World Metal Congress to host Afghan metal duo Afreet and filmmaker Travis Beard in a must-watch webcast

World Metal Congress webcast — (Image credit: World Metal Congress)

The World Metal Congress is to host a webcast tonight, September 1, titled Metal In Afghanistan, where co-hosts (and WMC founders) Alexander Milas and Lina Khatib will be speaking to Yousef Shah and Sulleiman Omar of the post-metal outfit Afreet, as well as Australian RocKabul filmmaker Travis Beard.

As per the event's synopsis, they will be discussing the "history of rock and metal in Afghanistan and the implications of the current situation" in the country following the Taliban takeover.

Shah and Omar are former members of Afghan metal band, District Unknown, which was formed in 2012. Through dedicating his life to heavy metal, Shah has faced persecution and imprisonment in Afghanistan for his involvement in the scene: he was also the recipient of Metal Hammer’s Global Metal award (presented by Travis Beard) at the 2015 Golden Gods Awards.

The 2018 feature documentary RocKabul, created by multi-disciplinary artist Beard, examines the heavy metal music scene in Afghanistan through the story of District Unknown. It explores the complex realities of the conflicts within the country, while presenting a close perspective of real life stories and experiences of the local community.

The webcast will start from 9PM BST / 4PM EDT, and can be watched below.

Liz manages Louder's social media channels and works on keeping the sites up to date with the latest news from the world of rock and metal. Prior to joining Louder as a full time staff writer, she completed a Diploma with the National Council for the Training of Journalists and received a First Class Honours Degree in Popular Music Journalism. She enjoys writing about anything from neo-glam rock to stoner, doom and progressive metal, and loves celebrating women in music.