Huh, that's actually a linked tag too. Fixed!

Kudos to Cube for calling it a tabla (which is the term for the PAIR of drums, the dayan and bayan), instead of "tablas" like most people do.

If you're going to be that guy you'd better do it right!

No. Keep the word "bongos", but change "Ustad Tari Kha" to "oriental guy".

would you have been Cube's That Guy had the need presented itself

Don't we have a dedicated username who serves that purpose? Too many cooks spoil the broth, and all that...

You better believe it, Kabbage.

I've actually been toying with the idea of doing an Indo-Persian death metal album, using tablas and other "world"-style percussion instruments instead of a Western drumkit, and vocals similar to Azam Ali. It's gonna be a concept album, chronicling the rise and fall of the Mughal Empire, MOST BRVTAL OF ALL INDO-PAKISTANI EMPIRES. \m/ \m/

Later, I'd like to do a second project, MARATHA, which will have a similar metal-fusion approach, only with a happy, Bollywood-Hammerfall sound, instead of the more brutal Nile-meets-Opeth-meets-Dissection of MUGHAL. I could then get two separate bands together, one for MUGHAL, one for MARATHA, and have them play at the same shows, dueling back and forth.

Not gonna lie, started hunting around to find a video clip of the guy for sampling purposes with decent sound quality for similar ideas.

I'm pretty sure there's already Indo-Persian death metal, I'll have to look into that.

If there were a PM system on here I'd offer you a totally legal backup copy for backup purposes only of the "Roots Of India" sample CDs from about 15 years ago.

It's called Secret Chiefs 3, with several ex-Mr Bungle band members:

http://youtu.be/0e_i4-lk3PU

The rhythms on Secret Chiefs 3 are too metal! Don't get me wrong, that's a good song, and Trey is one of my all-time favorite composers, but they're mainly just doing blast beats with world drums, instead of utilizing "authentic" South Asian rhythms. Also, the production reminds me of Disco Volante, which, while a great album, was definitely the Mr Bungle album I liked the least. The whole thing comes off sounding less like Indo-Persian metal and more like an unreleased hardcore section from "The Bends". Mr Bungle HAS done some work which comes close to what I imagine such a project would sound like - segments from "Techno Allah" and the tribal breakdown from "Goodbye Sober Day" spring to mind - but still, I think the Bungle team is too all over the place to ever really NAIL the style in question.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnKbSf60pyM

...might be a bit closer to how I've always envisioned it. But really, that's just me; the rest of you probably have different visions on how this could work.

And OZ, I know there are Iranian, Pakistani, and Indian metal bands, but most of them take an Orphaned Land approach to cultural appropriation; that is, they hardly bother, and any influences they might derive from their land of origin tend to be just tacked on to an otherwise straightforward metal song (like a cool intro that sounds vaguely Pakistani). Unlike Scandinavia, where you can find tons of neofolk dorks just itching to incorporate non-rock sounds into their metal, there's not really a lot of dedicated indigenous folk-metal floating around in Southwest Asia (or if there is, I haven't heard much about it).

Oh shit, lest I forget:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epNVFmJw4uA

I know, I know, it's Amazonian, not Indo-Persian, and this track stays pretty acoustic all throughout, but this sort of percussion groove, just begging to GO BRUTAL AT ANY F'ING MOMENT.

Have you dabbled, JB

In a former lifetime, yes.

My friend played for years though, and I thought he got really good. He said he had barely scratched the surface though.