At the beginning of 2008, the Australian national news reported on a small, isolated Aboriginal community deep in the Northern Territory, aka the middle of nowhere, aka Satan’s Asshole, aka East Bumblefuck.

Violent riots had erupted between two of the town’s largest gangs and for a moment it looked like the Australian Army (because there really is such a thing) was going to have to be brought in to settle the fighting. But what really blew us away was that the town, which is named Wadeye (pronounced “Wad-air”), was split up into gangs named after heavy metal bands. There were the Judas Priest Boys, the Evil Warriors, and the Slayer Mob. We immediately dropped everything else we were working on and embarked north from Melbourne to Wadeye to see it for ourselves. Nothing could have prepared us for what we found.

2008年初，澳大利亚媒体报道了一场在北领地省瓦德尔（Wadeye）的原住民社群中发生的血腥暴力冲突。事件发生在两个当地势力最庞大的帮派之间，情况一度严重到几乎要出动澳大利亚军队来平息（是的，澳大利亚居然也有军队）。这些其实都好理解，最令我们匪夷所思的是，当地每个帮派都是以重金属乐队给自己命名的，其中包括：犹大圣徒帮（Judas Priest Boys）、邪魔战士帮（Evil Warriors）、Slayer 帮等等。收到这个消息之后，我们在墨尔本的同事马上把手头上的工作都扔下，飞了去瓦德尔看看究竟是什么回事。结果他们都惊呆了。

In Wadeye, over half of the town’s population is under 20 years old. Couple this with the fact that there wasn’t a high school in town until a few years ago (even now, the attendance record for both primary and high school is under a third) and you have a lot of bored kids roaming the streets with fuck-all to do besides fuck about. The community’s solution? Hire a “kid wrangler” who drives around town in a flatbed truck with a cage mounted on it, rounding up errant kids. When that didn’t accomplish anything, they built a swimming pool and instituted a “No School, No Pool” policy. Things looked up for a while, but then the school began to burst at its seams. Teachers were breaking down and the classrooms were too small to cope with the influx of students who wanted to be able to swim. The new solution? Encourage less kids to come to school. Welcome to Wadeye.

瓦德尔全镇有超过一半的人都在20岁以下；而直到几年前，这里才有了第一所中学。更令人吃惊的是，到了现在，小学和中学的出勤率仍然不到总学生人数的三分之一，其余三分之二的小孩都终日无所事事。为了消磨时间，他们只好到街上惹事生非。当地政府尝试解决这个问题。他们最先找了个专业 “街童猎人”，开着一辆带铁笼子的大卡车，到处抓闹事的小孩。但也没什么效果，所以政府就建了个游泳池，并明文规定学生 “不上课就不许来游泳”。之后情况好像有点好转，但是没多久学校就开始出现问题了。这项政策令上课人数激增，多得连老师和课室都无法应付。有了新问题，自然只好用新方法来解决了 —— 政府开始鼓励孩子们不要上学。

瓦德尔真是个好地方。

左上：Slayer 帮；右上：金属教堂帮；下：铁娘子帮

Every single bench, wall, and door—regardless of whether it is inside a house or on the outside of the local council building—bears the scars of a whole array of scratched or scrawled gang names, logos, and taunts. Throughout the different neighborhoods, entire roads are marked with huge “Iron Maidens” and “Judas Priests” just to let you know whose turf you’re on.

全镇的每一张长椅和木门，不论是在民居还是市议会里，你都会看到各种帮会名和标志，当然也少不了脏话。在不同区域的路面上，你会看到 “铁娘子帮” 或 “犹大圣徒帮” 之类的涂鸦，告诉你现在进了谁的地盘。

There was an underlying feeling of suppression among the girls and women of Wadeye. They were far more shy and inhibited than the men but projected this incredible feeling of tenderness. Wandering around the town and meeting the young girls and women, I couldn’t help but wonder how many of them had suffered or were still suffering from the town’s reportedly rampant physical and sexual abuse. This girl, seen here with her daughter, was 17. She lived in a house with her cousin, who was a 24-year-old grandmother.

在当地女性身上，你会感觉到一种压抑感。不论是大人还是小孩，她们都比瓦德尔的男人要羞涩和拘谨得多。但同时，她们也散发出一种难以言喻的温柔。跟她们交流过之后，我不禁猜想：她们当中究竟有多少是暴力性侵犯的受害者。上图的这个女孩只有17岁，怀里抱着的是她的女儿，她跟她表姐一起住。她表姐今年才24岁，但都已经当奶奶了。

We met these younger members of the Slayer Mob one morning in the schoolyard. They were on the roof trying to nail parrots off branches high up in the eucalyptus trees with slingshots made from the insides of soccer balls. This parrot was unlucky enough to survive the hit, and the kids told us they were taking it back to their house to domesticate it. Judging by the amount of bright green feathers and plucked carcasses lying around the area, I didn’t really fancy its chances.

上图三个小孩是 Slayer 帮的成员。有一天早上，我们在一所学校的操场上碰见他们。当时他们正在屋顶上，用足球里面的塑料做的弹弓，想把旁边桉树上的鹦鹉给打下来。图里这只鹦鹉没被打死，小孩们宣称会把它带回家养，但看着遍地的荧光色羽毛和光秃秃的鹦鹉尸骸，我实在不敢看好这只小鸟的生存机会。

These were some of the older members of the Slayer Mob at their gang house. I’m a huge Slayer fan but I’d say I have absolutely nothing on these guys. I asked about their disputes with rival gangs, which can escalate to full-scale riots. The reply, which was delivered without an ounce of jest, explained one massive brawl that started because members of the Judas Priest gang claimed that Rob Halford was the best heavy metal singer to have ever existed.

Can you imagine watching these guys fight the Judas Priest gang during a lightning storm in the desert in the middle of the night while “Angel of Death” plays at deafening volume from some magical speaker in the sky? Maybe I’m gay for wanting to see that so bad that I can taste it… but I don’t think so.

上面这些是年纪比较大的 Slayer 帮成员。我自视为一个 Slayer 乐队的铁杆粉丝，但跟这帮人比起来，我实在是小巫见大巫。时不时的，他们跟其他帮派的冲突会演变成大规模动乱。我问他们这些冲突的成因究竟是什么时，他们非常正经地告诉我：有一次，犹大圣徒帮的成员说主唱 Rob Halford 是世界上最棒的重金属歌手，结果他们就打起来了 —— 你有没有想象过：在一个雷霆交加的夜晚，”Angel of Death“ 神秘的在天空中响起；在令人震耳欲聋的音量底下，Slayer 帮跟犹大圣徒帮在沙漠中展开对战。没有？好吧，也许我比较土。

Wadeye was originally named Port Keats back in the 1930s when it was founded as a Roman Catholic mission station. Today the town still follows strong Christian traditions but also embraces the native Aboriginal spiritual beliefs. To an outsider, this gets pretty confusing. Jesus is black and all the kids wear Satanic heavy metal t-shirts, yet around their necks hang rosary beads. One of the strangest things I saw when we were there was while attending the baptism of a newborn baby at the local church. Heavy metal music from the surrounding neighborhood drowned out the priest’s blessing. Oh, and the dad was wearing that old Anthrax tour t-shirt that reads “Follow me and die!”

在上世纪30年代，天主教徒在瓦德尔建立了一个传教中心，并把这个地方命名为 Port Keats。到了今天，当地仍然保留着基督教传统；但不同的是，它更吸收了原住民的原始宗教 —— 这一点实在是令外人摸不着头脑。两个传统的结合产生出一个黑人耶稣，还有一群戴念珠、身穿重金属乐队T恤的的原住民信徒。

这还不算什么，采访期间我们刚好碰上一场婴孩受洗仪式。当时我们想，既然都来了，就不如去看看吧。仪式进行时，周围民居传来的重金属音乐完全盖过了神父念诵的经文。孩子他爸还穿着一件原版 Anthrax 巡演纪念T恤，上面的标语写着 “跟我一起去死吧！”

Piling 12 people from an Aboriginal heavy metal gang into a rental vehicle and driving it through the bush for a few hours to a soundtrack of Judas Priest is a recipe for trouble. Luckily for us the only things that got hurt in the end were Skippy the kangaroo here—and the jeep. Immediately after hitting the ’roo, but before we had slowed to a stop, all the doors swung open and the younger gang members rushed back down the road to the dying animal. The first thing that came to my mind was, “Shit, where’s the nearest animal hospital?” The first thing that came to the ten-year-old boys’ minds was, “Let’s bash it over the head with a stone and then cut its balls off.”

跟十二个原住民帮会成员挤在一辆租来的吉普车里，一边听犹大圣徒，一边在森林里兜风，你说怎么可能不出事儿呢？但其实还好，最终我们只是撞死了一只小袋鼠，车头也只是磕了一下而已。刚撞完车之后，连车都没来得及停下来，车上年纪小一点的几个孩子就已经开门跳车，往回找那只可怜的小袋鼠。当时我第一个想法是 “啊，附近哪儿有宠物医院？” 而那些原住民小伙子想的却是：“快拿石头砸爆它的头！把它的蛋给切掉！”

We had been told that there had not been any gang violence for a few months in Wadeye but it didn’t stop us from feeling somewhat apprehensive when we were invited to a party that every rival gang in the town was also heading to. Instead of fighting or huddling in their respective corners glaring at each other, each gang brought with them their favorite album from their respective band and handed it to the DJ upon entering. So when, for example, “Run to the Hills” kicked in, the entire Maiden gang rushed to the front lawn to play air guitar and mosh in front of the other gangs to prove their allegiance to their mob and band.

刚来到的时候，虽然有人告诉过我们说，瓦德尔已经有好几个月没发生过帮会冲突了，但是当知道在我们要去参加一个整村帮派成员都会到场的派对时，心里难免还是会有点忐忑不安。本来我们还以为到时候他们一定会打起来，或者盘踞在各自的街角相互打量；结果情况出乎我的意料：各个帮会都在入场时把自己最喜欢的专辑交给 DJ。当 “Run to the Hills” 响起的时候，整个铁娘子帮的人就会冲到前面的草坪上，在其他帮会面前开始大弹空气吉他，疯狂地 mosh，借此表明对本帮和乐队的忠心。

This guy was incredible. His name was Sebastian and although he was a member of the Judas Priest gang he claimed he didn’t like heavy metal but preferred country music and rock and roll. When it was his turn to rock the dance floor all the gangs cleared the front lawn and he came out of nowhere and absolutely killed it. When his song was up he disappeared back into his house without saying anything to anyone, then shut the door.

这哥们简直太牛逼了。他叫 Sebastian，尽管加入了犹大圣徒帮，他却称自己并不喜欢重金属，而是更喜欢乡村和摇滚。他跳舞的时候，所有帮派的人自动腾出了一块空地。这时，他不知从哪儿蹦了出来，用舞姿征服了全场。歌曲结束之后，他默默地走回了自己的屋子，关上了门。

These photos were taken inside the family house of two brothers from the Slayer gang. You can see how the walls are covered in graffiti. Aside from that there was absolutely nothing else in the rooms. No tables, chairs, couches, or even beds.

这几张照片是在 Slayer 帮两兄弟的家里拍的。墙上画满了涂鸦。除了涂鸦，屋里什么也没有。没有桌子、没有椅子，甚至连床都没有。

Signs warning of the dangers of petrol sniffing and smoking weed scattered the town. We saw no evidence of any petrol sniffing, but ganja was pretty much ubiquitous.

城里到处能看见警示人们不要闻汽油和抽大麻的标语。我们没看见有人在闻汽油，不过吸食大麻在这里倒是很普遍。

The kids in Wadeye are amazingly friendly and confident. And they all fucking love metal.

瓦德尔的小孩都特别友好，而且特别的能表现自己。他们简直爱死金属了！

This drunk pig was on the wall of a pub we stopped at on the way home.

我们返程时去了一间酒吧，在这里遇到了这头喝醉了的猪。

For a town so obsessed with music, it was strange that these five CDs were the extent of the music available in the only store. And like everything for sale in Wadeye, they were really expensive—almost twice what you’d pay in a bigger city. When we asked, most of the people told us they get their music from Darwin, a six-hour drive northwest of Wadeye.

对于一个对音乐如此狂热的地方来说，城里唯一一家唱片店里的货架上居然只摆了5张 CD。和瓦德尔所有商品一样，唱片卖得很贵 —— 几乎是普通城市价格的两倍。

澳大利亚的原住民：这里是世界上最名副其实的金属重镇！