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Heavy metal music in the Middle East

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Middle Eastern Metal Music[edit]

Generations of war and political conflict have left their mark on the Heavy Metal music of the Middle East. Responses to the dark and hostile times can be found in musical arrangements, themes, and lyrics in the music that these alienated artists go through. Not only is this music and the artists behind it oppressed and frowned upon by middle eastern society, governments have gone to notable lengths to censor and block the growth of this emotional and very personal genre of music. Below are notable ensembles, that are on the forefront of this movement and have carved a path for future bands to follow.

Lebanon[edit]

  • Blaakyum. A Lebanese Metal band from Beirut, Capital of Lebanon, founded in 1995 by Bassem Deaibess. Blaakyum's style is belnd of Thrash, Groove and Death Metal .The band's first studio album, Lord of the Night, was released on Friday the 13th of January 2012. Blaakyum released its second album, Line of Fear, on the 25th of June 2016. The band's last tour started at the Tuska festival,[2] and continued with the "Thrash Mercenaries" Tour 2016, headed by Onslaught.
  • Kimaera. A Lebanese death metal band founded by vocalist and guitarist Jean-Pierre Haddad in 2000. The band's music combines Oriental Metal, Doom Metal, and Death Metal influences, with gothic undertones resounding through melodic interludes of violins, pianos, and occasional female vocals.
  • Ayat. A Lebanese Black Metal band that has faced a large amount of controversy due to their controversial lyrics that touch on subjects like death, atheism, and war.

Palestine/Israel[edit]

  • Orphaned Land. One of the first heavy metal bands in Israel.[1]

Saudi Arabia[edit]

This group has suffered a lot of backlash from the strick Saudi Arabian leadership. They often find them selves fleeing the country seeking a more secular home.

Egypt[edit]

Scarab fuse elements of Scandinavian and American metal while fusing them with Middle Eastern instruments. Giving the listener a heavy yet multicultural experience.

Iraq[edit]

  • Acrassicauda .[1]

This band has been arrested on multiple occasions on the grounds that their music brought up topics of atheism, war and death.

UAE[edit]

  • Svengali. A Metal band that is based in the UAE that mixes influences of Industrial and Metal Core music. Svengali has absorbed a lot of backlash from venues and clubs in the area that follow strict codes and regulations places by the leaders of the UAE and have been forced to find audiences outside of the region.[3]
  • Benevolent. UAE based metal band that fuses groove based riffs and in your face political commentary.[3][4]

Government Backlash[edit]

Metal music was never accepted by the largely conservative governments of the middle east. The art form is often associated with devil worship and Satanism, both of which are severely frowned upon in Middle Eastern culture and are punishable by imprisonment. Many venues who hold regular metal shows have been raided by authorities and eventually shut down.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 White, Adam (19 February 2016). The heavy metal bands fighting authority in the Middle East". Huck. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  2. MetalBehavior.com. Scarab
  3. 3.0 3.1 Staff (March 2017). "5 epic Middle East metal bands that will totally rock you". StepFeed
  4. Bakr, NJ (undated). "Interview with Svengali". Rock Era

Further reading[edit]


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