened noisegrind. With a metal ouija board, they conjure the spirit of legendary grindcore outfit Discordance Axis. But as you’ll come to learn, it would be unfair to make such comparisons: Unyielding Love do indeed draw from the poisoned well of such influence, yet they truly embody their own sphere and sonic entity. Peel back the layers like a coroner and you’ll discover something new each time…

The World Metal Congress would not have been possible without support from...

6 Music, Arts Council England, Camden Town Brewery, The Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), Joel De’Ath, John Kennedy and Radio X, Kerrang, Metal Hammer, Rhys Stevenson and Global Metal Apocalypse, The University of Central Lancashire, Tim Hoffmann and Wacken Foundation, Intellect Books, The International Society for Metal Music Studies.

Nobody wants him He just stares at the world Planning his vengeance That he will soon unfurl