Pakistani rock

Pakistani rock is a form of rock music that is largely produced in Pakistan. It is an interesting genre since it incorporates both American rock and Pakistani Classical music. It has its own distinctive elements, to create a homegrown class of sounds and melodies, whether progressive rock, hard rock, or heavy metal. Pakistani rock is almost entirely sung in Urdu, however many new bands have recently come out with songs in Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and English.

History

Pakistani rock began with the arrival of American satellite television in the 1990s. The popular form of music quickly spread throughout the country and with that came the arrival of various rock bands. Bands Vital Signs and Junoon were regarded as the pioneers of Pakistani rock. Other bands such as Strings began in the mid 1990s and during the late 1990s underground bands were becoming a norm in cities across Pakistan. Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad witnessed an explosion of rock bands and concerts in 2000 as Pakistan began to liberalize under President Musharraf's "enlightened moderation" campaign.

Sufi Rock

Junoon is said to be the pioneers of Sufi Rock, a genre of Pakistani rock which mixes Sufi poetry with modern rock elements. They sing mostly in Urdu, in a style blending Western hard rock with Sindhi and Punjabi folk and Qawwali. Junoon, in effect, had to create an audience for rock music in Pakistan. "The band's appeal reaches beyond the Westernised elite", says Newsweek. Q magazine called them "One of the biggest bands in the world". The New York Times called Junoon as " the U2 of Pakistan". In a preview to Junoon's performance at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, the L.A. Times says Junoon's "ability to captivate audiences" is "inspiring Beatles-like reactions". Junoon has crediting for beginning the "Junooni" generation in Pakistan, similar to that of the MTV generation in the United States.

Contemporary Rock

The majority of all Pakistani rock bands are contemporary in nature, often mixing soft rock with Pakistani classical music. Some popular bands include EP, Call and Noori just to name a few have all been integral in revitalizing the rock culture in Pakistan.

Heavy Metal

The roots of Pakistani hard rock and metal can be traced back to the first wave of bands from the late 1980s and early 1990s. "Final Cut" and "Barbarians" were considered the earliest Pakistani heavy metal bands. Although they're time was short lived, it influenced thousands if not millions. The second wave of heavy metal artists, such as "Dhun", which is Fawd Baloch's more conventional metal project. Later bands like Mizraab have played a big role in promoting metal music in Pakistan. Led by Faraz Anwar, it was the first progressive metal band of Pakistan. Moreover "Messiah" and "Black Warrant" have been newer heavy metal bands to have surfaced in the past 5 years.

Underground

"Underground" is an umbrella term that covers bands which perform in small establishments throughout the country, most notably in the various universities and colleges in Pakistan. Bands like "Kainath", "Seth" and symphonic metal band "Jangli Jaggas" were some of the earliest underground bands. Other newer bands such as "Burzukh", "Corpsepyre", "Holy Black", "Against All Odds", "Hassan Sheraz", "ICU" and "Sifr" have recently emerged. There are a large number of bands from all across Pakistan at present including "Black Warrant", "Paranoid", "Kain", "Drain", "Lithium", "Drainage", "Cultural Jukebox", "The Rising", "Genocide" and "Hypnotix-2000". The underground scenes in both Karachi and Lahore are teeming full of college students eager to become famous.

More recently Death Metal and Progressive Metal has taken the underground Pakistani music scene by storm. Newer bands comprising of mostly university students have taken a huge step in taking the heavy metal scene of Pakistan forward. Bands like "Berserker", "Cardinal Sin", "Communal Grave", "Dementia", "Odyssey", "Reckoning Storm", "Ruin", "Revolt", "Soul Vomit" among others have already made their mark in Pakistan and are slowly taking the music scene of Pakistan into their own hands.

Popularity

Pakistani rock has become massively popular within Pakistan, especially among the newer generation, often regarded as the "Junooni" generation. This has now spread far beyond Pakistan to countries such as Bangladesh, Iran, Sri Lanka and India and as far as Japan and China. Lately, Pakistani rock has been getting a large amount of media attention in the United States and United Kingdom. The scene is also quite popular amongst the Pakistani diaspora. A landmark event occurred in 2003, when Strings recorded a song "Najane Kyun", and featured as a single on the Urdu version of Spider-Man 2.

Pakistani rock/metal music has also appeared in international compilations, with bands such as Jangli Jaggas being credited for topping metal charts for several months on popular websites such as mp3.com in the 1990s.

Famous bands

• Aaroh
• Call
• EP
• Fuzon
• Irtaash
• Jal
• Josh The Band
• Junoon
• Jangli Jaggas
• Karavan
• The Kominas
• Laal
• Lahu
• Mauj
• Mekaal Hasan Band
• Mizraab
• Mirage]
• Noori
• Roxen
• Strings
• Sajid & Zeeshan
• Vital Signs
• Against All Odds
• I.C.U

See also

• Music of Pakistan
• Pakistani hip hop
• Culture of Pakistan
• Rock and Roll
• List of Pakistani musical groups