It was a dull day in music class that ignited a rebellion in three Indonesian teenage girls.
Poring over their school teacher’s music collection, the hijab-wearing schoolgirls from conservative West Java discovered a trove of heavy metal.
“I just fell in love with metal since that first time I heard it. It felt so rebellious,” said 16-year-old Firdda Kurnia. “I think we found ourselves in the music.”
Kurnia is vocalist and guitarist of Voice of Baceprot, the metal group she formed in 2014 with drummer Eusi Siti Aisyah and bassist Widi Rahmawati. The band is now blasting its way into the Asian music scene, causing consternation among more conservative peers and bringing the three young women death threats and hate mail.
VoB, as they are known, have achieved acclaim throughout Java and appeared on national television, reward for the dedication of the band members who every day after school diligently practised their thrash metal riffs and brainstormed original lyrics.
Read the full report on The Guardian.
