The hell bangers of Botswana's underground metal scene
- Text by Bongani Madondo
- Photography by Pep Bonet / NOOR
Metalheads all the world over can agree on one thing: its culture, just like its music, eschews pretence. Nowhere is this better reflected than in Dumisani Matiha, lead singer and rhythm guitarist of Metal Orizon, one of Botswana’s heaviest outfits.
On an unseasonably warm afternoon, the 41-year-old is taking time out of his day job as a farmer to explain what distinguishes this metal movement from other scenes spread out across the globe.
“We see ourselves as warriors and poets,” says Dumisani. “This is a calling. We use metal to speak to our social conditions as Africans: the struggles, the climate we operate in… It might be cheesy to you but, to us, metal is just another way of speaking about romance. To us, love is hardcore, yo!”
‘King Taker’, 38, is a self-employed welder who describes himself as a ‘brutal cowboy’.
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