Heavy Metal in the Middle East?

Over the years, heavy metal has become worldwide. Many different bands have come from many different countries all around the world. Massive metal festivals are held all over the world where thousands of metalheads gather to see their favorite bands perform live. It's common to hear about bands that come from America, Germany, Sweden, England, and Finland. These are all common locales for heavy metal bands to rise from, but how often do you hear about heavy metal in the Middle East?

In Jordan and Saudi Arabia, a new kind of music is starting to get some mainstream attention. Heavy metal is becoming very popular in these countries. These two country still thrive from rich, traditional and strict culture from years ago. These countries are not accustom to change, but with the rise of heavy metal, they are experiencing some astonishing changes.

In Jordan, the band Tyrant Throne is getting a lot of attention world wide for their unique style of brutal death metal. When asked about the meaning of their lyrics, singer Mohanned Bursheh said, "the lyrics in the song, they are about the relation between the human mind and body, where you exceed the limits of sanity...but I mean insane in a sophisticated way." Also, in heavy metal past, just as Black Sabbath, Tyrant Throne is largely misunderstood in the Middle East. "There is a misconception about the music; that it's the devil's music. And I think this misconception isn't just in the Middle East; it's worldwide, but especially in like third world countries." So as in the long history of metal, they are fighting to get any support they can.

Saudi Arabia is also a location of another up and coming heavy metal act, Wasted Land. Through friends, teachers and the internet, this band was able to form. "Revolution, in this conservative kingdom, that prohibits public gigs, is underground in every since" (Nic Robertson). To help get their music out world wide, the band uses their Myspace page. Guitarist Ayman Al Ghamdi stated, "When we upload our songs, we found out a lot people liked what we did." And as in Tyrant Throne in Jordan, Wasted Land is misunderstood in Saudi Arabia. Singer Emad Mujallid believes that some people may get the idea that they are like Bin Laden, but they are not. "We are normal people. We are living our life and enjoying our life, music and work." With the help of the internet to spread their music, they've been asked to play in other countries, such as the U.S. and Europe.

As stated before, heavy metal is worldwide. It's found all around the world, even in countries that you wouldn't expect to find it, such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia. With the power of the internet and the ability to upload music to spread to listeners far, it won't be surprising to see more bands appear in small, third world countries. As long as theres a medium to get music to the masses, it will continue to be a worldwide tradition.

To view more of the interview and thoughts of the bands, follow the link below to the video.


- CNN: "Mid-East metal" (Online Video Clip) http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/international/2008/02/29/ime.gorani.mid.east.heavy.metal.bk.a.cnn

- http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=73284385&albumID=1853013&imageID=6506756