Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2016

Publication Source

Metal Music Studies

Abstract

Heavy metal music is performed in Burma (also known as Myanmar) by two distinct groups of musicians: generalists, who are part of the mainstream music industry, and underground bands, who differentiate themselves from the mainstream industry in a number of ways. Importantly, the underground performers insist on presenting nothing but their own original songs. Western-educated journalists have recently published a number of articles about these underground bands, equating their original creations with resistance against the military junta that controlled Burma for the past half-century. The author argues that the metanarrative revealed in such media reports does not accord with the nuanced reality on the ground in Burma. Resistance is not the sole province of underground musicians, and underground bands have a number of different priorities.

Inclusive pages

395-404

ISBN/ISSN

2052-3998

Document Version

Postprint

Comments

The document available for download is the author's accepted manuscript, provided in compliance with the publisher's policy on self-archiving. Permission documentation is on file. The definitive, peer reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Metal Music Studies, Vol. 2, Issue 3, September 2016; https://doi.org/10.1386/mms.2.3.395_1

Publisher

Intellect Books

Volume

2

Issue

3

Peer Reviewed

yes

Keywords

Metal music, music, Burma, Myanmar, underground punk, media resistance

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