1. Seera (Saudi Arabia)

Seera is an all-female Saudi psychedelic rock band that blends local dialect, traditional motifs and modern psych-rock textures — an emblem of changing cultural horizons in the Kingdom. Their performances and emerging releases have made them one of the most-discussed new acts in the Gulf scene.

2. Jabal Al-Mareikh (Jordan)

Hailing from East Amman, Jabal Al-Mareikh have been quietly building a reputation with moody, fuzzed-out indie and post-punk-tinged rock. Their recent singles have captured underground attention and show a mature, literate approach to Arabic indie-rock storytelling.

3. Bab L’ Bluz (Morocco / France)

Bab L’ Bluz fuse Gnawa rhythms and trance with psychedelic blues and rock. Fronted by Yousra Mansour, the band channels North African heritage into a modern rock vocabulary — and they’re already touring internationally, introducing Moroccan-rooted rock to global audiences.

4. ROKN (Egypt)

Egypt’s ROKN is a fresh voice in the local rock conversation, mixing Arabic sensibilities with hard-hitting rock instrumentation and authentic stage energy. Their recent singles and live shows highlight the vitality of the Cairo scene and a rising wave of rock acts across Egypt.

5. Semsema (Egypt)

Dubbed Egypt’s youngest rockers by local media, Semsema are gaining traction onstage and opening for major local acts — a strong sign that a new generation in Egypt is picking up guitars and building a live rock culture from the ground up.

6. The Wanton Bishops (Lebanon)

Though formed earlier than some other names on this list, The Wanton Bishops continue to evolve and remain influential in Levantine blues-rock and psych-rock scenes. Their releases and touring continue to inspire younger acts across the region.

7. Slave to Sirens (Lebanon)

The all-female metal/rock band Slave to Sirens (whose story is featured in the documentary Sirens) represent a bold, politically resonant face of heavy music in the Levant. Their visibility — including festival invites and film coverage — signals increasing international attention for women-led heavy acts in MENA.

8. Myrath (Tunisia)

Tunisia’s renowned progressive/oriental metal heroes Myrath have helped show how progressive metal can carry regional identity to global stages. While now well-established, their continued creative output and festival presence help keep North African rock and metal on international radar.

9. Persona (Tunisia)

Persona is an up-and-coming female-fronted alternative/metal act in Tunisia that mixes modern metal dynamics with local colors — a band to watch as North African metal and alt scenes expand.

10. The Old Wave (Tunisia)

The Old Wave (a Tunisian alternative rock outfit) channels 90s grunge and alternative rock while weaving in regional influences — part of a fresh layer of Tunisian acts building an original alt-rock identity.

Personally, I’ve waited for this moment for so long. I came across Scarab’s music for the first time through “Serpents of the Nile” which left me amazed and shocked, IT IS an EGYPTIAN METAL BAND! EGYPTIAN METAL BAND influenced with our ancient glorious history, the blackness of the lands of Kemet, painted in colors of the sand, the Nile, the stony huge temples. Reviewing “Martyrs of the Storms” is not an easy task, it is challenging for any reviewer connected to the Egyptian Metal scene. I may write the only EGYPTIAN review published on professional, Egyptian Metal Webzine. So, Let’s move to the review about this album.

Before going deep into my review, I prefer to you to see first Scarab‘s members thoughts about their album, the band posted on Facebook,

“Channeling & creating a work of heavy alchemical art like “Martyrs of the Storm” was a matter of survival from death, destruction & martyrdom to us. We pay our awe & respect to the land of Kemet, the great Egypt. Our homeland, the land of magic, mysticism & gnosis. The source of our inspiration in times of chaos and in times of order. All hail the great ancient land and the never ending river of mysteries that it holds.“

Based on this, you have a hint about this journey through the world of chaos, glory, victory, and mystery. Just keep Scarab‘s slogan of the album in your mind “The Storm is Approaching.” While listening to the opening track “Martyrs of the Storm,” Mysterious guitar tunes backed by ambient echo as if you are passing your hands on ancient holographic texts on the walls. Shortly, you find yourself pulled into stormy music, darkened tunes, heavy drums, and killing guitar riffs. It is like running inside endless paths of history, you are witnessing the incident before your eyes. Starting with “Martyrs of the Storm” is a smart choice, the track is so melodic and it managed to drive the listener to continue the album’s journey.

Moving to “Necropotence,” it is a heavier track with a sense of rage. It reflects a progression of the album’s mood. It ends with some screams and calls of fighting people, this paves the way to the next track “Kingdoms of Chaos.“

I will mention something strange, the band may not mean that but it is my feelings. When it comes to “Kingdoms of Chaos”, there is a status of a fight, unrest, a conflict which is well scripted in terms of music. Therefore, I want to make it more visual. If you come across Youssif Chahin’s “Al Mohager,” just remember the scene when the religious groups and the leadership of the army went in a dispute. Fire, fight, blood, CHAOS! on one hand, it is like a nation burns itself by its own hands, on the other hand, this fight is expanded to include different old-world acts. It is a matter of mythology and history typically. Nobody can deny that many civilizations were built upon chaos.

After listening to “Kingdoms of Chaos”, you may get the impression of the progression of darkness, it is like a curve. The album is getting darker, deeper, more enraged, and more complicated in terms of music. Here comes “Blood Moon Shadows,” the intro is so ghostly with depressive touches, there is a mood of evil, hatred. The music is painted in colours of melodic blackness, brutality. Variety in melodies and rhythms make you enjoy with every sound. The atmosphere of the song catches your breaths, recalls scattered images of deaths, fights, conflicted colors, and opposing sides. In other words, “Blood Moon Shadows” is one of the best composed tracks of the release alongside “Coffin Texts.”

The upcoming track “Circles of Verminijya” sets a mood of controversion after its release. The theme of the track is exceptional and strange; voodoo cultures or the native culture of the African lands which we are a part from this culture, we carry a part of these roots, rituals, history, and blood. I am quoting here a part taken from my review of “Circles of Verminejya:”

“the title “Circles of Verminejya” is somehow a strange name to the listeners. Actually, I need to thank Scarab for releasing the song with a lyric video that contains actual Voodoo rituals to have more understanding of the track’s theme. 

You can find out those folk dances. People are dancing in the middle of a circle and surrounded by a circle of audience. It is a mutual form of celebrations in mostly of Native Cultures. For example, The Ancient Greek Theater was built as a circle and the Ancient Arabic Poetry contests were held in the form of a circle of audience.

The lyrics mentioned the meaning of “Circles of Verminejya” “I Draw Barriers and Dance in offering within the circles of Verminejya”! That’s why I think that the “Circles of Verminejya” means the circles where the Voodoo rituals, mainly dances, take place.”

I can’t deny, the new version of the song is an excellent one, the intro with African influenced tunes reflects the essence of the track. I can speak a lot about this track because it is MY MOST FAVORITE. Every tune of it flooded inside of me, tastes the sweet-bitter taste of native cultures survival against the colony. So, I need to move to the following two tracks “The Dwellers Beneath” and “Oblivious Sanctum.” 

“The Dwellers Beneath” starts with a spoken part that looks like whispers from the other side. It expresses a deeper deathly sound and a darker and fiercer atmosphere. The solo is remarkable and I like how the solo is well engaged to the music, it joins the music smoothly and ends beautifully without any disturbance. While “Oblivious Sanctum”, “Saturnian,”  and “Upon the Pagan Lands” give me the impression of recalling the previous work of Scarab! I don’t know if this feeling is true or not, but I felt that those tracks reflect the previous Scarab work, their taste of bitterness, of composing Egyptian Death Metal taste, of their music hybridity of Western and Egyptian Oriental tendencies.

Now only one track left for reviewing “Coffin Texts”. Before talking about it, I want to admit a fact, the album is somehow long, it is an enjoyable album, undoubtedly, there is a magical musical excitement but at the same time it is heavy and some tracks carried similarities of the style and the mood, so I felt that adding “Coffin Texts” as number 8 in the playlist is not fair for the track. It was really smart that Scarab released the track as a single before the official release of the album. “Coffin Texts” is in one word, a symphony, an epic of musical composition and harmony. The music takes you to death, to the underworld, experiencing death, chasing ghosts especially the outro of the track.

WOW, WHAT A JOURNEY, to sum up, this review, I should thank each member of Scarab who gives this album a part of his blood and soul, especially Amir Al Saadi who surprised everyone with his professional and blasting drums through the album, why I am mentioning Amir because he joined the band only in life performances, it is our first time to test Amir‘s abilities with Scarab and he left his drums sounds stuck in our ears after listening to the album, it is not easy to write or produce such a profound album, Scarab proved their endless talents of performing and composing, all lines are beautifully and harmoniously mixed together.

The album was like a one-day journey but at the same time a journey of life, it is like the ancient Egyptian myth of the journey of the sun, notions of the Earth and the sky, story of touching sands that carry the essence of life, the sweat of the lost, and the blood of the martyrs. The storm here is not an actual storm, but it is an intellectual storm that shakes your own eternities, beliefs, and peace. The quality of the production and the magic of engaging the solos and the melodies inside the tracks are impressive.

Finally, I need mention just negative points as I expressed above: some tracks carry the same style or mood, so one of them could be discarded which will shorten the length of the album positively, the album is somehow long, and it is not good to drop “Coffin Texts” at the end of the playlist. So, the first time in my life, I give an EGYPTIAN Metal band a rate from 9.8 to 10 based on my experience!! It is the only album that deserves 10! And, I want to tell Scarab, you make it hard for you and for everyone in the scene to produce an equivalent to your “Martyrs of the Storm”!!!!!!!

1. What is Oriental Death Metal – how did you guys come up with this concept?

Oriental death metal is a genre that existed before with other bands in the region like Orphaned Land and Bilocate. Yet, Aramaic aims to keep it more subtle, with using oriental and Arabic instruments like the tabla, oud, etc. with the main sound of death & black metal and here we mean riffs and drum lines.

2. What do you guys have in store for your fans in the UAE this year?
After releasing our first EP The Fallen, we went back directly to the studio to start working on the upcoming full-length album. In the mean time, we have few gigs coming up with some international bands that we cannot reveal just yet. As you guys know, we have Sound Of Thunder Gig with the Indian Metal band Demonic Resurrection on 6th Feb 2015. Later during the year, we will release the first music video from the upcoming full-length album.

3. When are we expecting the release of your upcoming album?
We are working hard on the new release and hopefully the fans will be able to hear it after the summer of 2015. So keep an eye on our page, what we are delivering this time is BIG and HEAVY!

4. What have influenced your upcoming album and what can we expect?
The Fallen was what the band wanted to sound like in the beginning, yet after spending hours and hours we realized that the band has matured into stronger and more prominent tunes. We think this is a part of the progress of any band. The unique thing about Aramaic is the diversity in its members musical backgrounds, as it varies from old school thrash, death, doom, progressive to black metal. It is the factor that gives the outstanding way of composition we aim for.

5. Can you give us a sneak preview (MP3) of your upcoming album? (Due to release early 2015?)
‘The King’ is one of the tracks that will be featured in our upcoming release.

6. Who is doing the artwork for the upcoming album?
The Fallen was designed by MHD Graphics aka Hamood Hallak, who also worked on Voice of the Soul’s latest release along with Hourglass’ new Artwork too. We are more than happy to work with MHD for our upcoming full length as well.

7. Where are you guys recording?
The recording, mixing, mastering, and production process take place at Haven Studio with the brilliant producer Hadi Sarieddine from the Local Talented band Benevolent. We consider Sarieddine the 6th member of Aramaic, with his total dedication, talent, and great effort in making sure every record leaves the studio with a thundering sound and quality.

8. Where are you guys originally from, how did you all come together?
Aramaic is a fusion of different Arab nationalities: Syrian, Palestinian, and Lebanese born musicians. The band started in 2010 with Fadi and Michael having few jamming sessions, which led to an undeniable chemistry. Because of these two came about the creation of around 13 raw tracks. The vocalist Serge Lutfi from Abhorred then joined by helping with the writing process. Now Ahmad Rammal, the guitarist from Xceed, who will be taking the role of the lead guitarist in the band, joined Aramaic.

9. The name Aramaic?
The name came from the Ancient Arameans who lived in the region, where the bands and musicians hail from, with their very rich mythology as they worshipped Assyro-Babylonian gods such as Haddad (Adad), Sin, Ishtar, Shamash, and Nergal, and Caananite-Phoenician deities such as the storm-god, El, the supreme deity of Canaan, Anat (‘Atta) and others.

The Aramean civilization is a rich untouched one from the perspective of music, as it somehow represents the early Christian aspects people avoided getting close to. What we did is take the pre-Christian era and dived deeper into every detail, and every historical main event. Those reflect what we live through nowadays from social, emotional, philosophical, and historical views.
Matter of fact, metal bands around the globe have been highlighting other civilizations like: the Viking, Mesopotamian, Greek, Romanian, and even Mayan. Our aim was to present something different, in order to open new doors of knowledge to where the band members descended from.

10. What are the challenges you face being a doom metal band in the UAE? What are the highlights?
The challenges and highlights are the same for each band regardless the genre. What we do might be not as accessible to the regular market but we do not see this in a negative light. The good thing about the scene is that all bands from different genres can share the same stage and still have a great show…

Edited by: Duha Mousa

Ousso, everyone knows you by this name, can you please introduce yourself more to your fans out there? What’s your real name and origins?
Ousso: My name on the ID is Mohamed Lotfy but nobody calls me Mohamed at all, even my own family, and actually I was called “Ousso” before Mohamed and before I was born because my mom wanted to call me Osman but it didn’t happen…but I remained Ousso…I’m purely Egyptian, went to a French school (Jesuit) then commerce, the English section at Ain Shams University.

There’s something everyone is wondering about, Ousso, how and when did your musical career started?
Ousso: I started my musical career at the tender age of 18, I used to play in rock bands like Implosion (Cover Rock Band) and another anonymous band, a trio where I used to sing and play guitar (Beatles/Doors/oldies), then after the so-called satanic issue, I had no choice and no one to play with, so Mr Nasser Begato (Double Vision studio owner) hooked me up with Samira Saiid’s band, and from there I started to get into the Egyptian professional mainstream scene and started recording movies soundtracks/commercials/pop songs and playing live with pop singers, and parallel to that with other Rock/Jazz/Blues/Fusion bands.

Why did you choose to play guitar and how did you learn to play it?
Ousso: I’ve always been obsessed with music, specifically classical music when I was a child and I mean since I was 1 probably as my mom noticed and told me that I would stay quiet and listen to classical music for hours, and then I played keyboards at the age of 9, when I turned 12 I saw “Slash” from Guns N’ Roses and my obsession with guitar started, my mom got me an acoustic guitar and I used to spend like 12 hours a day, if not more, playing anything I could get my hands on, starting from Pink Panther to Slash solos, TV commercials, classical phrases played by any instrument, pop songs, blues licks, then I got some books and started teaching myself basic notation, theory and harmony, started composing and improvising until the age of 20 I started taking lessons with pianist “Rashad Fahim” for like 4 years, and he taught me jazz harmony/musical theory along with other books and instructional videos/tapes, and I would apply everything to guitar.

What bands did you join? And what bands did you form on your own?
Ousso: I’ve played with Implosion (heavy metal rock band in the 90’s), my anonymous trio band (drums, guitar, keys) and I used to sing Beatles/Doors/oldies songs, then Hassan Khalil jazz band in 98, Ahmed Rabie band, Yehia Ghannam band, Hossam Shaker band, then I formed “Nagham Masry” with Sherbini in 1999, and the “19th Band” in 2008, joined “Eftekasat” from 2002 to 2008, “Junk Male” from 2003 to 2008 , “Sweet N’ Sour” from 2003 to 2004, “Music Matbakh” from 2007 to 2008, along with lots of anonymous jazz/fusion bands in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

Concerning Eftekasat, why did you leave the band despite its success?
Ousso: I quit Eftekasat because of personal and technical problems that got accumulated over 6 years, as well as personally feeling that I’m no longer enjoying the music nor the chemistry of the band, which killed me, and started to affect my mood on stage and my musical input with the band, although we’re still friends and on good terms but it happens.

Can you tell us more about Nagham Masry?
Ousso: Nagham Masry is MY obsession and love! I’ve worked hard to present a different sound of precious Egyptian lyrics that have a deep meaning, that’s so Egyptian yet different and decent. I’ve done lots of experiments with this band, like playing an electric overdriven solo in Beit el Harrawy back in 2000 to a crowd that came to listen to Egyptian poetry right after the satanic lie of the media and the government, I wanted the normal listener to get used to Rock riffs/Jazz harmony/Funk grooves along with very Egyptian poetry and I wanted them as well to get used to accepting a long-haired rock guitarist who was still VERY EGYPTIAN! Nagham Masry is that precious project that won’t compromise and that’s why we don’t play that much anymore. That’s also why it’s taking so long to launch an album although we have more than 25 original songs ready.

Have you ever considered performing as “A solo artist”?
Ousso: Of course I thought about it and actually I’ve done it several times on different occasions.

The great S.O.S Music Festival that you started, why did you start it, and why did it end?
Ousso: I initially started S.O.S to push originality, to encourage the Egyptian bands to compose their music and have confidence in their abilities, to explore themselves regardless of their respective style or language. I wanted to give all the bands the chance to play before thousands that came to support them and only them! On a huge stage with a PA system built especially for them, not for some pop star when they’re just an opening band. I wanted them to experience that feeling that usually takes years to achieve, I wanted young bands to be encouraged and give them a push to work and develop knowing that there’s a place where they can actually present their music and gain thousands of fans in less than an hour, and get media exposure throughTV and radio, I wanted music fans with different tastes and background to stand next to each other and respect different opinions and tastes in a civilized atmosphere where a family could enjoy an outdoor garden and sit on the grass safely, I wanted to correct that social look that music concerts and musicians are a bunch of losers, and more.

Will the S.O.S Music Festival return?
Ousso: S.O.S is not over, the last one was 3 weeks ago, and right now the main sponsor is out because he has a different target. He’s under the impression that S.O.S is targeting ONLY ONE CLASS! Which really just goes to prove that he doesn’t know what S.O.S is talking about in the first place! But anyway, I’m in the process of presenting it to other sponsors and Insha ‘Allah things will be back to normal.

What music genre have you always wanted to play?
Ousso: I’ve never had a specific music genre that I wanted to play, it depends on the mood and I like all kinds of music and like to play them my way, even House music, I did work on several house tracks introducing funk guitar lines and solos, so to me it’s all music.

This is something I am very curios to know; since you are a guitar idol to everyone, who is yours?
Ousso: I love Slash! but I like lots of others as well, though not as much as Slash because I grew up listening to him and I love his way of soloing that’s very emotional and free of patterns/complicated techniques and all those things. He just plays, but of course I’m a big fan of Pat Metheny, Greg Howe and George Benson.

Who is the guitarist that you want to perform with, both abroad and locally?
Ousso: From Abroad, again I would love to perform with Slash, my idol. From Egypt, I actually do play with most of the guitarists and we’re friends, always jamming and performing together, and I mean those who are into music and want to have fun, not those who want to bet ‘who is faster? Who is more complicated?’ And I’ve seen a lot who fight through music. I really hate that kind of people, they turn me off, and I always avoid them.

How do you see the music scene in Egypt in general and the rock scene in particular?
Ousso: The music scene in Egypt is actually growing and developing, albeit very slowly, and I’m afraid that a lot of musicians are being very lazy not taking music seriously and not practicing enough to develop their skills. I’m sorry to say it but there’s a lot of drug abuse involved and many musicians are taking it as a fad and I don’t understand this attitude of ‘I’m the best! I know it all!’ I personally think that I’m very overrated in Egypt! I still have a loooot to learn! And this “the best guitarist in Egypt” that I always hear is actually “WRONG!”, there’s no such thing as the best, in music everyone has a style and a personality, and I’m afraid that a lot of musicians are falling in that trap of ‘You’re the best’, we all have to practice and learn.

About the rock scene, well honestly I’m not following it that much because I always feel weird when I attend rock concerts in Egypt, although I’m a rocker! I feel that it’s full of exaggerated attitude that turns me off personally not to mention lots of aggression and out of tune guitars (not all but a lot), but there are lots of great bands like Wyvern, SimpleXity, Idle Mind and more.

What’s your dream about music in Egypt?
Ousso: My dream is to see lots of festivals, venues, concerts, live music clubs, music schools, great musicians and interesting musical projects.

After all of your great achievements and success, do you think you have reached all you wished for or are you still not satisfied?
Ousso: I honestly can’t say I have great achievements and success, I wish for a lot! And I’m definitely not satisfied at all, I have to focus on my music a lot more, but unfortunately I’m doing lots of things that are distracting my musical development like S.O.S and lots of other projects but I hope that very soon I’ll have to hand it over to someone trustworthy and under my supervision and try to get back to be a full time musician.

Any future plans on your mind?
Ousso: A lot, but I prefer action to talking, so we’ll see.

What do you think of Rock Era magazine?
Ousso: It’s a great magazine and I wish it good luck and more success.

What would you like to say to your fans out there?
Ousso: I would like to thank you for all the support and I want to say that I’m so sorry that my musical input is much less than before, but I promise I’ll be back with new projects that you would hopefully like and enjoy.

We really would like to thank you for this fruitful interview.
Ousso: Thank you.

Interviewed by: Yasser Mohamed