There has been a buzz circling around me that says sharing mp3 and .flac or whatever the hell it is associated with as killing the artists that you like. This also universally applies to every metalhead that is alive and breathing on this wretched planet. People like myself may come a long way into proving that not all filesharing is bad.
A couple of so called tr00 or kvlt metal fans have condemned those who download mp3s as fake, retarded, faggot and so on (insert all labeling shit here) because they allegedly refused to purchase the original tape cassettes, vinyls and CDs of metal artists.
Well, they might as well correct. In this sense, nobody can help but to agree that in order to show true support, buying the originals is just one of the best methods which would qualify one as devoted fans.
But lo and behold; this issue varies on geographical and demographical context of society in which metalheads thrived in. Elitists will of course support the above statement, citing that internet has rendered filesharing so easy that it can be done with just one click of your finger.
I in particular am not very pleased with this inconsiderate opinion.
Picture yourself living in a country where the only entertainment you have is the shopping mall and cinema, with no concerts or gigs allowed to be held even in private residents. That's just the start. Well, the music records really sell nothing more than cheap, pirated CDs and DVDs of pop and R&B stuff. Metal is banned in totality. Anything that is metal related, be it merchandise (that includes your allegedly original Legion t - shirt circa 1992) or records are completely non existent from the aforementioned record stores. Oh yes there is one alternative, a voice said; 'Let's order from eBay and Amazon.com!' Great. We might as well do that 10 minutes ago. Okay. So now you've browsed the internet, logged on to eBay in search of your favorite metal digipak with bonus materials and DVDs as well as a couple of other albums that squeezed you off your hard earned bucks. Three weeks later, you've been informed by the mail processing center that all the stuffs you ordered weeks ago have arrived safely at the MPC. "Yes! Finally! Nobody will label me as poser now that I have my Avsky, Beherit and Moonblood; all in kvlt vinyl and digipaks with some of the most evil t - shirts." You're on your way to the MPC, thinking that after procuring your ordered materials, you would take a couple of photos of your precious, highly anticipated vinyls and digipak, upload them to Facebook, tagged your friends and boast all day about how great it is to have these kvlt artifacts in your possession!! Yeah, your worst nightmare has just begun kid...
Okay, so you arrive at the MPC with a noticeably wide smile from ear to ear, hoping that after this you can load Avsky CD into your vehicle stereo system and blast the fuck out of it. And you are very certain about it with 100% confidence rate spiking on your certainty meter. You could never go wrong. Upon arriving at the scene, you witness what appears to be individuals wearing turbans and they are exactly scrutinising your stuffs. Much to your surprise, their name tags indicated that these dudes are from State Religious Affairs and you know it is not a good news when any one of these people happen to analyse your vinyls, digipaks and t - shirts that are adorably adorned with inverted crosses, Satanic imagery complete with anti religious phrases etched with gold ink at the back of your gatefold vinyl. Now let's assume that you guys have a brief icebreaking session, consider them asking your religious stance and morality in general. They explained to you that your stuffs are nevertheless in direct violation of State religious regulations that your favorite Moonblood vinyls and all are utterly blasphemous, Satanic and potentially dangerous to your entire country. They also told you that your horrifically worshipped items are threatening national security and as such you are liable to be institutionalised in religious correctional facility of your peaceful country. You cannot argue with them because by ordering those records and t - shirts, you are in reality already losing the battle over State sponsored religious police. They take your items only to have them subsequently destroyed in the place where they actually belong in theory; fire. The MPC staffs couldn't do much to help you. You're on your own. They confiscated your stuffs and are schedule for incineration upon arriving back at their headquarter. You don't get anything in the end. Your money's gone just like that.
Well people, the above scenario that I have recreated in sloppy details is just the kind of thing that happened over here. Where is here? It is Brunei Darussalam. For those of you who are yet to know where the fuck is Brunei Darussalam and its nitty gritty information, here's a bit of juicy info for you all; it's a small Muslim country on the island of Borneo. Sandwiched in between by Sabah and Sarawak; countries that by now regretted to have become part of East Malaysia. It has four districts, well look em up will ya? The Sultan is a great, caring ruler for he often goes out to check on the welfare of his people. Backed by the country's lush production of fossil fuel, Brunei is a developed country in undeveloped fashion. Sort of.
Now let's talk about metal in this country. We have been fans for so long. With the advent of the internet, things are, well, definitely much more easier for us to stay updated with what is going on in global metal scene since ours are more or less alive and kicking. So far, two documentaries that deal exclusively on this subject matter have been produced independently by local fans, interviewing obscure underground black metal, death metal and even some metalcore / deathcore bands. Bands like Grotesque, Draconaeon and the uh, more radio friendly for that matter; Karacoma, have added more colors to the ever dulling palette of metal complexion in Brunei. Reality hurts the most, people. I tell you what, these bands (except for Karacoma) have a tough time getting their songs and demos to be heard across the world because of strict regulations being imposed by the government of this quiet nation. It would be almost impossible to see local black metal band demo tape being sold at the shopping mall. No. It only happens in your dream or perhaps back at your country where that would be absolutely no problem at all. With zero access to original metal records, tapes, vinyls, CDs, DVDs, t - shirt, basically everything metal, Brunei is not a good place for serious collectors. Yet there are still a handful of fans who managed to smuggle their materials and get past security without hassle. This has to be done in two ways; either you have someone from the inside working somewhere to grant entry to your Satanic, nun raping metal records or you could just smuggle them from the border by using your friend's address in Miri or Limbang. That you have to drive all the way from Brunei to Miri to ensure that your order is a success and yielded something exhilarating.
Truth is, with so much of this indecent hassle and scrutiny, downloading or filesharing seems to be the only viable option for the time being. It is not so much that we do not want to purchase the originals. Hell, if our country is as free as USA, we won't probably feel the need to download any shit from the internet. However, that doesn't happen here. Freedom of entertainment is completely stripped off from the people in exchange of seemingly peaceful nation that comes with free access to education, healthcare and most government run facility because His Majesty the Sultan has kindly subsidised almost every commodity for his people. With Malay Islamic Monarchy as the country's first and foremost philosophy, metalheads have quickly fallen victim into using the ever hated method of obtaining their favorite music; download. Sorry people, if you want to argue with me with your pitiful opinions, you may as well dump them somewhere else because you can never understand how difficult it is for a single devoted metalhead like me to survive in the ocean of mainstream lackluster shits filled with ignorant bunch and religious authorities whose unshakeable beliefs that metal is a complete evil remained as something that sets apart the definition of freedom between you and I.
