In the nineties, due to globalization, extreme metal worldwide began a process of indigenization. For adherent bands this turn meant either employing their local languages, fusing extreme metal’s aesthetics with ethnolocal signifiers or introducing regional instruments in their compositions. Coherently, the ethnically Sundanese Bandung scene in Indonesia, one of the biggest metal hotspots worldwide, explored this trend by reframing indigeneity as part of metal’s global modernity and its politicized subjectivities and elaborating on themes of marginality and class. According to these bands, “metal indigeneity” allowed them to re-gain control over self-representations opposing hegemonic narratives exploiting ethnicity to develop an allure for a cosmopolitan middle-class. Yet, while in Bandung it’s precisely by embracing indigeneity that subcultural musicians could oppose the state’s soft-power, current ethnomusicological research argues that Indonesian metal scenes historically refrained from associating politico-musical core values with indigeneity precisely to avoid being forced into the exploitative, nationally controlled categories of local/global. Therefore, my analysis of the Bandung scene, based on ethnographic data gathered during a one-year fieldwork in 2023 – interviews, musical and paratextual materials - will expand on current ethnomusicological theories by showing that in different historical contexts these two opposite interpretations of indigeneity have provided musicians with similar sonically-mediated oppositional tools. Thereby, this paper contributes to research about music-fueled ethnolocal imaginations and their political employment, answering these questions: how are ideas of cosmopolitanism and ethnicity mutually constitutive in forming politically-engaged subject positions in the Indonesian metal scene? How is marginal indigeneity conceptualized through metal practice?

In 2019, Chinese Black metal band Zuriaake (Corpse Lake) released their EP, “Shenting” (Resentment in the Ancient Courtyard). One of the songs, “Li Gui” (Evil Ghost), added vocal samples from Tuva singer Sainkho Namtchylak, symbolizing a female ghost that frequently appears in Chinese folk tales. However, both the song’s original Chinese title and the English translation leave the ghost’s gender ambiguous, suggesting the cultural habitus of Chinese horror subjects. While most research on Zuriaake focuses on the band themselves, their “Chineseness,” the choices of instruments and lyrics, and hermit ideological attitude (Zhao, 2023; Norman, 2024), this study explores intersections of gender identity and expressions of Chinese horror in black metal music.

In this study, I examine the representation and resignification of the female voice in subcultural music of Chinese black metal. Through the lens of Julia Kristeva’s “abjection,” I argue that the ghost suggests a rupture of the boundary between life and death, and the ghost’s female identity represented by Sainkho’s voice exacerbates this rupture and constructs a “monstrous feminine” (Creed, 1993). Moreover, the choice of female voice comes from the Chinese cultural habitus of the femaleness of the ghost. Through digital ethnography, I analyze music, videos, and public online interviews to discuss the symbolic continuation of the female voice in folklore and its representation in musical contexts. Ultimately, I demonstrate how this female voice in masculine-coded black metal music amplifies the subculture’s rebellious connotations and the trauma of females.

This paper examines the localization of metal music in Taiwan as a racial project (Omi & Winant 2006), exploring how Taiwanese metal musicians and audiences are racialized through consumption, composition, listening, and recording. Employing critical global racial theory (Christian 2019), I argue that White supremacy and internalized Orientalism have hindered the development of Taiwanese metal by shaping cultural legitimacy. Since the late 1990s, a compositional dichotomy has formed between “Taiwanese metal” and “Western metal.” The former, which incorporates Taiwanese cultural elements, is subject to lower expectations, whereas the latter, which excludes such elements, is judged by stricter standards of technical proficiency and production quality. This division stems from the Western exotic consumption of Chinese metal (Lee 2020), where audiences anticipate the use of folk instruments and traditional motifs. Taiwanese musicians internalized these Orientalist perceptions to gain global recognition (see Chthonic), reinforcing structural inequalities. Consequently, members of Ashen adopted a White Western identity in their creative process to align with global metal aesthetics. Anthelion recorded their first studio album in Sweden, rejecting imposed inferiority. Many musicians made significant investments in high-end equipment to meet what they perceived as Western production standards. Nevertheless, racialized industry expectations continue to limit their opportunities, leading some to grow resentful and ultimately quit, as invited White Western bands consistently generate more revenue than local performers. By analyzing the racial dynamics shaping Taiwanese metal, this paper challenges the notion that the absence of East Asian musicians in global metal scenes is unrelated to race and racism (Kahn-Harris 2007).