Metal is a true international ambassador bringing people together all over the world, all you need to hear is some guy blasting Machine Head on his car cd player and regardless of whether you speak the same language you’ll look over and throw up the devil horns. And good music spurts out from all over the world, no matter where the band is from, the language is heavy guitars, loud drums, and vicious vocals.
Japan has X Japan, Brazil has Sepultura, Sweden has Opeth and In Flames, UK has Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, Australia has AC/DC, and the USA has Metallica and Slayer but what about the middle east? More specifically; what about Arabian Metal or metal by Arabs?
Portrayed in modern media as the bad guys of the world and maniacal bearded men just waiting to press that button and blow themselves and a school bus away or highjack a plane and ram it up an infidel’s ass. Arabs are just like everyone else…they go to work, have fun with family, go out and party on weekends, throw back a few drinks with a friend, and take their girlfriends out for dinner and a movie, and they also have among them some serious headbangers and metal heads of which some are extremely talented musicians with some kick ass bands.
How do I know this? Well…Because I’ve been living in an Arabian country for last 12 years and been part of that metal scene since. Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, UAE, and even Saudi Arabia are just some of the examples of places to find great metal in the Middle East.
Ajdath
If you’re ever in Jordan, head over to Murphy’s House of Rock and check out whatever live band might be playing there or just throw down a few beers with some friends and play a game of pool. In Jordan you can listen to bands like Empty Chair who play awesome acoustic sets of some pretty good songs and have just released their first original or you can listen to the Jordanian classic rock cover band Illusions rock out playing songs like Johnny B. Good, Welcome to the Jungle, and Seven Nation Army. If you want to go a bit heavier you can check out some originals by bands like Figure of Fate, Who Will Guard the Guardians, Bilocate, and Ajdath online.
To get a real cool Metal Vibe in one of the few Arab countries where Metal isn’t frowned upon totally, head over to Beirut, Lebanon. Yes Beirut, that place known for war and 
internal conflict, but also known for being chilled and relaxed or as the Lebanese enjoy saying “ Rawa’ ” (copyright Lou). Beirut recently hosted bands like Evenescence, Scorpions, and Within Temptation and the shows were packed and sold out in weeks and sometimes days, proving Lebanon to have a genuine metal following. Some of the local bands you can check out in this French influenced Arabian culture are Zix with their power metal influences rockin out in their newly released EP “WarWhore” , or check out the UAE based Lebanese band Anuryzm’s album “Worms Eye View” , and for some serious hardcore vibes check out Blood Ink on tracks like “Skull Crusher” and “Destructive Malfunction”.
To take it up a notch you can check out UAE band Nervecell who on October 25th 2011 opened for the one and only Metallica at Yas Arena, Abu Dhabi. These guys seriously rock out and have a pretty kick ass album out titled “Psychogenocide”. I consider them to be the leaders in current metal spurting out of the middle east and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them land a record deal with a well-known label in times to come. So watch out for these dudes.
I could go on and on talkin about Arabian Bands who rock out, but the point is Arabian bands struggle every day to get their music to the listeners and lovers of our music, despite Arabian countries being very modern and pretty up to date their are still some where metal musicians have to fight through being called devil worshipers in majority Islamic countries who just don’t get the concept of their music and label them misfits and outsiders, they have to deal with finding venues to play metal shows without getting shut down by the authorities, and struggle sometimes just to find a decent recording studio that knows how to record distorted guitars. To be honest I don’t mind being one of those misfits or outsiders and I quite enjoy shooting down ignorance coming from some idiot’s mouth whenever I have the chance. Every metal band that has released an album or played a show in an Arabian Country has dealt with at least one of the above, so Arabian metal bands I salute you!
And btw…
To get a little more rock and cool middle eastern vibes out of the scene you can check out bands playing a little more of an authentic Arabian sound with some Arabic lyrics and some songs to just chill to like Meen , Salam, Autostrad, and Mashrou’ Leila who all share great creativity while keepin it Arabian.
Now you all know! Arabs make Rock not War!
\m/r Post by Leo
I am surprised That only 1 Lebanese Nu metal Band was Mentioned (Blood Ink) while mentioning more Bands based in UAE or Kweit which are great Bands Like Zix (Kweit + Lebanon) and Anuryzm which is a Mix band with only 2 lebanese members based in UAE.
While Lebanon have on of the Biggest and Oldest Metal Scene in the Middle East and Have Very Big names Not only on the local Standard.
1-OTV (oath to vanquish) they have an international Label since years now
2-Kimera they Have a international booking agent and been playing in several big international Metal concerts like Masters Of Rock and this year Heavy Metal Mission>
3-And not to forget The leading Metal Band in Lebanon; BLAAKYUM The Oldest still active Band that gave a lot to the Lebanese Scene Ranked 7th Place world wide in the GBOB among 3000 band and the only Metal Band to reach the finals in London and to rank the 7th competing with mainstream bands was a success specially facing bands from all over the world (USA, Germany, france ,,,,,)
BLAAKYUM are now touring Europe and Played this Year As well in “Metal Head Mission”, and what is more interesting that they Played in “Metal Camp” one of the most reputed Metal festivals in the world along with other shows in several European countries. The first band to tour Lebanon in all its sides and some Arabic countries like Egypt….
4-5-And among the biggest names too Kaoteon, and inner guilt (that also had several big shows in major concerts from dubai to other major events)
I am sorry for the long reply but I though it is worth to mention a lot of Great Bands that Made us proud
Nah man don’t apologize…kinda hard to get around to all the bands i would have liked to when im tryin to keep things short and sweet, Im a huge fan of the lebanese metal scene and of beirut in general , but yeah man thanks for the addition! Keep Rockin!