Darkest Africa…

I’m not going to add much to this incredible, truly incredible, Vice article on Botswana’s “Metalhead Cowboys” but I will implore you to read it and check out the wealth of photos. I mean this… this is some fucking shit.
A country you couldn’t find on a map for a thousand dollars has an oddly thriving subculture where metal shows are like “religious rituals” and people spend their money on creating incredibly ornate and “brutal” outfits. Check it:

“Many metalheads in Botswana are cowboys from the villages and farms, so they mix the cowboy image with a biker metal look. Many wear hunting knives and parts of dead animals. We drink from the hollowed-out cow horns.”

They also all have sweet nicknames like Morgue Boss.

Photographer Frank Marshall took these for his exhibition Visions of Renegades and all I want is to see more photos and hear more stories. But just click the link and see all the killer pictures available right now. There is literally a guy named Shoot You in the Back.

And just so you don’t think these are a bunch of poseurs, check out arguably the country’s most popular band Wrust, who have played with Carcass and Entombed and are actually kind of rad.

Long live… this.