Saigon Metalhood

Tonight is the 20th anniversary of Sagometal,

a Vietnamese band fronted by the veteran Trung Thanh Sago.

Twenty years makes Sagometal the oldest band in town,

but despite the anniversary, this show is being played in a tiny coffee shop,

in front of just a few dozen fans.

Metal music never caught in Vietnam the same way it did

in nearby countries like Thailand or Indonesia.

The country's violent past should suit the anger of metal perfectly,

but most locals haven't even heard of the genre.

The question is, why not?

When we asked around, without fail,

we were told to go speak with Trung Thanh Sago.

We met Trung Thanh at his home,

which could easily be mistaken for a local restaurant,

except for the electric guitar coming from upstairs.

Trung Thanh had the cards stacked against him.

Rock music was prohibited for years,

his old bandmates fled or died,

but bad hands and a shoddy venue still couldn't stop him

from putting on a damn good show.

Vietnamese heavy metal started with Sago's generation,

but as they grew older, they must have passed the torch to someone.

Who was brave enough to march against the tide of society?

(Alright, good to continue when you are.)

As it turns out, there was a time not too long before

when extreme metal made real headway in Vietnam.

And this man played a big part.

Trung Loki: CEO of Bloody Chunks Records,

and founding member of three grindcore bands that toured Southeast Asia,

an unprecedented level of success for the scene.

(Do people ever judge you or think badly of you)

(because you listen to this type of music?)

(We were talking to other metal musicians and they told us about)

(a time in the past when the government just banned metal completely.)

A proper local scene had begun to form around Loki's bands,

and extreme metal was closer than ever to the Vietnamese mainstream.

Another man who saw it all was Wừu bassist Siêu Dê Cụ.

He told us about his time in Wừu, and how it all started.

As well as Wừu did, they weren't around anymore.

On our next trip to meet Trung, we came

with a case of Saigon beer, ready to dive deep,

and learn the rest of the story.

(He's talked about his problems with going to rehab...)

(...was that the reason why he disappeared, yeah?)

(The scene in Saigon, do you feel close to it?)

(Or do you feel far away from the... the scene?)

First impressions of Pleiku?

Yeah... I mean... it looks like a Vietnamese town, like.

It does. It does look like a Vietnamese town.

I'd... say that's an accurate assessment.

Pleiku is a sleepy highlands town,

and the home of Trung Loki and Bok Wừu.

Twelve years earlier, metalheads had brought a concert here,

and now Loki made a comeback for the sequel: Pleiku Metalhood II.

Are you ready?

Thank you and goodbye!

Yeah we're, we're making a film about the...

...about, about heavy metal.

So, how was the show!?

How was the show boys, was it good?