Talk:Oriental metal

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This article was nominated for deletion on December 4, 2005. The result of the discussion was keep. An archived record of this discussion can be found here.
Articles for deletion This article was nominated for deletion on 17 February 2008. The result of the discussion was keep.

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[edit] jewish/hebrew/kahanist metal should also be included

hebrew metal bands are also can be considered a genere of this style , since most band indeed use types of jewish music and its techniques, as well as being part of the creating of the style at least to a very diffrent approach bands such as Golgolot(http://www.geocities.com/golgolot) , David lazzar(http://www.davidlazzar.com) , Tifeeret ha neelam and others who might fit the cathagory and of whom some were playing it even before some of the bands mentioned on the article was formed or the style even had a name


[edit] Is Doomdeath a genre?

1) Is Doomdeath a genre? if its important enough to link to, or even be used, shouldn't it be defined? 2) The entire last paragraph on Orphoned Land should be in its own entry, linked from the Oriental metal article. 3) is Oriental metal big enough to deserve its own article? I'm a metal fan but i've never even heard of doomdeath (although i have heard Hassidic speed metal) i've never heard of it as a genre. Crackshoe 18:09, 7 Mar 2004 (UTC)

  1. I can't say if it isa genere, but the term doomdeath is commonly use to describe a combination of very slow death metal and doom metal with growls.
  2. You might be right.
  3. Oriental metal is still rather small, but I expect it will expand in the near future. Anyway, it definitly different than anything else and due to the florlism here (there are even articles on Tolkien metal or Troll metal). So I believe this article have the right to exist.

MathKnight 20:30, 7 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I'm not sure that two bands make a genre. I could be wrong though. Labelling music into genres is always going to cause controversy (are there any musical similarities between Blur and Oasis? I doubt it!). Ive never heard any of this stuff myself but I have heard quite a bit of Death metal. I think what Im getting at is: does singing about different topics or in a different language over a familiar musical backing change the music enough to maker it a legitimate term? If so, does this mean that Brujeria are "Mariachi-metal" and Nile are "Sahara-death"?Motown Junkie 11:45, 28 Mar 2004 (UTC)

It is not just about singing in different laungages on different themes. The music itself is also different. I think you never heard Doomdeath combined with darbooka, Oud and silsulim. MathKnight 18:54, 28 Mar 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Removed from the article

[edit] Kenitra

kenitra (the small Arabic bridge) was founded in 1997 in Martigny (Were worth) by: Jalal Marhani composer-songwriter and guitarist of the group. Surrounded by Yves Roulin in the rhythmic guitar and Yvan Monnet with the battery, the group started to repeat. The music of will kenitra is in a style which its musicians enjoy to call > MetalOrientalprog< from the fact that it is the result of the mixture of Progressive Metal and the Eastern influences which bring to him its type-setter thanks to his origins.

     After one year of good and faithful services, Yvan Monnet leaves for

new horizons leaving the group without beater, with a box at rate/rhythm programme. Good beaters being always as much difficult to find under our latitude, the box at rate/rhythm will function during one year and half.

     The répét's continue however and will kenitra is joined during 1999 by

Emanuel Pot with the battery, and Julien Dulex with low. Three months of intensive work later, the group produces a first model of 10 instrumental titles to the Colchique studio in Monthey (Were worth).

     2000 ran out, the cruising speed seemed reached and all went for best

for the group when a drama arrived. An animal of the family of the rodents tackling the electric system, caused a fire which destroyed all the building, as all the material of the group which was in its room.

     At the beginning of 2001, the heavy heart, Jalal Marhani decides to

leave to Morocco to record violins and typically Eastern percussions there in order to polish its style. On its return in Switzerland, it meets the centre piece of its group: Reda Redjati, Oriental singer residing at Katmandu (Népal). They decide the setting-up of a project a collaboration.

     Medium 2001, Jalal Marhani moves in Bex (Vaud) where it finds a room

adapted to the installation of a project of studio of recording.

     During this time, the manager of the group approaches the owner of

Montain Studio in Montreux (Vaud). To interest by the style of will kenitra, David Richards (of which we will not make him the affront present it to you) proposes an artistic collaboration.

     Unfortunately, the destiny decided some differently. The rhythmic

guitarist Yves Roulin (to perhaps frighten by the extent of the events) decides to leave will kenitra, and it is replaced with the foot raised by Raoul Goin.

     In 2002 will kenitra is selected among 30 groups of all the

French-speaking Switzerland by Recording Festival in Sion (Were worth). The purpose of this festival is to support the new talents in their offering an audio-video support, thus facilitating the promotional accesses to them (concerts, house of discs, etc).

     And here is the first concert of will kenitra out of box... Also, will

kenitra seizes this advisability to give you the listening of his music through support that you hold between your hands, and wishes that you will have pleasure to listen to it.

     LINE-UP :

     Reda Redjati : Vocals
     Emanuel Pot : Drums
     Jalal Marhani : Guitars
    Raoul Goin : Guitars
     Julien Dulex : Bass

     TRACKLIST :
     1.Intro(0:39)
     2.Ya Chabab(4:53)
     3.Dounia (5:35)
     4.Kif-Kif (3:44)
     5.Morgana (4:45)
     6.Malou Malou(3:51)
     7.Red Balek(4:39)
     8.Bent Nasse(4:35)
     9.Dmah Ya Dmah(6:33)

     DOWNLOADS :
     AUDIO :
     LIVE:
     Intro (mp3)
     Ya Chabab (mp3)
     Dounia (mp3)
     Kif-Kif (mp3)
     Morgana (mp3)
     Malou Malou (mp3)
     Red Balek (mp3)
     Bent Nasse (mp3)
     Dmah Ya Dmah (mp3)
    VIDEO:
     Video 1
     Video 2




     CONTACT :
     Kenitra, Rte de l'Allex 1, 1880 Bex, Switzerland
     Email: ethnometal@tele2.ch Website: http://www.kenitra.ch


.

- needs a lot of editing. MathKnight 19:39, 8 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Mostly needs a separate article. --24.122.130.78 23:34, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] does this really need it's own article?

The scene seems far too limited. Not many bands are mentioned. I have never heard the term Oriental Metal applied to a band outside of this article. Personally, I think this term is as valid as Circus Metal. --Burbster 19:50, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Your statement that the scene is rather limited is correct - however, the term "oriental metal" is existant and it has been mentioned in major metal media such as the Metal Hammer and Rock Hard magazines. Furthermore, the genre can easily be distinguished by unique characteristics namely the musical structure of (mostly) Death metal based on an underlying Oriental folk music pattern. Nile, for the record, are not filed unter "oriental metal" - their music contains multiple Middle Eastern influences, but is not based on Oriental music. Thus, "oriental metal" is a distinct genre in itself and it deserves an own article. I do understand your point, though. Personally, I only know of Salem, Orphaned Land and Melechesh as relatively well-known bands which can be classified as "oriental metal" - the rest of the scene is composed of about 30-40 underground bands mostly from Israel and the Arab countries. Vargher 22:21, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
I don't think we need an article on every fake genre that 3 bands come up with, whether Metal Hammer mentions them or not.
as far as I am concerned, this article can be send to the dust bin. Spearhead 21:48, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
I back Spearhead partially, but more in the sense that it can be sent to the great Reference Article In The Sky. Ley Shade 09:08, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
Well, put it up for AFD again Spearhead 22:06, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
I also agree that this article is pointless. I've personally never heard the term outside of Wikipedia...
Last.FM, the scrobbling site, does have a page for all songs tagged "oriental metal" , though the only Oriental Metal I've heard is the OST of the game Prince of Persia: Warrior Within by Stuart Chatwood. Naveen Kumar Molleti (talk) 04:18, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Sources needed

Why is it called 'Oriental' for example? While Israel and Turkey could be called Eastern from a European point of view, the term 'Oriental' is more usually used to refer to the 'Far East' like China and Japan.

It's an older, broader usage (remember that archaising language is popular in metal). See The Orient. (Really, Wikipedia editors should use their own encyclopedia more.) Florian Blaschke 11:49, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

The article also talks almost exclusively about Israeli metal, with Turkish metal added as a sort of afterthought. If there is indeed a common Middle Eastern metal style, shouldn't there be more examples from countries other than Israel?

I'd like to see these choices supported by more/better references than a few bands' websites. -- Kimiko 02:36, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nile (band)

Nile (band)'s Middle Eastern and Mesopotamian mysticism themes make the band a candidate to be added as a part of this genre. Though not directly related to the so called "founding" bands of the subgenre, Nile does share some of the same subject matter. Cannibaltom 22:48, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Flimsy article

I always thought the person who started this article was a huge Orphaned Land fan who wanted to spread the term 'oriental metal' because he thought it sounded cool. When this article appeared it only cited OL but over the last few months it's been fleshed out to crowbar other bands into the same category. Needless to say it's a lazy excuse for a genre title.

OL produce progressive metal, just because they happen to use the odd dorian or phrygian mode in their playing does not make for an entirely new subgenre. Creating such things divides and confuses music fans. 'Progressive metal' is a well-known and accepted term, whereas I've never come across 'orienal metal' anywhere else.

- What about Vedic Metal?

[edit] Definition of the term

Oriental refers in this case to anything Middle Eastern, and metal obviously to metal, so the bands in the genre do not have to be Jewish perseé, in fact, about every heavy metal band with a strong middle east flavour is Oriental metal. In this definition, Nile, Mezarkabul, Salem, Orphaned Land and perhaps the later works of Behemoth could be labeled Oriental Metal. I think that the definition of Oriental Metal should way more wider than is currently written in the article.

Then the emphasize on the Jewish aspect needs to be reviewed and reduced, and the addition of the wide range of other middle eastern metal bands needs to be put in.Cannibaltom 02:07, 18 October 2006 (UTC)


This article defines Oriental metal as "a crossover between death metal and doom metal, influenced by ancient Jewish traditions and the oriental culture". Here's what irks me:

1) Oriental metal doesn't HAVE to be doom/death. Many other bands (early Paradise Lost for example) could be classified as doom/death, but there's absolutely nothing oriental about them. This classification is totally irrelevant.

2) Last time I checked, "Oriental" isn't synonymous with "Jewish". The definition of this genre should clearly include ALL bands who merge metal with traditional Middle Eastern music, be it Turkish, Jewish, Arabic, or maybe even Egyptian and Mesopotamian. Perhaps we should divide this article into sub-categories, like they did on the Folk metal page? --DarkPresence 18:31, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps we should merely reduce this to a blurb on the folk metal page, As oriental metal is new, and doesn't have the same level of acceptance as Viking Metal does, and is more like Celtic metal. Atechi 17:59, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Superfluous info?

The purpose of this article is to define Oriental metal as a genre, not to make an extensive biography of Salem and Orphaned Land. Both of these bands have their own wikipedia article, so there's no need to describe their entire discography. Currently, this article has more content about these two bands than about the genre itself! It goes as far as describing the concept behind each album, describing individual songs, and even making not-so-objective comments about how the author feels when he listens to their music. Does anyone else think this part should be revised?--DarkPresence 19:06, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] additions

Even though at this point, i'm thinking this should be scraped and either remade, or divided and added to other articles, ie, folk metal. but none the less, i'm thinking you might aswell add all the chinese and japanese bands to this too, and go indepth about them too. Sigh (band) Chthonic (band) Taarma (Black Emperor Jogezai) (band)

Just because a band happens to be japanese or afghani doesn't mean they classify as oriental metal. The MUSIC needs to have eastern influences. Last time I checked, Sigh and Taarma don't have much to do with traditional oriental music.
You're right about Chthonic, though. But I'm not sure they fit on this article. If we added them, we'd have to change the entire definition of oriental metal. It might be better to start an all-new subcategory (ie. Chinese metal) on the folk metal page.--DarkPresence 19:18, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] external links

way too many external links. why must each band's site be listed? cut it down to site that are generally about the so called "genre", and not the bands (site their respective stie already have those links). Cannibaltom 05:10, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Nearly a year later, I'm removing these links. This article should link to individual band articles, not their websites.

The Almohads Orphaned Land Salem Mezarkabul Distorted Melechesh Kenitra Odious Litham Celsius

Since no actual external links are available for this article, the whole section is removed.Cannibaltom 00:34, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merging

This subgenre has been disputed so much over time that it doesn't seem anyone can reach an agreement about what it should contain, though a lot of people seem to dispute its true existence at all. It seems to make more sense to merge it with progressive metal since a lot of the 'oriental' bands mentioned have progressive elements. There could be section on the progressive metal page mentioning some of these bands and their Middle-Eastern influences but not citing them as inhabiting a separate subgenre altogether.

Suggestions to merge the article into any other type of metal would also be valid but I think progressive metal is the best all-rounder. Sbgrant 12:08, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, right. An amazing total of 3 bands on this page have any progressive elements at all. All-rounder? Not even close...
If you really HAVE to merge this article, merge it with Folk Metal. When you get down to brass tracks, that's what Oriental Metal really is. Plus, there's already a section on Oriental Metal on that page.--DarkPresence 15:53, 19 November 2006 (UTC)
When I came across this genre here on wikipedia, I immediately doubted its validity. It obviously come across as a [WP:NEO neologism] and we all have seen such nonsense as pirate metal or clown metal being thrown about all too loosely. Well, after doing a little research, I have realised my initial impression was quite mistaken. While it might not be a big thing to those of us in the english speaking world, it nonetheless does exist as a legitimate subgenre of heavy metal - more specifically, as a subgenre of folk metal. Recognition of this can be found on many places on the internet so this is really not a case of someone creating a fictitious neologism on wikipedia. Aside from the usual wiki-copies, interviews with band members and online reviews of albums, we can find recognition of oriental metal in this academic essay here on the extreme metal scene in Israel. That essay is a chapter from a scholarly book that can be purchased from amazon. I think that alone should be convincing enough for the case of this article's existence. The fact that it is still a small genre should not be relevant in the least bit. Wikipedia is not an ecyclopedia only for that which is popular or well-known. There are numerous other articles on wikipedia on obscure subject matters. The significant question is whether the article in question is original research or whether it is verifiable. Oriental metal clearly pass this test. --Anarchodin 09:21, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
That said, obviously this article does need a great deal of improvement. I might get around to it myself. --Anarchodin 09:22, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] This article should be deleted

Such a small sprinkling of bands doesn't warrant a full article. Oriental metal should be merged into a fuller paragraph under Folk metal. —Preceding unsigned comment added by BryanJ (talk • contribs) 21:40, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

This definitely should be merged or deleted. The very fact that we talk about changing the definition of this genre, inorder to include or exclude certain bands (which is completely subjective), means it really doesn't deserve an article of its own. Cannibaltom 00:24, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Turkey regional scene

Does it really exist? Salem, Orphaned Land, Melechesh, Arallu and Distorted are all verifiable oriental metal bands mentioned in this article from Israel. Presumably there are lesser known Israeli oriental metal bands that do not have a presence on the web or wikipedia. That was more or less sufficient to me for Israel to remain as an entry under the heading of Regional Scenes in the infobox. On the other hand, I was not able to find any verifiable oriental metal band from Turkey. I was under the impression that Pentagram / Mezarkabul would qualify but to my surprise, I was not able to find any reliable references that indicate it (opinions of fans on online forums do not count as reliable references). There might be some other bands in Turkey that performs oriental metal but I am certainly unaware of them. If someone can provide a reliable reference, that would be great. The exact term oriental metal does not need to be used. A reference to the band using middle eastern folk music in some substantial way is enough. In the absence of any evidence that there are several bands in Turkey that performs oriental metal, I do not think that there should be an entry for Turkey under the heading of Regional Scenes in the infobox. --Bardin (talk) 03:30, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Extreme metal

I see someone has added a description of oriental metal as extreme metal. I realized that all the bands currently mentioned on the article do qualify as extreme metal (death, black, doom) but I do not see any reason why this should be seen as a necessary condition on oriental metal bands. If folk metal bands can perform power or traditional heavy, then I imagine oriental metal bands can do so too. If it is not a necessary condition, then there's really no reason to mention it the opening sentence of this article. --Bardin (talk) 03:46, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

It's not a condition but it's a simple fact, oriental-oriented bands are all extreme metal bands. Kakun (talk) 07:24, 24 February 2008 (UTC)
The ones on the article are all extreme metal bands. I can agree with you on that. I imagine that there are a lot more oriental metal bands out there, the rest of which simply do not have an article on wikipedia yet. I just think that asserting all oriental metal bands are extreme metal qualify as original research. That's not an issue when it comes to describing oriental metal as a subgenre of folk metal if only because the offered definition or description of oriental metal obviously falls under the umbrella of folk metal. But it is an issue when it comes to describing oriental metal as a subgenre of extreme metal. I had not come across any reliable reference on the internet that describes oriental metal specifically as a subgenre of extreme metal with no possibility of a band playing power or traditional metal to be considered as oriental. If you can find such a reference, then by all means add the info into the article with the citation. A line under musical characteristics would be an appropriate place for the citation. You might well be correct on this issue. Like yourself, I am not aware of any oriental metal band that is not extreme metal as well (unless one considers Mezarkabul). But we can't use our own personal knowledge on wikipedia (at least, we're not supposed to). We can only add in information that can be referenced. Incidentally, thanks for correcting my mistake in taking out the word both from the opening sentence. --Bardin (talk) 09:37, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Nile

I've been brushing up this oriental metal article recently as anyone can see by the edit history. The genre is largely represented by three Israeli bands: Orphaned Land, Melechesh and Salem. There's no doubts or question marks as to whether these three bands are oriental metal. Lots of reliable sources on the internet describing them as such. There are other bands performing the style but who do not have an article page on wikipedia, eg. Litham, Langsuyr, Odious, etc. All of these bands have been tagged explicitly with the exact term oriental metal (or variations like oriental black metal).
The band Nile was mentioned on this oriental metal article before I began working on it. I've left them in the article even though I was not able to find anything that explicitly links them to it. After I spent some time expanding the folk metal article, I returned to the oriental metal article to improve it further. After several days of searching, I still can't find anything that explicitly links Nile to oriental or folk metal. Ordinarily enough, I would just kick them out of the article and that would be the end of the story. However, I have come across descriptions of Nile that seemingly indicate that they can qualify as oriental metal. I have not heard the band's music myself so I really have no idea what they sound like. Just going by what other people say, there's a review on allmusic noting that their music features "occasional interpolations of Middle Eastern folk melodies." A review on metal-observer describes their music as featuring "oriental flourishes." Another review on the same site notes that they've used "oriental instruments." Occasional and flourishes do not indicate a lot but then again, I'm not aware of any restriction indicating that there needs to be a lot of oriental stuff for a band to be called oriental metal. Only Nile has not been called oriental metal by any reliable sources online except in one sole interview with someone from a different band Forgotten Silence that describes Nile's oriental metal as superficial. The transcript of the interview uses quotation marks around oriental for some unknown reason. Another interview with someone from Melechesh explicitly repudiates Nile as being a similar band: "it's totally different, because all they do is basically play death metal, but the lyrics, instead of gore, are about Egypt, which is really cool. They're more influenced by a lyrical concept and a few samplings, but the whole structure of the songs is intelligent, brutal death metal. On the contrary, we invent a musical structure, with the guitar and drum techniques."
With that all in mind, I must confess that I'm really uncertain as to whether the band Nile should be included in this article or not. It feels like original research to me whether they are included or left out. I figure I should play it safe though and take the conservative option of leaving them out. There's another relevant factor too: Nile appears to be a lot more well-known than any of the above oriental metal bands. There's more info on Nile online than those bands. Yet despite that wealth of info, there's no reliable source describing them as oriental metal. I guess sometimes silence says more than words. I also note that the wikipedia article for Nile does not mention oriental metal at all. --Bardin (talk) 15:11, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

As a regular editor on the Nile article, I've watched as people have added oriental metal to their description, and I have often proceeded to remove it, primarily due to lack of sourcing. I've gotta' say, for the most part, I am in the same boat as you as to whether to include them. They have a lot of oriental use in their music, but mostly, it's their instrumental/ambient tracks, usually not the tracks with either vocals or actual guitar work in them - initially, if you listened to the tracks alone, you wouldn't know it was done by a metal band (it'd sound more like Karl Sanders' solo album, Saurian Meditation). They sometimes, but less frequently, use the oriental "sounds" with actual metal tracks; but I'm not sure if they do it enough for them to be called "oriental metal". ≈ The Haunted Angel 15:45, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] List of oriental metal bands

I know it was removed before, but shouldn't we have on eventually? Blizzard Beast $ODIN$ 21:57, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

A list for just seven bands? Seems rather unnecessary to me. Orphaned Land, Melechesh, Salem, Arallu, Distorted, Khalas and Mezarkabul are the only oriental metal bands with a presence on wikipedia as far as I know and they are all already mentioned in this article. I've just added Salem and Khalas to the list of folk metal bands so all seven bands are on that list now. Their entries in the notes column all begin with oriental so the list can be sorted through that notes column to identify all the oriental metal bands as well as all the celtic and medieval metal groups. There's eight celtic metal bands and nine medieval metal bands, incidentally. For some reason, there's also a category for oriental metal bands but there's none for celtic or medieval metal. I'm not sure that category for oriental metal bands is really necessary with just the few entries there. --Bardin (talk) 02:20, 8 April 2008 (UTC)
I suppose not, but there has to be more than seven bands, doesn't there? Otherwise there may be no point in even having this article. Blizzard Beast $ODIN$ 23:46, 8 April 2008 (UTC)
It's enough to have an article as long as the genre is genuine and not a neologism. There are certainly other bands performing the genre but I guess those bands are generally not notable enough to merit an article page on wikipedia. --Bardin (talk) 03:30, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Hmmm, I see. Well someone should find some oriental metal bands that do pass the notability requirements and create the pages. Blizzard Beast $ODIN$ 21:34, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Mezarkabul

I've just realized that the inclusion of Mezarkabul in this article has a similar problem to the Nile issue that I've described above. Reviews like this and that does mention that the band use oriental elements in their music but does not actually identify them as an oriental metal band. Mezarkabul has been identified as oriental metal in this lonely interview with a completely different band Forgotten Silence who are not even in the same genre. I'm very reluctant to consider a passing mention by a member of a different band not in the same genre to be a reliable source for identifying bands that are oriental metal or not. --Bardin (talk) 04:34, 8 April 2008 (UTC)