Whoever believes that heavy metal is a dying genre, knows little about music. Metal is still evolving constantly, both technically, musically and conceptually. From the pioneers Black Sabbath to Electric Wizard, there�s a trajectory which has been through different generations and cultural aspects, historical moments and world conceptions. Despite coming from hard rock, metal incorporates cadences and rhythms which are even more crushing. Impulsed by 70s punk, the dynamic of metal became even quicker without leaving aside being stylized and hard. We just have to think of Iron Maiden, Saxon, Jaguar, Budgie or Diamond Head, are strong messengers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. From this warp of bands, the also satanic Venom would appear, who from a dirty and casual sound would shape up the term �Black metal�, which would later become a genre in itself.

Heirs of this tradition, the �Big Four� of the San Francisco Bay area, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax, would be the pioneers of Thrash Metal Despite being influenced by the most extreme punk and hardcore, these bands were to maintain the technicalities in their compositions, with complicated and frenetic melodies. Further forwards, the dynamic of the guttural voice would become Death metal, even quicker and darker. Bands which were pierced by the horror of the Cold War used Metal as the spokesman for apocalyptic lyrics which surround the global crisis, an imminent clash of forces and the end of the world. The aesthetic of Black Metal with its search for ancient paganism and the rejection of Christianity, would cause many problems for the members of bands such as Darkthrone, Mayhem and Emperor, rooted deep in Norway.

Today the metal dynamics have changed and its explorations are different. Also conditioned by an open market, Internet and independent music downloads in different blogs, the genre has seen the spread of new styles and faces, allowing that hipster kids from Brooklyn like the band Liturgy play extreme metal which borders experimentation and post rock, without paint on their faces, leather or blood thirsty faces. These are post modern times and we can�t forget that. There�s no sacred discourse or purist art genre; purisms are something which belong to the past century.

Amorphis is an example of a band which has known how to mutate down the years and that, in its way, carries on exploring the paths of metal like it has done for many years. Formed in Finland, they�ve explored genres such as death, progressive, heavy and folk metal. Highly influenced by Kalevala, that epic poem on Finnish tradition, Amorphis arrives in Budapest on the 8th of January 2012 to play a concert which will give plenty to talk about. For more information on the concert and the band, visit their official webpage here: http://amorphis.net/

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Budapest and enjoy this concert as well as the varied musical and underground scene in the Hungarian capital. All the styles are in Budapest, check them out for yourself.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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If we went back and made a history of heavy metal, we�d have to use many sources. The line, as it�s been said before, starts at some point with Blue Cheer, MC5, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. However, a generation that followed these would mark the genre deeply and it would turn it into a style, a way of life. That�s how, in England, the NWOBHM appeared in the sixties: New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Among the greats in this genre are emblematic bands like Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Budgie, Diamond Head, Motorhead, Saxon and, of course, Judas Priest. Despite the adverse critics of the typical rejection of Heavy Metal and its different sides, it�s improbable to know which would be the state of music in general if it wasn�t for heavy metal.

With a mix of convincing hard rock, sonic and volatile guitars, and like in all good rock bands with a touch of blues, Judas Priest became one of the riskiest bands of the genre, as well as solid and styled. It�s, probably, with Iron Maiden and Motorhead, the most emblematic band of that time. Dressed in leather and spikes, the entries of Rob Halford, the singer, on an immense Harley Davidson on stage warming up the crowd are memorable, while he made them vibrate with their dirty, sexual, alcoholic and heavy hard rock. They took their name from a classic Bob Dylan song: �The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest�. Among their more important albums we can find “Sad Wings of Destiny”, “Hell Bent for Leather”, “Screaming for Vengeance” and “Painkiller”. The career of Judas Priest is marked by the different changes of personnel, a trial for having been, allegedly, responsible of two suicides in the 80s, and what up until now some of the harder members of metal cannot get out of their head: Rob Halford coming out of the closet and publically admitting his homosexuality. After forty years of touring and excesses, this great band bids farewell to the stages with their Epitaph Tour, a tour that�s already going all around the world.

Judas Priest will be playing in the Rock-Metal Main Stage of the Sziget Festival in Budapest on the 11th of August at around 9.30pm. If you�re a fan of good metal, get there early and go and see the great Helloween, who will be on stage at 7.30pm warming up the crowd for Judas Priest. In case you didn�t know, Helloween is one of the most important German heavy metal bands. With great albums like �Keeper of the Seven Keys� and the fabulous live �I Want Out�, these Germans have the respect of the world for being among the best that came out of Germany in the 80s regarding heavy rock. For more information on Judas Priest and their Epitaph Tour visit http://judaspriest.com/

Alexa Ray

That�s why don�t miss out on getting apartments in Budapest this 11th of August and see a memorable heavy rock moment in this city. The Sziget Festival is a great opportunity to get to know new people from around the world. Guaranteed fun!

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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Metalfest is the most anticipated metal music festival for the lovers of music�s most explosive genre, and which will take place in Budapest from the 3rd to the 5th of June of 2011  in the Youth Camp Leisure Centre. This festival known as the “Liberty Party” is celebrated outdoors attracts thousands of European Metal and specially Eastern European metal band fans, and is conceived as a open air event committed to the gathering of global metal tribes of the most intense metal bands

Heavy Metal or Metal Music was born in the early seventies and the term “heavy metal” is said to have been invented by William S. Burroughs in his novel “The Soft Machine” whose character Uranian Wally is nicked named  The Heavy Metal kid due to his addiction to hardcore drugs. There are others that situate the origin of this word after hearing some remarks about the quality of Jimi Hendricks music, qualifying it as heavy metal falling from the skies, even though the most assertive point out that heavy metal is related with deep decadence  and is an expression that gathers the social effects of the Vietnam war and the reflective crisis of ethic values in the industrial societies developing their dark and somber dressing code of black leather, piercings, studs and bullet belts.

Heavy Metal music originates from the North American blues and  British rock movements, specially with the performances of bands like Cream or The who, who would use distortion and feedback to end their shows creating a brutal aural experience. This sound transformation process generated an interest for new bands, that definitely saw in rocks shallow melodic music bands of the time as an unqualified representation of the general youth feeling where dark heavy sounds were more appropriate,

Metal is a movement that is born in the London underground and expands throughout the world as an counter-cultural expression. Amongst the very first metal bands, Judas Priest is one of the most well known and became a worldwide famous band with a legion of hundreds of thousands of followers.

Since that moment, Heavy Metal became a landmark of the outsiders,  feared for its dark aesthetical dressing code, intense antisocial lyrics and the brutal guitar volume, many considered it a music genre that came from the devil. Fearful countries like china or middle eastern ones banned heavy metal concerts considering them dangerous for the youth, luckily that has changed and metal concerts are no longer seen as a threat in the vast majority of countries

Since the seventies, heavy metal has created a whole array of sub categories such as Speed Metal, Death Metal, White Metal, Doom Metal, Metalcore among many others. This festival will unite bands of many different metal styles, such as the band Piranha from Latin America ,Metal 4 Bremen from Germany or Metalflirt from Denmark

This year�s Metalfest will be a huge party where festival goers will only have to bring their tents to spend a couple of incredible fun days seeing their favorite metal groups along with escapades to all kinds of shopping booths in the festival�s premises  to buy merchandise of their favorite bands. If you want to enjoy a new and intense experience, don�t miss th

More info:  http://www.hu.metalfest.eu/

Nancy Guzman

If you plan to stay a few days in apartments in Budapest you should  attend this free music festival.

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Translated by: Marc
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