These photographs by Frank Marshall of heavy metal devotees in Botswana, Africa are simply amazing, oozing style and attitude.

Botswana metalhead Tshomarelo Mosaka describes the scene:

Metal is given very extreme respect and great dignity in Botswana. A metal gig here is like a religious ritual among the metallers, they become very, very delighted or even crazy sometimes whenever there is an upcoming gig. They will spend weeks preparing their leather pants, boots and other metal attire – it’s like they are preparing for war!”

One of the only white metal musicians in Botswana, Giuseppe Sbrana, shares his take on where the scene’s fashion sense comes from: 

A good example of where we get the style from is Motorhead’s Ace Of Spades cover. Also, 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.”

Cue the Ennio Morricone.
 

 
Some serious Misfits influence in this photo:
 

 
The names these cats have given themselves are hardcore poetry: Bone Machine, Morgue Boss, Bound By The Moon, Coffinfeeder, Venerated Villain and my favorite Apothecary Dethrok. I’m buying some leather and changing my name to Malcolm Sex Formal D. Hyde Sinister Minister.

Be your own hero, anytime anywhere. Dudes, you rock!
 

 
See more of these wild photographs and read the entire article over at Viceland:
Atlas Hoods: Botswana’s Cowboy Metalheads