Year: 2021
Total Time: 73:00
Label: Studio 77
The other day we had a conversation with President Alex about uncomfortable times during voyages and I recalled back in 2011 when myself happened to be in Bahrain at the time of massive demonstrations and their violent repression by the regime, helped by Saudi Arabian military forces. Then I remembered that there was a compilation of Bahrain metal bands that released in 2019, the first part that came out in this country. The President informed me that there is a new one to be released soon with some other bands.
I don’t know if any of you know those bands or, even better, have seen them playing live. The fact is that I was totally ignorant. There are four bands which perform 17 -mostly live- songs. Those songs were written and recorded during the pandemic. The first band, HELLIONIGHT, performs Heavy/Thrash Metal influenced by 80’s giants such as VENOM, SODOM, SLAYER with sonic guitar riffs. They have released an EP back in 2016 and have played live at several stages of Bahrain and Emirates, with their top moment being their opening for NERVOSA in a Dubai gig. The second band, RYTH, exists since 2008 but has never released or recorded anything yet, being very straight on their Tech/Death Metal style, the way that OPETH and GOJIRA perform. That’s a quite interesting combination. NECROSIN is a fresh band, founded in 2019, performing brutal Death Metal influenced by MORBID ANGEL and DEATH (well most bands on this planet are influenced by them) but with a few SLAYER glimpses (neither that is weird), having released nothing official yet. The fourth one, LUNACYST, is the most experienced band, a technical Death Metal act approaching CANNIBAL CORPSE, CATTLE DECAPITATION and OBSCURA. As a band, it was the opening act for the aforementioned Germans in a gig at Dubai and that is probably their highlight until now. Their debut cd “Lunacyst” was released in 2019 and the band has appeared in the first DVD compilation from the Arabic Peninsula “Ressurection-The Bahrain Underground”.
The base of Metal music lies on the underground, in the basements, in abandoned places used as rehearsal rooms, in collectives, out in the streets. We may know nothing about Bahrain (well some of us may recognize it from the F1 racing speedway…) and surely nothing about it’s metal scene. But on this island, there are young people who try to play music as their idols do, to expressing their feelings and, at the same time, externalizing their youth momentum against all adversities. No need to rate this release. The most important thing is the soul strength and vigor plus the knowledge that those bands are doing something that is characterized as revolutionary for a regime. We should give a big respect to all these guys, not just for raising the flag of metal high (such a stupid cliché), but because they try to play their beloved and inspiring music bypassing all kinds of censorship…
Rating: N/A
Editor: Dimos Karadimos
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