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• Paleface Swiss – Cursed [January 3]
• Ex Deo – Year of the Four Emperors (EP) [January 10]
• The Halo Effect – March of the Unheard [January 10]
• Oni – Genesis (EP) [January 24]
• Obscura – A Sonication [February 7]
• Bleeding Through – Nine [February 14]
• Killswitch Engage – This Consequence [February 21]
• Architects – The Sky, the Earth & All Between [February 28]
• Arch Enemy – Blood Dynasty [March 28]
• Memphis May Fire – Shapeshifter [March 28]
• Landmvrks – The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been [April 25]
• Bury Tomorrow – Will You Haunt Me, with That Same Patience [May 16]

• Stick to Your Guns – Keep Planting Flowers [January 10]

• Dark Fortress – Anthems from Beyond the Grave (live album) [January 17]
• Harakiri for the Sky – Scorched Earth [January 24]

• Avatarium – Between You, God, the Devil and the Dead [January 24]
• Pentagram – Lightning in a Bottle [January 31]
• Mantar – Post Apocalyptic Depression [February 14]
• Nightstalker – Return from the Point of No Return [March 14]

• Labyrinth – In the Vanishing Echoes of Goodbye [January 24]
• Majestica – Power Train [February 7]
• Dynazty – Game of Faces [February 14]
• Lacuna Coil – Sleepless Empire [February 14]
• Nachtblut – Todschick [February 21]
• Avantasia – Here Be Dragons [February 28]
• Brainstorm – Plague of Rats [February 28]
• Crematory – Destination [May 2]
• Primal Fear – Domination [September 5]

• Thomas Erak – (AU) [January 31]
• Dream Theater – Parasomnia [February 7]
• Jinjer – Duél [February 7]
• Coheed and Cambria – Vaxis Act III: The Father of Make Believe [March 14]

Ahmed, can you tell more about how it all started?

I started playing drums at the age of 16 and my first experience was with Metal music, with all its variations like Rock, Black and death metal.

On the other hand my cousin Tamer Tawfik was a big reason for me to be a musician, he is an opera singer and he has always pushed me to listen to different kind of music like (Opera , Jazz, Latin, Tango and even Rock music.)

I’ve been in love with music ever since I was a kid and my mom was the first one who noticed that I’ll be a drummer because I’d stroke anything with spoons and forks haha, I don’t remember that exactly but she told me the whole story about it later. Finally I got my first drum kit when I was 16 years old, I started playing to all the songs that I know, like Hey You by Pink Floyd, Fade to black and Master of Puppets by Metallica and finally Trust and Symphony of destruction by Megadeath, then my cousin Tamer told me that he got an album for a drummer called Dave Weckl, I listened to him and I was shocked because he had a lot of variations in the same song and he is so creative with his grooves, from that moment on I decided to take drum lessons, to be able to play like him. My cousin recommended Mr. Muhammed Saa’d for me, he is the drummer of the Cairo opera house orchestra. I went to Muhammed and started my first drum lesson, but after 2 lessons Muhammed told me that we wouldn’t be able to keep going because he is very busy with his masters and studies, so I decided to keep going on my own with books & CDs.

4 years later, I went to Mr. Amr Yousef and he changed me completely. I started listening to Latin, Jazz and Fusion. I took 7 lesson with him. I don’t know why I used to take few sessions with every teacher. After this I went on my own way with more books, DVDs and CDs till this moment. One day, I went to watch Amr Yousef’s performance with Sahra, and I was attracted to the band’s trend with all its energy and variety in rhythms and styles, but due to some issues between Amr & Sahra, he left the band and he recommended me to them and of course I was very happy with this step because it would make me take out all my energy and ideas for the drumming. Now I am still with Sahra.

Why did you choose to play the drums?

First, it’s a gift from Allah. Second, I loved the beats and the rhythms more than anything because they gave me power more than any other instrument, but for sure I can’t deny that I am in love with the Guitar, Sax and Piano. Third, it looks so sexy on stage, haha, I am really in love with the view.

Ahmed, what genres of music do you play? and why did you choose these genres?

I have no specific kind of music but the kind I like playing most is Fusion because it lets me play different kind of beats and music at the same time, and I hate to be limited to one genre, because I like to play different variations in my music and in my drumming style. So let’s say world music, but sometimes when I’m home I like to play some death and thrash metal stuff for some bands like Lamb of God, Necrophagist, Decapitated, In Flames, Testament and Pantera. I know that I am crazy, but I really love this music.

What troubles did you face at the start? How did you face them?

Hm, my real troubles were all about drums, not my parents or my friends at all. Let’s begin with the sound: I wanted to get the sounds I heard from Dave Weckl especially and my favorite drummers in general, and for sure at that time I didn’t know anything about the kinds of woods or how to tune my drum kit, but after a while a very good friend of mine talked to me about these things, after that I got the Dave Weckl’s teaching video “Back To Basics.” On the other hand I had a very big problem with practicing and it was all about speed and goodness! I wanted to be a very fast drummer and very good too as quickly as possible, which was a very wrong idea of course, then I understood that I must take my time practicing and listening to many kinds of music to be that good, and I am working on it until now. 

Tell me about the bands you played with, the bands you are currently in and the first band you ever played with.

Man that’s a lot, but okay let’s start with the first band I played in, it was “HELIUM” we covered lots of artists, like Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, Alice cooper, Annihilator and MEGADETH.

**Note: IT’S A CRAZY BAND.

I played with many local and international bands and projects. Let’s begin with the local bands: (Nagham Masry, The Riff band, Rashad Fahim, Salalem, Limousine, Sirens, and Forgotten Notes) and different international projects such as Music Matbakh, Darrell John Kennedy and Ruba Sakr who’s a singer from Jordan, and I have recorded an album with Yacoub, a bassist from Jordan.

My current bands are: Sahra, Eftikasat, The Percussion Show and The 19th band, who have a very strange formation, which is:

Guitars: Ousso and Marwan shaaban
Bass: Hameed Sabry.
Vocals: Amr Yehia, Adham Roshdy, Shehab and Shady Ahmed.
Drums: Me.

What was your feeling when you were on stage for the first time?

To be honest I don’t want to remember that day again in my life, (laughing) Look, it was a very strange feeling, I was so afraid, my legs couldn’t carry me, my blood pressure was dropping, but I can’t deny that this feeling went away after the second track we played, when the people began to interact with us, oh man that was a very hard day, thank God that day passed.

Did you ever expect that you would reach that level and be one of the best drummers in Egypt?

I didn’t expect this question from you, but anyway I always practice to be a good drummer, because I want to have my unique style in drumming, but to be honest I didn’t expect this position in this period of time, Thank God. 

How do you see the music scene in Egypt in general and the rock and metal scene in particular?

I am so happy for the evolution in the music scene in general, we now have many bands in Egypt playing different styles of music, and of course I am so happy with the efforts in festivals like Cairo Jazz Festival and S.O.S. Music Festival, and no one can deny all the efforts done by El Sawy Culturewheel. As For the rock and metal scene, I don’t know how they’re going now because I am so far from it with the bands I am in now, but I remember the last 2 concerts I played with Sirens and I think the metal concerts are much better than before, the respect for the musicians is much better and the organization of the concerts is very good and the venues are better than the old ones.

Who is your drummer idol?

Actually, I have some idols in my life which I really learned a lot from, the first is (MIKE PORTNOY) the drummer for (DREAM THEATER), he is my rock drummer idol and as for the other styles of music like Fusion or Jazz or Latin they are (Dave Weckl), (Dennis Chambers) and (Marco Minnemann)

What are your plans for the future?

Hmm, my plans for music are to practice more and more to be a very good drummer and musician and I hope that I can play in any of the international festivals. As for my personal life, I want be a helpful person and to be successful in my work.

What would you like to say about the music scene and to your fans?

For the music scene : “I am very proud of the current bands in the scene, you guys are really awesome and never stop it, never ever, and keep on going with more stuff and more different kinds of music.”

For my fans: “I am very happy to play to people like you, and to anyone who wants to be a musician or a drummer, never give up and always remember that PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.”

How did the band start, when and where?

The band started in 2005 when guitarist “Karim Kolaly” and drummer “Rafik El Naggar” had the passion to form a heavy metal band which has the taste of heavy music with the thrashy touch…They started at school with other members. Then the band had a lot of changes regarding their members till we settled on the current members.

As a band from Alex how you can describe the metal scene there and how do you connect with Cairo’s scene? 

Amr: The metal scene is becoming recognizable now more and more and we have a very strong positive point that we all come together and support each other in every event whenever it is and wherever it is. About Cairo fans we have our fans and friends there among the other bands. We also connect with them through our YouTube channel

Do you suffer from the accusations towards the metal scene nowadays in media? How do you think we can solve this problem? 

People think that we are aggressive because our music is heavy for ’em and we’ve always been treated as a second degree band because we play music which is different from what people listen to. We can solve this by inviting new people to our concerts and make them listen to our music, and we can help also by organizing charity events, well sponsored ones, to show the people our real image and prove to them that we are normal people who just play a different type of music.

Tell me about your current members and former ones? 

The current line-up is:

• Hazem Mamdouh: vocals
• Amr El Gendy: Lead/rhythm guitar
• Saadalh El Nagar: Bass guitar
• Youssef Ali: lead/Rhythm guitar
• Rafik El Naggar: Drums

The former ones:
Karim El Kolaly: Guitars and vocals
Ibrahim Bof: bass
Barakat: Guitars
Ahmed Ayman: Bass

After the release of Metal albums for other bands are you guys planning for an Alexandrian album release of your own? 

Currently we are preparing for recording our original songs and for sure it’s a dream for us to release an album here in Egypt for all the people to listen to.

What are your favorite metal bands in Egypt and why? 

Varden band .The band is great and has the taste of real power metal music. Wyvern band also is a very respectable band and well known here in Egypt. Also Redeemers are a very serious, well organized band.

How can do categorize your music? 

Heavy metal with a groovy and thrashy touch plus the melodic part in our songs.

Tell me about the competition held in Alex bib. and what was your feelings after winning three awards?

It was a music competition that Bib Alex host every year in the summer .We got accepted to play in it and we did a hell of a show .It was on August the 6th 2007 and we played 4 songs, 2 originals and 2 covers.

After the concert we were all happy and celebrated together but we never expected that we’d win anything.

Three days later bib Alex called us and they said that we won something but they didn’t say what it was, but they asked us to perform again on August the 10th. We went there and it was a moment to remember!

Anoxia won three awards that day:

1. The audience award “votes”
2. The best cover band
3. The best lead guitarist “Amr El Gendy”

It was a hell of a night and we still celebrate it until now.

Tell me about your discography? 

Well we have many original songs:

• Rattlesnake
• Self suicide
• Death machine
• Blame yourself
• Goddamn no
• Survivor
• Of fear and denial
• Made of steel
• Ride to hell
• Broken hearts
• Within my heart
• The last ride

Are there any official videos for the band? 

Yeah the band has got many videos from our previous concerts…Some were uploaded on our YouTube Channel

Are you guys planning to enter music competitions around the world?

Sure, If we got the opportunity to participate in a world music competition then why not?

Can you give me names of bands that you shared and/or want to share the stage with in the future?

Bands we shared the stage with are: “Abraxas, Nemesis, Rotten Mind, Frost Morn, On Thrones…”

We’d like to share the stage again with any band who plays real good music and for sure they must have a friendly attitude so we can have the fun and the crazy stuff we always do backstage.

Give me a brief summary about your previous gigs and concerts? 

AnoxiA performed many gigs here in Alex, mostly at Bib Alex:

1st was on June 21st 2007.
2nd one was @ hands cafe together with Abraxas band November 23rd 2007.
3rd one was @ bib Alex music competition August 6th 2007.
4th one was @ bib Alex closing ceremony August 10th 2007.
5th one was @ bib Alex together with Nemesis band December 14th 2007.
6th one was @ bib Alex together with Nemesis and On Thrones July 30th 2008.
7th one was @ bib Alex together with Abraxas band on October 30th 2008.
8th one was @ bib Alex March 6th 2009.

Is there any merchandise for the band? 

Not yet but by the release of our demo some merchandise will be available.

Anoxia what do you mean by the name? 

It means absence of oxygen, i.e. suffocation.

Are you guys planning to hit the western world? 

We’d love to for sure but first we need to prove our presence here then we shall move to the western world.

What are your plans for the future? 

We are planning to release our 1st album and give a hell of great shows all around Egypt so that people can hear us everywhere.

What do you think of Metal albums released lately in Egypt , is it a good step for more records to come up soon and how do you think we can promote heavy metal in Egypt? 

For sure it’s a great step for the metal scene to get improved and rise in Egypt which tells people that our music isn’t bad after all!

Are there any upcoming concerts soon? 

We are planning to give a show very soon .Just stay tuned!

What are the lyrical themes of your tracks?

Every song has its structure and it’s own issue. Our lyrical themes varies between personal issues such as in “Blame yourself and Broken hearts”, Social issues like talking about drugs in “Rattlesnake” and Global issues like “Death Machine” and some of our lyrics talk about AnoxiA as a band and our fans.

Do you guys perform covers in addition to originals, and can you give me the names of those covers? 

Yeah, we perform covers but mainly we perform our own originals

Covers like:

Cowboys form hell “Pantera”
Ride the lighting “Metallica”
Alone in the dark “Testament”
DNR “Testament”
Domination “Pantera”
The day that never comes “Metallica”
And more to say ..

Is there any message that you want to deliver to your fans?

Support us ..It’s what we really need THE SUPPORT from everyone!