Heavy metal in the Philippines developed from the country’s established Pinoy rock culture. During the 1970s, bands such as Juan de la Cruz Band helped establish a heavier style of Filipino rock, creating a foundation for later generations. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, a recognisable metal underground had emerged around Metro Manila, increasingly influenced by thrash, death metal, hardcore and the international extreme metal scene.

Among the earliest important extreme metal bands was Deiphago, which began as Satanas in 1989 before adopting its current name in 1990. The band developed a particularly raw mixture of black and death metal and later gained an international following within the extreme underground. SkyChurch, whose roots go back to 1990 as Electric Sky Church, became another important name through its combination of groove metal, crossover and hardcore. During the same decade, Razorback and Wolfgang brought hard rock and heavy metal to a considerably wider Filipino audience.

The late 1990s and 2000s brought a particularly visible period for heavier Filipino music. Slapshock, formed in the mid-1990s, became one of the country’s most commercially successful metal bands with its mixture of nu metal, rap metal and later metalcore, while Greyhoundz emerged from the same generation. The underground meanwhile continued through bands such as death metal group Pathogen, formed in 2001, with later acts including Mass Hypnosia and black metal band Omenfilth demonstrating the continued strength of extreme metal outside the mainstream.

Live music has been particularly important to the Filipino scene. Pulp Summer Slam became its most prominent large-scale metal festival, bringing bands including Slayer, Anthrax, Testament, Lamb of God and Arch Enemy to Manila alongside local acts. Its twentieth and final edition was held at Amoranto Stadium in Quezon City on 23 March 2024. Although the festival has ended, Metro Manila remains the principal centre of a Filipino metal scene that ranges from commercially successful alternative metal to a deeply rooted death, black and thrash metal underground.

FAMOUS BANDS FROM PHILIPPINES

Deiphago | Loss of Control | Mass Hypnosia | Omenfilth | Pathogen | Religious Nightmare | Rust Phantom | SkyChurch | Slapshock

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