Metal Refugees Occupy Classical Theater 2024 Mullae Metal City Festival Announced

The 11th Mullae Metal City (MMC) Festival will take place on July 20-21, 2024, at the ‘Yeongdeungpo Art Hall’(596, Gukhoe-daero, Yeongdeungpo-gu) in Seoul. The festival will feature performances by top Korean heavy metal bands including ‘DARK MIRROR OF TRAGEDY,’ ‘JEREMY,’ ‘MAHATMA,’ and ‘ZINKYEONK.’ One of the most beloved Korean vocalists, Hong Kyung-Min, and Park Wan-Kyu will deliver powerful performances together with the band ‘CHANZE’ and ‘ZINKYEONK’ on the metal stage.

This year’s festival, titled ‘The Last Chance’, highlights the crisis affecting the local artistic ecosystem and can also be interpreted as a message calling for new challenges for the Korean metal scene.

Birth of Mullae Metal City in Artists’ Refuge

Mullae Metal City (MMC) is an urban music festival that originated in the steel industrial complex of Mullae-dong, Seoul. Since the industrialization boom of the 1960s, this area has gradually transformed into a major hub for subcultural figures due to gentrification. Artists began repurposing empty factories for various creative experiments, with one of them evolving into MMC. Mullae Art Factory, a public theater for local artists, has been integral to MMC from its inception. Unfortunately, most local art support programs at Mullae Art Factory will cease this year due to changes in pertinent regulations, casting doubt on the festival's future.

A New Challenge in a Classical Theater

This year, MMC has selected Yeongdeungpo Art Hall as its venue in Mullae. While this theater offers an audience-friendly environment, it is unfamiliar to metal enthusiasts accustomed to venues designed for classical music with assigned seating. To cater to metal aficionados, MMC has introduced a pioneering hybrid seating/standing system, including a standing zone for the first time in the theater‘s history. This allows audiences to experience the concert closer to the musicians in the standing zone, expanding the metal stage’s appeal and enabling more fans to enjoy metal music in diverse environments.

2024 Festival Lineup

The main stage of this year‘s festival will showcase 12 teams representing the 2024 metal scene. The first day (July 20) will feature ‘DOG LAST PAGE’ (Southern Metal), ‘TEARDROP’ (Alternative Metal) who released a new album this year, ‘MARA’ (Thrash Metal) from Busan, ‘JEREMY,’ the pioneer of progressive metal in Korea, and ‘DARK MIRROR OF TRAGEDY’ (Symphonic Black Metal), the festival’s host team. It will also introduce the debut performance of ‘CHANZE’ (New Alternative Metal), a new team formed by members of Crash and Diablo along with the renowned vocalist Hong Kyung-Min.

On the second day (July 21), ‘SPIT ON MY TOMB’ (Death Metal) will kick off the stage, followed by ‘ILUSION FORCE’ (Power Metal from Japan) returning after four years, ‘MAHATMA’ (Thrash Metal), the legend of hard rock ‘MOBYDICK,’ and ‘METHKAMEL’ (Thrash Metal) representing Daejeon’s metal scene. The grand finale will feature ‘ZINKYEONK’ (Melodic Death Metal), who have recently gained acclaim with their new album, performing alongside rock vocalist Park Wan-Kyu.

The ‘ULTIMATE GUITAR STAGE’ in the lobby will showcase guitar solo performances by four prominent guitarists: Jo Pil-Sung (20th), Do Jung-Mo (20th), George & Ollie (21st), and Jung Jong-Ha (21st), maintaining the festival's vibrant atmosphere.

Singloud Lee, MMC Executive Director, remarked, “Despite the increasingly challenging production environment, the festival continues to grow each year thanks to our dedicated audience. Through this year’s MMC stage, which promises to be the most unique in the history of metal festivals, we aim to demonstrate that heavy metal can thrive in any setting.”

Festival Information

The 2024 MMC will be held at ‘Yeongdeungpo Art Hall’(596, Gukhoe-daero, Yeongdeungpo-gu)

On July 20 and 21, from 3 PM to 9 PM. For more details and reservations, Tickets can be purchased on-site at the ticket office. Official SNS and reservation links are provided below:

· Official SNS: https://www.facebook.com/mmetalcity · Reservation Link: https://booking.naver.com/booking/12/bizes/1164352 Naver Booking (Search ‘Mullae Metal City’ on Naver) Press Contact : 2024 Mullae Metal City Executive Director ‘Singloud Lee’

About Mullae Metal City

Mullae Metal City is South Korea’s largest metal festival, celebrated for its unique fusion of the industrial heritage of Mullae-dong, a symbol of the Korean steel manufacturing industry, with the genre of metal music. Under the catchphrase “Hammering out Metal music, in the city of Metal manufacturing,” this festival has drawn significant attention for its distinctive thematic approach. Over a span of ten years from 2014 to 2024, Mullae Metal City has hosted an unprecedented metal extravaganza with 27 events spread across 44 days, featuring 286 top-tier heavy metal bands from both Korea and abroad. It is recognized as a pivotal festival in South Korea, especially noted for sustaining live performances and the music industry during the challenging COVID-19 period. Key Editions of Mullae Metal City: △2016 MMC: Specialty Metals Corporation △2017 MMC: 30th Anniversary of Korea Metal △2018 MMC: The Summit of Asian Metal Trade Union △2019 MMC: All the Metals Lead to Mullae △2020 MMC: Metal Pandemic △2021 MMC: Metalopolise △2022 MMC: For a Bright Future of Heavy Metal △2023 MMC: Heroes of the Decade △2024 MMC: The Last Chance. Each edition of the festival has carried a specific theme, contributing to the festival’s rich narrative and cultural impact.

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