Heavy metal music in El Salvador

El Salvador has a prominent heavy metal scene, and it is considered one of the most solid and active underground music movements in Central America, due to its prolific local bands and venues; and the recent increase in local concerts by international bands that include San Salvador as a frequent destination in their international tours.
According to Encyclopaedia Metallum, El Salvador has more than 59 bands registered, just 3 less than Costa Rica for the region as of January 2009, although there are many bands not listed because they don't have album releases to date.
History
1970s and 1980s
The first recognized rock act in El Salvador is B'rock, formerly known as Broncco, formed in 1974 by local Rock legend Chente Sibrian and it remained active until its disbanding in 1996, due to Chente's physical condition, that didn't allow him to continue playing. B'rock is the band with the longest career in El Salvador to date, being pionners in developing the Salvadoran Rock community.
El Salvador could not take advantage of the rising Heavy Metal movement that arose in the decade of the eighties, mostly because of the Civil War that the country was facing.
Renegado (1988) is the only band that was formed in the decade of 1980 and is still active.
1990s
The end of the war in El Salvador in 1992, was the beginning of a new age for Rock and Metal in the country.
Some of the bands that arose in the Salvadoran scene during this decade, that are no longer active are Sepelio (1991), Metal Doom (1993), Kabak (1994), Disorder (1996), Efestos (1996), Darkness in the Moon (1997), Tiara (1998).
Other bands, such as Vertigo (1993), Witchcraft (1995), Metatron (1997), Soomdrag (1998), Dismal Gale (1998), Angelus (1998), Raices Torcidas (1998), Icarus (1999) and Gaia Metal (1999) are still active, as they participate in local concerts and release new material periodically.
2000s
The decade of 2000 is the most active and it marks the growth of the metal scene in El Salvador, and most of the current bands have been formed during this decade.
A list of some bands that have been formed during this decade (in alphabetical order):
Active as of 2009
*Barek (2000)
*Ancient Sanctuary (2004)
*Belial (2008)
*Belsasar (2001)
*Berserk (2007)
*Blasfematorio (2007)
*Conceived by Hate (2002)
*Consumado (2003)
*Dreamlore (2002)
*Elegy of Myself (2000)
*Emohrs (2002)
*Galahad (2005)
*Imperial (2006)
*Kraner (2005)
*Lamentos Ancestrales (2004)
*Lux Mortis (2008)
*Malignant Wizard (2004)
*Maitresmort (2008)
*Not Under Sin (2005)
*Santeria (2005)
*Selvtier (2000)
*Septiccorpses (2006)
*Steel Power (2006)
*Spontaneous Human Combustion (2008)
*Symbolic (2001)
*Virginia Clemm (2007)
Not active as of 2009
*Arcane (2002)
*Era de Miseria (2001)
*Exkalibur (2001)
*Eärendil (2004)
*Fuego Eterno (2004)
*Kabala (2004)
*Necrosadic (2004)
*Starfall (2004)
*Tyrant Lord (2002)
International projection
Most of the bands in El Salvador have to self-produce and self-distribute their demos, EP's and albums, and because of this limitation, most of the local bands are not well known in foreign countries. In recent times, the international projection of the bands has increased, thanks to the use of the Internet and sites such as MySpace and Last.fm.
Raices Torcidas and Kabak are among the only bands that had involved with international record or distributor companies such as American Line Productions. Other, bands such as Dreamlore, Symbolic, and Gaia Metal are also well established but they have produced and distributed their own records due to the lack of record labels in Central America.
The most active bands in 2008 that have album releases were Santeria, Virginia Clemm, Berserk, Vibora, El Atico, Araña, Soomdrag , Consumado, among others.

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