Slowly, I’ve been exploring Asian pop & rock music. Most of it I can leave, some I like (Aldious, for one. L’Arc-en-Cielfor another. Maximum The Hormone are awesome, as referenced in the Death Note thread) But Wagakki Band, I love everything I’ve seen and heard. I guess, from what I’ve read, they’re a Neo-folk flavour of J-Pop with Vocaloid thrown in, but unlike any other J-Pop I’ve encountered so far. Something about the whole combo of traditional and ultra-modern really grooves my prunes. The visual style is just a bonus.
Wagakki Band have carved out a pretty unique niche for themselves; I don’t know of another band that uses the same combo of traditional and modern instruments the same way that they do.
I’m glad to see that you know MtH; perhaps you’ve not yet encountered these bands:
Undead Corporation is a bit more metal than Wagakki Band (and a bit more folk-y at the same time, in this song).
They aren’t really what you’re looking for, but I can’t pass up another chance to mention a favorite band of mine, Bo Ningen. They are Japanese but based in London. They play a kind of jazz/punk/psychedelic/drone music, which means their output varies quite a bit from song to song.
And of course, if you haven’t listened to Boris yet, you should; their output varies wildly from pop to rock to noise to jazz to spacy psychedelic music, although they don’t often use traditional instruments.
Thanks for those - I liked both Undead Corporation (mix of male+female vocalist is great) and Bo Ningen (also checked out a longer live video, which was also good).
I have encountered Boris, I like them well enough, I guess - although generally I prefer my drone with more pop-indie sensibilities (Sonic Youth to Victorialand-era Cocteau Twins), less doom-drone-metal. But the lines blur.
If you’re open to other blends of traditional instruments and music with modern music, I can name a whole host of bands that do so in Metal and from pretty much across the globe.
Not metal (but still heavy), for instance, is Sweden’s Garmarna. I mentioned then in the SDMB Music Appreciation Society thread a couple of years ago; they blend traditional Swedish folk music with rock instrumentation and sensibilities. Check out Gamen.
You can pretty much name a place on the globe and I can name a metal or heavy rock band that might fit your bill, I think (please don’t take that as a challenge, folks :p).