CHECK OUT: Buddhist Inspired Death/Black Metal Act Dharma Outta Taiwan

Dharma (達摩樂隊) is the brainchild of drummer Jack Tung (Stench of Lust, ex-Revilement, ex-Demise). For well over a decade, Jack, one of the forefathers of extreme metal drumming in Taiwan and the proprietor of Jack’s Studio, a well-known Taipei haven for metal and all kinds of music, dreamed of forming a band that would combine the ferocity of death metal with the teachings of the Buddhist sutras, but found it difficult to find the right partners in achieving his vision. Starting in 2018, Jack decided to collaborate with guitarist Andy Lin (Bloody Tyrant, ex-Demise), a former band-mate, and together the two of them began writing songs that would incorporate various elements of death metal, black metal, and symphonic metal with Buddhist sutras and mantras, sung in the original Sanskrit as well as Mandarin Chinese. In 2019, Jack brought on board vocalist Joe Henley (Revilement, Stench of Lust, ex-Sledge City Slashers) to handle the lead vocals on the band’s twelve original songs, as well as some of the duties on the back-up choral sections.

Before Joe could fully partake, however, he had to receive the blessing of the band’s spiritual advisor, Master Song, a devout monk and teacher of Buddhist studies in Taipei. Over a matter of months in early 2019, Joe studied under Song, learning about Buddhism and the various Mahayana sutras he would be singing/screaming over, and eventually, Joe took refuge in the Three Jewels, thus becoming a Buddhist himself and receiving Master Song’s blessing to perform the sutras in public.

And so the core trio of the band (later rounded out by rhythm guitarist Jon Chang, also of Bloody Tyrant) was formed. Dharma has just wrapped up recording their debut full-length (at Lin’s own studio in Taichung, Taiwan), with the tracks due to be shipped off to a studio in Poland for mixing/mastering in September. The group will make its live debut later this year in Taipei, with the goal of eventually touring anywhere and everywhere they can to spread their sound to every corner of the globe.

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