Oriental metal

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Oriental metal
Stylistic origins:	Middle Eastern music, Heavy metal
Cultural origins:	Late 1980s Israel and Turkey
Typical instruments:	Acoustic guitar/Oud - Electric guitar - Bass guitar - Drums - Keyboards
Mainstream popularity:	Varying <tr><th align="center" bgcolor="crimson" colspan=2 valign="top">Fusion genres</th></tr><tr><td align=center colspan="2" valign="top">Mesopotamic black metal</td></tr><tr><th align="center" bgcolor="crimson" colspan=2 valign="top">Other topics</th></tr><tr><td align=center colspan="2" valign="top">Timeline of heavy metal</td></tr>

Oriental metal is a form of folk metal that incorporates elements of traditional Middle Eastern music.

The term "oriental metal" originated in Israel, where bands like Salem from the local doom/death metal scene began writing metal songs related to Jewish tragedies and biblical stories. This change did not only have an effect on the lyrics, but on the music as well; the bands added traditional Jewish instruments and singing to their slow Death metal riffs, creating moving, emotional, apocalyptic music. Some of the bands have also composed Death metal versions to ancient Jewish prayers and Psalms chants.

Since then, a few Oriental metal bands have begun to appear in other countries, namely Turkey and the Arab world. These bands combine the Folk music of their respective ethnicity with various genres of Heavy metal music, broadening the definition of Oriental metal. Some bands are also influenced by the music of ancient oriental civilizations, like Mesopotamia. Most of these bands have an underground status and receive basically no exposure, but a few have risen to prominence. The most notable bands in this genre are the Israeli bands Salem and Orphaned Land, the Turkish band Mezarkabul, and the multi-ethnic band Melechesh.

[edit] List of Oriental metal bands

[edit] External links

Heavy metal
Black metal - Classic metal - Death metal - Doom metal - Folk metal - Glam metal - Gothic metal - Grindcore - Industrial metal - Neo-classical metal - Nu metal - Power metal - Progressive metal - Speed metal - Symphonic metal - Thrash metal
Regional scenes
Scandinavian death metal - New Wave of British Heavy Metal - Bay Area thrash metal
Other topics
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