It’s been a while since we’ve been to a metal gig in the big C.
With the whole political instability and daily life frustrations, metal-heads needed a gig to refresh their minds. So Brain Slash decided to give us a treat by organizing one of the most electrifying metal gigs on the Egyptian scene on the 25th of November 2013 in our very own Sawy Culturewheel. The gig was headlined by two of the most famous and hottest bands on the scene; Scarab (Brutal Death Metal) and Anarchy (Progressive Metal.) Those two bands did their best to entertain the audience and give them one hell of a night.
I am no stranger to Anarchy; I almost attended all of their gigs and watched them perform, they develop from one gig to the next, which makes a lot of people see them as the futuristic strong force in the Egyptian scene. The thing about Anarchy as a band is that they know how to bring energy to the event with their talented and energetic front man Adham Kafafy. The guy knows how to set people on fire with his movements and air guitar skills, which makes their live performances unique and great to watch. Anarchy‘s performance was everything that you’d expect; an energetic performance and one hell of a way to start the night. For Anarchy the last couple of years were awesome with releasing their debut album “Scriptcorium” and going on tour to South Africa.
The playlist wasn’t much of a surprise, they played the good ol’ tracks that fans know by heart, they were (with no order): PANDORA, one of the most complicated and multi layered tracks produced by the band, a mix of hard riffs and solos played by the new music power houses Peter Ayman and the dragon Ahmed Ra’ouf. The notable thing about the guitar duo of Anarchy is the confidence and the eye contact, both of them never –from our point of view as audience- seem to know when the other is ready to play the double layered riffs and the ear pounding solos, a sense of strong onstage chemistry that’s not often spotted among Egyptian musicians in general – no offence.
The new addition to the playlist was a SUDDEN instrumental track called “The headbanger”; a track with a secret message: “We might be a progressive metal band…but we know how to make the crowd jump around in a frenzy!!!”
The playlist also consisted of well known tracks such as “12 gates” and “Asylum” (hence Adham‘s shirt).
After a short break, familiar growls shook Sakia’s walls…it was time for the pharaohs to roar out of their tombs, along came Scarab!
It’s been a while since I last saw Scarab. Fact is I last saw them back in 2011 in Brain Slash vol.1, so yeah I was eager to see them again. Scarab‘s reputation in the international metal scene is very decent, and they are no strangers to touring outside of Egypt.
The fans were on fire, which made sense since people waited for about two years to see the band again; and the band definitely gave them with a taste of the long-awaited new album ”Serpents of the Nile.” The thing about Scarab is that they have a really strong stage presence, and they’ll force you to headbang and go to the battle field aka the mosh-pit even if you don’t want to. Their kick ass music will make you do it, it’s like magic, BLACK magic!
Track listing for Scarab won’t be so hard because they have a theme of shuffling old and new songs. Fans were astonished by the professionally conducted act that the band put out; everyone was agreeing that “what we are now beholding is what makes them internationally notable.”
Let’s talk about the other aspects of the gig, I loved the lighting system. It suited the atmosphere of the songs and added a lot to the gig itself. As for the audience, well to be frank, I hate people who see a metal gig as an excuse to get drunk and spread the ”poser” disease. I saw some dude who was really REALLY drunk that he puked beside me and on several people from the audience, the guy smelled like a walking gas station. It’s people like that dude who give the metal scene in Egypt such a shitty reputation by behaving immaturely.
On a lighter note -and a wider look on matters- the rest of the people attending the show were literally hungry for music, music (audience in Egypt tend to be judgmental and picky) but that day everyone went home happy.
Reviewed by: Hossam Ramzy and Ahmed A. Ateyya
