I’ve selected Last Year’s Tragedy as Band of the Day purely so I can plant another pin in the “countries visited” map. LYT advertise themselves as “Kenya‘s metal band” and such they will be to me until someone tells me of another! They’re based in the capital, Nairobi – the name “Nairobi” comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyrobi, which translates to “cold water”. Just thought I’d throw that in there.
Musically, they fit into the hardcore/post-hardcore genres. They’ve released one EP, but seem to focus on dropping tracks out one at a time when they’re ready. There’s quite a collection on their reverbnation page and bandcamp has the EP. Do note that one of their tracks, “Of Villains and Heroes”, is helping to raise money for World Vision – 50% of all revenue from it goes there.
From my limited knowledge of the genre, Last Year’s Tragedy genuinely seem to have a sound of their own. Definitely worth a listen – I’ve popped a video down at the bottom to give you a flavour. A nice mix of hash vocals with strident, near-melodic sections. At once angry yet easy on the ear.
One of their aims seems to be to play or tour with other East African bands and it sounds like they’re part of a movement to encourage and spread the word of metal in those parts! For this alone (and the charity fundraising), they’re one of the most worthy “Band of the Day”s I have featured.
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Related articles
- Last Year’s Tragedy (eagirl.wordpress.com)
- Last Year’s Tragedy: Kenya’s First Metalcore Band (cinemakenya.wordpress.com)
