Long story short, back in the Spring of 2015 Devon and his band Conquest For Death went on an amazing tour of Asia playing shows in Japan, Korea, China, and... MONGOLIA! Yes.. MONGOLIA! Who knew, right?!
Prior to the tour Devon informed me about the scene in Mongolia and how it was small but very passionate and rabid about the music. I gave him an autographed copy of Murder In The Front Row to give to the person who organized the shows there but I still really didn't have my head around it until Devon returned. After the tour was over, he presented me with a copy of a photo book the locals wanted me to have. It's a collection of portraits of 56 fans from the Mongolian metal scene. Wow..
A couple of the Mongolian fans wrote me messages in the book, which was mind blowing that there are locals in Mongolia who speak English. I don't know anyone in the States who can speak, let alone write, in Mongolian. Do you?? Amazing!
Each portrait is captioned with the fan's name and their Top 5 metal albums. What's striking to me is how these Mongolian fans don't look any different from metal fans here. Some of them look very "metal" while others present themselves as "normal" looking. However, the fact all of these individuals bleed metal makes their appearances irrelevant.
I wish I could feature all of the portraits here. It's very profound to realize there are people "like me" on the other side of this planet who appreciate some of the same music that has influenced and inspired me since I was a kid. Obviously, in the current day and age we live in this realization that people tend to have more in common than not, especially once you take politics and religion out of the conversation, should be inspiring and give you hope for the future. METAL.. To make the obligatory Saxon quote: "Denim and leather brought us all together!"
Anyway, the group behind the book has an active Facebook page. Check them out.. and thanks AND apologies to Devon for the inexcusable delay with posting this! HAIL!
