Yeah! Here we have a new section – WW Metal! Where we’ll write articles about metal scenes from various countries, mainly about mysterious, anonymous and little ones!
Bahrain – the very first choice for Metal Scenes World.
What do you know about Bahrain except of this is smallest “country” in Arab Emirates, with tropical climate and around 1,5 million population? To be honest, for me personally this scene looks a bit obscure, but let’s see what do we have out of there?
I have found just 10 bands out of there, and now I’ll tell you a bit more about each of them. Also, some bands will tell you much more here!
Bloodiction – Satanic Black Metal. Typical one-man project, and just one Demo record – “Lordica ov Whore”, including Intro and 3 tracks. The project was formed in 2007, Demo was released two years later, in 2009, and then Bloodiction was “split-up” (if I can say such way:)). I have found one song on PureVolume website, but, unfortunately (or fortunately, can’t say) I could’s to play it… Anyway, the Demo was even released by Swedish label Salute records, on Cassette format, limited to 20 copies just. The band existed since 2006 until 2010.
Dhul-Qarnayn – the next one-man project, now dead too. And was released by the same Salute records. Dhul-Qarnayn have a “solid” discography, 3 Demos, 3 splits, 2 Singles, 2 EP’s and even one full-length album! Musically here is the same Black Metal, but with some Ambient parts. I have listened to several songs on ReverbNation, and all I can say – really and deeply rawest and obscurest stuff. The guy behind Dhul-Qarnayn participated in several bands together with this project.
Gravedom – three-men band. And of course – Black Metal. Formed in 2004, recorded the only Demo records in 2005 and… split-up. I can’t say what their music was all about, because I haven’t found any single track in the internet, and seems like the Demo was unreleased at all, so, dead band without even some memory.
Kusoof – next Black Metal band, this time with two musicians. Formed in 2008 and was disbanded… unknown when. But, those guys had really good potential to create music, so they did Demo, EP and two full-length albums during TWO years! I have found some tracks in the internet, and musically they performed raw and obscure Black Metal with some depressive and negative atmosphere, anyway sounds acceptable.
Lunacyst – the first more or less complete band in this list. Comes from Manama, and looks like still active! With real drummer and enough information in the internet. They have just one Demo split video with Motör Militia. Musically – enough worth for attention gore Death Metal, so maybe they will record some EP or album in the future? Unfortunately I was unable to connect with musicians, that’s why you can’t read some comments from them personally.
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Motör Militia – I like this band for the only title, hehe! You know, sometimes band’s title can speak a lot! In this case we have a deal with Thrash Metal! And, to not write many senseless words, just read musicians story about the band and the metal scene in Bahrain!
Musicians says:
Formed in 2001, Motör Militia is one of Bahrain’s premier heavy metal bands. In their decade long career, the group has helped rejuvenate and further their local and neighboring Heavy Metal communities: By pulling together with fellow bands, they helped to organize concerts at a pace faster than previously realized in the country.
Moreover, as one of the first Thrash Metal bands in the region to record and release an album of original material on an independent record label, they helped spread the word on the genre on behalf of the Middle East to an international audience in the process – ultimately being featured in the April 2007 issue of England’s leading Heavy Metal magazine, Terrorizer, as part of their article, “Middle East Scene Report”:
http://www.terrorizer.com/index.php?issue_no=157No matter the cultural constraints the band has encountered – nothing short of accusations of Satanism, kidnapping, and murder at the behest of the most conservative of Bahraini political officials, Motör Militia is still going strong, and still helping to promote the music they live for.
Over 15 years we have seen things change: in the beginning we would rehearse either at our school or 3-4 bands would all rehearse at one house where it would be possible to and take turns on shared equipment. They were like mini concerts and usually a lot of fun. It gave us the idea to organise our own shows, which really got the ball rolling. Today you can rent a rehearsal room at a handful of spaces. Equipment is now also available at decent prices, not the full selection you would have in Europe or the USA but everything you need is there which is great, as it wasn’t always the case, new drumsticks used to be a treat!Finding a good recording studio was always impossible years ago… a real drag! We and other bands ended up trying to learn ourselves and buy the equipment needed to make our recordings, and when you are learning something new the results are never that good from the start… Now we have a pro studio owned and operated by a metalhead, which really saved us and a lot of other bands that in a way owe their existence to the studio.
It means there are more bands active and better musical products that are being put out, which is a real bonus after so many slender years! There is no excuse for your recorded material not to reach its potential anymore.
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Smouldering in Forgotten – Death/Black Metal band from Manama! They have two full-length albums, and again, luckily, you can hear more from musicians directly!
Musicians says:
The band was formed in 2005 and today stands as Bahrain’s most explosive extreme metal act. The band’s aggressive and atmospheric sound is inspired by a range influences including black metal, death metal, and thrash, but also ethnic Arabian music and a rich culture of story-telling and art. Smouldering in Forgotten’s dynamic live performances have delighted audiences across the Arabian Gulf States.
It’s been one hell of a ride for us, going through phases, learning curves, and achievements. All this definitely added up to an unforgettable experience. It’s funny how we all started as amateur metal fans, but also aiming to be the most evil sounding band in the country. The journey has been fulfilling so far, but is far from over.
It wasn’t as hard as you might imagine as the Bahrain metal scene is fairly small, especially considering this was back in 2005. Everyone knew everyone else and it wasn’t hard to come across people with the same interests. The lineup started with Mardus, Busac, and Void, and the band grew from there. We were joined by Tael and Husam, who really were the final missing pieces to completing the SIF sound.The scene is small but also very strong. It has been steadily growing and improving over the last decade and there is so much potential that the world has yet to see. The only downfall about the scene is the lack of frequent events. As it stands, proper metal gigs happen about once a year on average, which sometimes discourages a lot of the musicians here.
Through Sunken Eyes – Thrash Metal / Crossover from Jebel Al Dukhan. Band was formed in 2006, recorded the Demo the same year, and, looks like split-up. Listened to their music, I have an idea that TSE’s disbanding was a bad thing, because musicians played really good (inside noted style) stuff, Demo have a poor sound, but I got their idea. Anyway, Bahrain’s history will have decent band into Thrash/Crossover!
قفص (Cage) – Wow! Unreadable for us title, but we have translation. Next one-man project, but with the guy who have played with numerous bands from Bahrain. Playing Funeral Black/Doom Metal, he have recorded Demos, Ep and album. Unfortunately I was unable to get a contact with Cage’s mastermind, so, we can’t present any words from him personally.
نار جهنم (Narjahanam) – Narjahanam, yeah! I’m 100% sure this band is pretty known worldwide, mostly because two enough successful albums, which were released by Russian Haarbn prods, and distributed really wide! To say short, their music is Black/Death Metal with Middle Eastern Influences, and the music is reeeeally awesome! Two guys behind the band did great job. The band is active still, but since they are toooooo slow for responses, we even haven’t try to contact them, because of bad practice in the past.
In addition I can say that Metal scene in Bahrain is not so huge, and haven’t enough amount of bands, the only few bands, but maybe something will be changed in future and we will be able to say “Bahrain Have metal scene!”, time will show!
Wait for the next country’ report!
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