Rrrraaaaaaaggggee! Feeling the pressure to conform, in a communist country still battling with its own rapid development, many of Vietnam’s young are turning to the liberating spirit of metal for their kicks. ‘Sporadic gigs would take place in people’s living rooms, 80s-style mirrored discotheques, run down shopping malls at the cities limits — sometimes shut down at the last minute,’ explains photographer Neil Massey, who has been documenting the country’s underground metal scene; having recently returned from six years living in Saigon.
‘Vietnamese people are still afraid of this kind of music, black, death, brutal and grindcore is still something that can’t be understood by them,’ Trung, a member of Saigon-based grindcore band Wuu, sheds light on the surprising subculture explored by Massey. Bloody Chunks is the name of Trung’s record label, and of this series — Neil Massey has been documenting counterculture scenes since capturing Thailand’s famous beach rave scene in 1990; shooting for iconic style mags like The Face and Sleazenation. The series takes the form of an exhibition at the gallery space of London’s shipping container shopping centre @BOXPARK, and opens tonight, with a launch event between 6pm and 9pm.
Bloody Chunks — The Vietnamese Underground Metal Scene by Neil Massey continues at @BOXPARK, Shoreditch, until 31 March.
© Neil Massey
