"Spotlight On Kuwait" Depth !

Depth are one of the most impressive bands based in Kuwait !

The band's sound is strongly influenced by the likes of Opeth, In Flames, Children Of Bodom and many more.

Their latest EP, features guest vocals from Sarj M. of Kuwaiti Goth Rock band Nocturna on the song "Before I Die" which is a epic 8 minute track, very diverse and extremly impressive (They maintained a great balance between clean vocals and death metal growls, the death growls along with the riffing at times reminiscent of the very popular finnish band Insomnium)

I got the chance to catch up with Frontman and Rythm/Lead guitarist Chaos (Gasser Al-Safti) and ask him about the band's sound, how they got together, the metal scene in Kuwait and more.
Here's how it went:

TMR: First of all, can you tell me about yourself and your musical background ?

Chaos: I started playing guitar when I was 14, listened to a lot of Metallica back then.

After getting seriously into playing guitar my musical taste moved away from thrash and more towards melodic death metal and progressive music, and that's the kind of stuff you'll hear in our music.



TMR: How did you guys get together ?

Chaos: Myself and Edi were childhood friends and we used to play guitar together when we were younger, Bash was a friend we met later and he wanted to start a band, at first we had Max as the bassist, but he left the band for personal reason and our close friend Waleed filled in the slot of bassist and that's the lineup as it is now.



TMR: Who are some of the bands that influence the sound of Depth ?

Chaos: I've been told quite often we sounded like a mix of Opeth, Children of Bodom and In Flames.

I think that sounds fair since those 3 are among the list of favorite bands for all 4 of us.



TMR: Which bands got you into heavy metal ?

Chaos: The very first metal that I found very influential was Metallica's Master of Puppets along with the In Flames Colony album



TMR: What do you think of the metal scene in Kuwait ? Has it been progressing over the years ?

Chaos: It's definitely gotten better since we've left town, from what I hear at least, there have been more gigs and events like the battle of the bands. Bands in Kuwait have always struggled to get any sort of attention because it was always hard having shows because of problems with venues or government authorities.



TMR: Is there hang out spots for fans of music ? like coffee shops and such ?

Chaos: Not necessarily a hang out spot, it's just because Kuwait is a small country so its easy to identify that group of people wearing black anywhere you go that everyone will call 'Satanists' or 'Goths' or whatever the stereotypes are.



TMR: Is heavy metal in Kuwait accepted ? or do you guys have problems with authorities for licensing gigs, etc ?

Chaos: *laughs* it's anything but easy organizing a gig in Kuwait. Shows were always shutdown either because authorities claimed the bands were 'Satanic' or blasphemous or something of the sort or because fights always broke out in the gigs that DID happen so lots of bands gained a bad reputation with venues and weren't allowed to hold any more shows in that particular place.



TMR: Any bands from the Middle East that your fans of ?

Chaos: I'm a huge fan of Nocturna, I think Sarj's work and voice is excellent, so I'll be waiting for his album release.



TMR: When can we expect new material from you guys ?


Chaos: Well we've just released our first full length album last summer, I've already started working on new material but so far new releases are still in the making.



TMR: Who would you like to share the stage with ?

Chaos: International band: Opeth, my all time favorite band.

Middle Eastern local band: Nocturna, it's always been good working with Sarj and I think it would be great if we could have a show together



TMR: Would you like to add anything ?

Chaos: To anyone already in a band or thinking of starting one, its all about effort and practice, from all the members, if your band isn't working out for you it just means you're not putting enough effort into it. Good luck to all the bands in the Middle East, it's tough around here.


I'd like to thank Chaos for taking the time to answer my questions.

Make sure to check out the band's Myspace to listen to their EP, and I personally recommend listening to "The Last Ties Part 2" ... actually all 6 tracks on the band's Myspace is melodically death metal in its own way.


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Coming up:

"A Word" With
Adrian Erlandsson from Melodeath Forefathers At The Gates, Nemhain, Brujeria and Ex- Cradle Of Filth

"Reviewed"
Metallica - Death Magnetic (yup been promosing this review for a while, make sure to keep an eye out for it)