Metal in the Americas (Latino USA/NPR)

Jeanne Montalvo Lucar and Maria Hinojosa, The Breakdown, LatinoUSA.org (PRX and NPR.org, Aug. 25, 2023); Madison Rox, Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Orale, Cola-Cabeza, toca tu guitara, vato! - Metal, guay, metal pesado! Aye caramba!

The crowds at Latin American arena shows are too big and too caliente (Leo Correa/AP).

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Nu metal is the best metal in the Americas

(Latino USA) In a world full of stereotypes, Latinos listen to nothing but tropical rhythms with heavy [bongo] percussion.

But the reality is that heavy metal is one of the biggest genres of music across Latin America (Meso-, Central-, and South Americas), with bands like [Slayer and Sepultura], Iron Maiden and Judas Priest selling out huge arenas whenever they tour in the region.

Arena rock is better than sports, except futbol

“It sounds like for many people that is noise, but it’s not. You have to be a very accomplished musician,” says Rodrigo Sanchez of the guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela that has been known to make virtuosic acoustic covers of metal songs [in Ireland].

Heavy metal began in the late 60s and early 70s in Great Britain, in part as a reaction to economic crisis that was gripping the country at the time. Many young people were unemployed and angry and looking for a place to express themselves.

Sorry, homeboy, black metal is for whites only!

They created a sound even more rebellious than plain old rock 'n roll. That sound spread throughout Europe, to the United States, and to Latin America — a region where many had their own reasons to be angry at the world.

Metal bands sprung up around Latin America in the late 70s and early 80s with their own sound and their own things to say.

Hard, Heavy & Happy (Nico Rose)

“That music was like perfect for a third world p*ssed off kid. It was like the best,” says Max Cavalera, founding member of the legendary Brazilian metal band Sepultura, which became popular all over the world in the 1990s.

“The poverty, the violence of the country [Brazil]. We took hold of that music. It became something that we could count on it to get through. It was like a weapon.”

Latino USA: Breakdown

Today’s “Breakdown,” which originally aired Dec. 2019, takes a look at the extreme fandom for heavy metal across Latin America and discusses the story behind the ground-breaking band Sepultura — that not only broke barriers for metal coming out of the region but also changed the sound of metal music around the world. Source

There's enough heavy metal to welcome everyone from every country to get in the pit

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