Go on any bands social media profile and you are likely to see at least one fan post “come to Indonesia.” Apparently that love of metal has now made its way to the highest office of that country as 53-year old metalhead president elect Joko Widodo is in the wings to be sworn into office.
Widodo is a devout fan of the genre, often seen wearing shirts from Lamb Of God, Napalm Death and more. Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe himself posted the following on Widodo‘s successful presidency bid (for now anyway as his Widodo‘s rival Prabowo Subianto plans to challenge the vote):
“Incredibly, ladies & gentlemen, the new President of Indonesia is a metal head AND a lamb of god fan. No, this is not a joke, yes the photos are real, yes he digs Napalm Death, Metallica, Megadeth, & lamb of god amongst others- holy crap! THE WORLD’S FIRST HEAVY METAL PRESIDENT! Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the governor of Jakarta & former furniture salesman who was born into poverty, has won the election. I do not know much at all about Indonesian politics, so I can’t comment of their political situation one way or the other, but from what I can tell, Jokowi seems to be a man of the people. Wow. A metal head president- who would have thought? AMAZING.”
“I mean, can you IMAGINE it? This is THE ONLY PRESIDENT IN THE WORLD with whom you can sit down and argue about which Slayer record is the best. Holy crap, it’s too much! I want the Prez to take me on a diplomatic surf summit to Bali. Maybe I can get ambassadorial status. #jokowipleasetakemetoyourislandparadise”
