Welcome to A Blaze In The Eastern Sky

Heavy metal is generally thought of as a Western thing, but the empire has been gradually expanding. More and more internatoional bands are making the journey to tour in the East, and homegrown bands with their own style are emerging from the underground here and being recognised internationally.

I live in Taiwan at the moment, and after the difficulty I've had finding metal here I've set up this blog. I'll post info, news and reviews of bands, albums, gigs etc., from here and the rest of the eastern hemisphere. Whether you're in the east looking for a metal fix or get a thrill from hearing blast beats comiing from a place you've never been, you should find something interesting here.

Due to my tastes, there is going to be an emphasis on the more extreme, death, black and doom end of the metal spectrum. If you're after poppy rap metal, you probably won't find it here, though I know for a fact there are some Linkin Park inspired bands in Taiwan as I found a kind of supergroup of them at a festival in Kenting last year.

There are some bigger, more comprehensive and complete websites out there if you want them - but this is not an attempt at one. This is just a collection of my knowledge and impressions. Links, comments and recommendations are welcome.

I shall try to organise posts with tags in two ways, listed below, to make it easy for you if you're after something in particular.

By post type:

blog - about this blog, like this one.
info - general info
news - of coming releases, tours etc.
band review
album review
gig review
scene review - about scenes in a particular country or city.
distro review - shops, labels etc.
website review

by country:

China
Hong Kong
Japan
Taiwan

By subgenre:

Black
Death
Doom
Grind
Just Metal
Rock
Thrash