Jun 17

Janaza: Female Fronted Black Metal From Iraq

Posted by Chris Harris on June 17, 2011 in Chicks, News

Janaza

I was over at The Gauntlet yesterday, and came across an interesting post about Janaza, a band I’d never heard of before. Apparently, they’re the only female-fronted black metal band to ever emerge from an Arab country.

The band is also anti-Islamic. As my pal Jason Fisher points out, “I am pretty sure each of those things is punishable by death in most Islamic countries.”

That is pretty…adventurous. Apparently, Janaza is a solo project. But by definition, a janaza is a funeral prayer held by Muslims before burial to seek pardon for the dead. I guess if this woman’s true identity were known, she’d be pretty screwed. Hence, the reason why that picture’s kind of hard to make out.

Janaza has released a five-song demo of underproduced songs. Shoddy production aside, it is somewhat unique.

After the jump, you can hear one of this broad’s songs. Check it out, and tell me what you think. It’s definitely unique and defiant.

Posted in Chicks, News | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

About

Chris Harris is an internationally-published music journalist and writer whose work has appeared on the pages of Rolling Stone, IFC.com, Revolver, Alternative Press, and Radar. The former news editor for Noisecreep.com, AOL’s heavy metal blog, Harris also served as co-host for the site’s weekly podcast, “Creep Show." Harris spent four years as a reporter and on-air talent for MTV News.

  • Balbanes

    I think it has potential, and it sounds good to me.

  • Joe Ahmad

    Woah. That’s pretty crazy. That’s almost like brainwashing in itself. The drums need some work, but overall, it sounds pretty good to me.

    I agree with Balbanes. Like, a lot.

  • JSSXIII

    If what is being said is true, than the spirit and fucking courage of this artist more than makes up for any musical shortcomings. Fantastic.