SINGAPORE: In a city that pulses with BTS beats, Jay Chou ballads, and Taylor Swift’s heartbreak anthems, one 24-year-old Singaporean dared to raise a devil-horned hand sign and ask: “Does anyone in Singapore listen to Heavy Metal or Rock music?”
Posting on the r/askSingapore subreddit forum, the Singaporean metalhead confessed, “It doesn’t seem like there’s a strong community for this music genre, and it doesn’t help that I’m 24 and most of my age group listen to Western/Mando/K-Pop. I’ve only met about 4 or 5 people in my entire life who listen to Heavy Metal or Rock music.”
For the record, he’s not talking about your run-of-the-mill radio rock either. His taste is as old-school as it gets—NWOBHM (new wave of British heavy metal) and thrash legends from the ‘70s and ‘80s like Judas Priest, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Iron Maiden.
And just when you think this guy’s stuck in a time warp, he throws in a J-Metal twist. “Recently, I have been listening to a lot of J-Rock/Metal, including Band-Maid, Babymetal, L’Arc-en-Ciel, X-Japan, and Aldious.”
He even plays the electric guitar—10 years strong, with some school and gig performances under his belt, but despite this passion, in his own words, as he mentioned earlier, he’s only ever met “about 4 or 5 people in my entire life who listen to Heavy Metal or Rock music.”
Enter the moshpit of replies from Singaporean metalheads!
Turns out, the metal community in SG is more alive than he thought—just hidden beneath layers of algorithmic K-Pop playlists. One fan shared: “Metal is my favourite genre! Trivium, Killswitch Engage (Howard era), Babymetal, and Nightwish.” Another headbanged in, reminiscing about “when Babymetal and Judas Priest came to Singapore. Best night of my life!”
Others brought out the full metal buffet—from melodic death metal and blackened deathcore to post-rock, symphonic metal, and even video game music turned heavy metal remixes (shoutout to Richaadeb and FamilyJules).
And yes, some did admit they’ve mellowed. “Nowadays old already liao, so fall back on Mandopop like Jay Chou and JJ Lin haha,” one confessed, clearly caught between mosh and mellow.
However, the highlight was locals recommending Singaporean metal bands: “I’m around your age and I’m into metal & rock! I’ve recently been drawn more towards death metal, but I still enjoy listening to bands like Megadeth, Nirvana, and the Smashing Pumpkins, among others. I also play the guitar, mainly metal. You should check out some local bands like Abiator, Vexxon, Darah, Remnants, to name a few.”
Proof that the Lion City’s own metal growl hasn’t been silenced—it just needs better amplification.
So, to answer the Singaporean metalhead’s question: Yes! You’re not alone. You’re just the lead guitarist waiting for the rest of the band to show up.
Until then, keep on rockin’, Singapore!
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