They are very famous but it seems their country is rarely thought or discussed.

The Hu from Mongolia are great. A combination of traditional Mongol folk music, modern metal and famous for their Mongolian style gutteral singing.

A group called Otyken. They are a Siberian/Russian folk music group

Alien Weaponry, New Zealand metal band comes first to mind. Lots of Maori influence, all three members have Maori ancestry.

May I have the honor of introducing you to African Rhumba: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O3BexfHBTIg

That is a favorite one. The album is by two of the greatest in African music: Franco Luambo (of TPOK Jazz) and Tabu Ley (of Afrisa International). They did this album to cool down rumours that they were fighting and don’t see eye to eye. They called it Lisanga ya Banganga (Congress of the Wizards).

This specific song I share is solemn, as they are mourning the death of their mentor, Kabaselle.

Check their respective Wikipedia entries. It is a whole new world you are peeking into.

Ever seen or listened to 1 Giant Leap?

Also:

Hedningarna

Bersuit Vergarabat

Petter

Mulatu Astatke

You can find lots more in my playlist library.

Altyn Tuu. Technically they’re located in Russia, but belong to the Altai ethnic group, so I’m counting them.

From the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic: Týr - Regin Smiður

Al-Namrood (Metal, Saudi-Arabia)

Mdou Mactar (Desert Blues)

Leliță Săftiță (Aromanian folk song)

Hrdza (Folk Rock, Slovakia)

Kamo Mphela (Amapiano, South Africa)

I’m a big fan of Tinariwen who are from Mali

Also: Toe from Japan

Also also: yin yin from the Netherlands

And in a similar vein: l’eclair from Switzerland

Also tbh, if you want a great selection of eclectic artists from all over the world, look up a playlist of artists playing on the West Holts stage of Glastonbury for any given year—when I’m at the festival it’s always my go to stage if I’m feeling like trying something new and it’s rarely disappointed me

Alan Stivell does some incredible fusion of rock and Celtic folk. i usually avoid the term “Celtic” for music because some people find it dismissive to lump multiple musical traditions together like that, but he very deliberately draws from most (all?) of the musical traditions that would fall under that umbrella. i highly recommend the E Dulenn and Á L’Olympia live albums

There’s this british band, that dabble in many different styles. Not many people heard of them. Probably because they haven’t released any new music in a while, and it feels like they haven’t toured in FOREVER!!!

But it’s this little niche band, called The Beatles.

If you’re into metal, here are a few bands renowned for mixing cultural music with heavy metal off the top of my head:

Norway - Ulver (They have possibly the most varied discography in all of music, but their first album is a mix of black metal and Norwegian folk music, and their second is entirely Norwegian folk music)

Brazil - Sepultura (From Arise to Roots they started incorporating a lot of Brazilian musical ideas)

Romania - Negura Bunget (They’re the only reason I know what a nai is)

Brazil isn’t an obscure country, but there’s an indigenous band called Uakti that builds their own instruments. It’s some of the most unusual music I’ve heard. They also have some classical albums, and one by Phillip Glass that I like to listen to when I’m coming down from a trip.

Thy Catafalque from Hungary

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadril
Belgian folk group

Specifically: https://www.discogs.com/release/6421340-Kadril-La-Paloma-Negra
made with the band Alumea.

Review: https://www.rootsworld.com/reviews/kadril-alumea.shtml

This two-disc set is a studio version of a concert program produced jointly by Galician family combo Alumea and Flemish folk-rock band Kadril, inspired by Flemish pilgrims in Galicia. The results are peculiar but satisfying.

I wish I could find the KCRW episode about this album. That’s (I think) how I heard about it.