With roots in underground club culture and experimental music, bela reimagines pungmul (a traditional Korean percussion genre) as a contemporary, goth-dredged performance that evokes ritualistic storytelling, giving voice to narratives of the marginalised. Their recent release on Subtext and Unsound Noise and Cries combines autobiographical elements with cultural critique, capturing the resilience of young Koreans facing the harsh realities of South Korea’s high-pressure capitalist landscape.

Their live performances bring this music to visceral life, with piercing, guttural vocals that merge poetry and cybernetic black metal. Bela’s work embodies a rebellious spirit, using their voice to explore the tension and resistance at the heart of South Korean youth culture.

• Noise and Cries 굉음과 울음, by bela

• Noise and Cries 굉음과 울음, by bela