Egyptian death metal heavyweights, SCARAB, recently posted an update concerning the band's highly anticipated new album "Serpents of The Nile" (and follow up to 2009's crusher "Blinding The Masses"), stating that work on the record is currently at the mastering stages with veteran producers "Wieslawski Bros" (Decapitated, Behemoth) at the world-renowned Hertz Studio in Białystok, Poland.

SCARAB is currently nominated for "Best Metal Album" at the Independent Music Awards for 'Blinding The Masses;" cast your vote by clicking here.

Visit SCARAB on Facebook

Egypt's death metal icons SCARAB have announced "Serpents of The Nile" as the title for the band's follow up to 2009's brutally pummeling "Blinding The Masses."

While currently finalizing work on the release, and will be entering the mixing/mastering process soon, Scarab posted the following update:

"We are looking forward to this album, as it will define those long months of writing. we are currently at the final stages with sammy all instruments have been recorded we are left with 2 more tracks, and we will start with the mixing and mastering stage soon. Studio reports and some media ( Pics + Video ) will be added soon. A complete update will be done via our website and myspace, be sure to stay updated. We have been in slow motion for some time but now the groove is on and yet to devour your minds with intense melodies that will rust your hearts.


All the best to our sincere fans and friends.

\00/ SCARAB"

"Serpents of The Nile" is currently scheduled for a summer 2011 release. Track listing for the album is as follows:

• Visions of a blood river
• Serpents of the Nile
• The After Life Illusions
• Funeral Pharaoh
• The spells of coming forth by day
• The Pyramids of Illusions
• Days of a burial mask (Guest Vocal)

Visit SCARAB on Facebook | Myspace | Official Site

I recently had the pleasure of doing a guest post on the Egyptian metal scene for one of the leading heavy metal websites Metalunderground.com, for the site's "Unearthing The Metal Underground" weekly column.

Each week, Metal Underground delves into a certain scene or genre, exploring what it has to offer. With the recent events in Egypt, it was a good time to explore the country's diverse metal scene. The post features technical death metal heavyweights SCARAB, oriental black metal veterans ODIOUS, and all-girl metalcore up and comers MASSIVE SCAR ERA.

Here's an excerpt from the post:

Egypt has long been a subject for many internationally renowned bands, such as Dio, Mercyful Fate, and Symphony X, and with acts like Nile being well known for utilizing Egyptian mythology in their lyrical themes.

Over the past few weeks, Egypt has become a media hot spot due to current events inspired by the recent Tunisian revolution. For two weeks, protesters have been retaliating against the 30 year regime of former president Hosni Mubarak, demanding his immediate dismissal. It all finally came to an end on February 11th, to the sound of millions of Egyptians cheering for a new era of democracy.

The country's metal scene has been active since the early 90s. While it tends to face controversy from mainstream media and traditionalists; it still manages to progress and offer a diverse line up of bands, playing a variety of sub-genres. Click Here to Continue Reading

Make sure to visit Metalunderground.com for all the latest scoops and exclusives.

[Ed note: I'd like to thank Paul Williams from Streaming Chaos and Doug Gibson, founder of Metal Underground for setting this up.]

Tony "Demolition" Dolan is an English heavy metal veteran and actor. Who's most notable musical endeavors include being the bassist/frontman of legendary extreme metal band VENOM; as well as fronting Atomkraft.

In acting, Tony Dolan was in a number of films; such as being Mr Lamb in 2003's Master and Commander: The Far Side of The World.

Earlier this year, Tony, along with former VENOM bandmates Jeff "Mantas" Dunn (guitar), and Antony "Antton" Lant (drums; also the brother of VENOM frontman Conrad "Cronos" Lant) formed the new band Primevil, and are currently working on their debut album "Hell To The Holly;" scheduled for a March 2011 release.

Spiritcrusher got a chance to ask Mr. Dolan a number of questions about his latest project Primevil, and their future plans. Tony also shares a couple of funny tour stories, and gives his 2 cents on some of our favorite bands from the Middle East, among many other topics.

Here's how it went:


Spiritcrusher: Hi Tony, how are you doing? Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Tony: That is my pleasure. I am doing well..been a tough year but all is on track now. Priming for 2011 and beyond now.



Spiritcrusher: First of all, what inspired the formation of Primevil? Venom fans will know that Prime Evil is the first album with your involvement. How would you describe the sound of Primeevil as opposed to the sound of Venom?

Tony: Well I think it came about as Mantas and Antton who were both doing separate music projects (Dryll and Def Con One) came together in Dryll. Mantas needed a drummer and Antton offered his services, people kept wondering what it would be like if Mantas and Antton played with me and it was kind of "oh yeah that would be fun, perhaps" but then Dryll played a show and performed the Venom track Black Metal and that was kind of it. People started saying I had to come in and play too. See what happened, so I got a phone call and had a few chats with Mantas and that was that; we decided we’d see if it worked. It does, very well but then again myself and Mantas have always been friends and played well together. The addition of a drummer as good as Antton was something too cool to pass up! The name we decided should be chosen by the fans who wanted this to happen. The first Venom album I did was Prime Evil in 1989 and that was the name the fans chose for this band. PrimEvil is old school I guess, melodic, heavy, powerful, different from Venom? Not sure. We will inevitably be compared as we are all ex-Venom and of course Mantas was the main songwriter for Venom so... But I feel we are more like classic Metal. Motorhead, Black Sabbath....Priest and Venom.



Spiritcrusher: You guys have a few tracks up on your Myspace account, and they sound excellent! Can we expect an EP or an album coming up in 2011?

Tony: Thanx, yeah (we have) a few trax around. 8th Gate, the follow up to Venom’s 7th gate, Hellspawn, a song dedicated to our fans, Hell To The Holy, the title track for the new/debut album and Wake Up Dead. The idea is to release a vinyl through Iron Pegasus around Feb 2011, featuring 6trax..4 covers of songs that influenced us to do what we do and 2 new PrimEvil trax. In march we will release the full album, Hell To The Holy, through an as yet undisclosed label.

Spiritcrusher: What have you been doing in your free time that is not music related? Do you pursue any other hobbies?

Tony: I don’t get much time for hobbies apart from training with weights and fighting. As I also run the stage at the Dominion Theatre in London on the Queen Musical, We Will Rock You and that takes up lots of my time. I also do some acting still on the side when I can. I watch TV when I can and listen to music as much as possible.

Spiritcrusher: On a less serious note, do you miss your long hair?

Tony: Erm.....lol....No....!!YESSSSSSSSSS...No!..hahaha. Actually I can’t freaking remember it..been about..22yrs or something now!



Spiritcrusher: Do you have any pre-gig traditions/rituals that help you get psyched?

Tony: Not really. I do like some peace and quiet, to just think and get psyched. I like some weights and to get aggressive, as I wanna deliver the songs with the correct vile and spit!!



Spiritcrusher: Who was/were your favorite band/bands to tour with throughout your brilliant career thus far?

Tony: To play alongside, ah.. Exodus. Slayer were great to open for in ’85 here in London. We played the bill in ’88 with Destruction and Testament, that was great! Nuclear Assault were great fun. Atrophy were a great bunch of guys and real cool sound. Onslaught...UFO, Girlschool...can’t think, lots more....King Diamond, Savatage, Candlemass..Nasty Savage, Exumer...Agent Steel..all cool bands....I was very lucky to be sharing audiences with these bands I think.




Spiritcrusher: Is there a place you would like perform in one day that you haven't played in before?

Tony: The Middle East. Australia...New Zealand..Japan...China, all of Asia...South America...all over Europe...India...Africa. Turkey....everywhere I guess....lol!




Spiritcrusher: Speaking of tours, can we expect any national or regional tours by Primevil?

Tony: Yes from March 2011 the plan is to begin touring and not stop until we have been everywhere we want to play.



Spiritcrusher: Can you tell us a few embarrassing moments of your touring experiences?

Tony: Erm, maybe not..hahahaha...well..once in Germany I had to run across a road very drunk to escape the Police with my trousers around my ankles...lol...dunno why, drunk!!!

I did a show once after eating 3 meals and played the whole show resting against my cabs with my pants undone. I got thirsty and reached over to drink from a can of coke on top of my cabs, only to find out that someone had been putting their cigarettes out in the can all day..."Mmmm..nice!" Other than that I was a very good boy (NOT!) hahahahaha, can’t say any more than that.



Spiritcrusher: Here on Metality.net, our goal is to bridge the gap between the Middle Eastern metal scene and the the rest of the world (especially Europe and North America). We thought it would be neat to show you three bands from the Middle East and have you say a word or two about them.

Tony: Having bands from Egypt is amazing and the Emirates, Kuwait, equally so. The fact that metal is everywhere is something people don’t sometimes get. I so wish we could come play, these bands have great potential. In India there is a real difficult struggle for the metal fans and to be accepted by everyone in India. I hope the barriers of religion can allow and not restrict the freedom of music. It makes us breath and free’s us and is vital to young people, especially Rock/Metal/Punk. As it is the scream we all share whilst growing, long may these bands live and may they enjoy the success they deserve!


1. Nervecell - United Arab Emirates - Lifeforce Records
http://tinyurl.com/nervecellmetalityinterview

Tony: The very fact these guys are from The Emirates is amazing...


2 .Scarab - Egypt - Osmose Productions
http://tinyurl.com/scarabmetalityinterview

Tony: This is very cool....Scarab from Egypt..I LOVE IT!!


3. Voice of the Soul - Kuwait - Unsigned
http://tinyurl.com/votsmetalityinterview

Tony: Someone needs to sign these guys!!



Spiritcrusher: Tony Dolan, the floor is yours! Any final words for Metality, Metality readers, and the Middle Eastern metal scene?

Tony: Hand in hand we rule the world. There is no difference between ourselves and our talent and our music.

Cultural views and religious heritage may differ but we all scream the same. I hope we keep growing and the gap closing. Between the Middle east and Europe and the World. After all; makind walked out of Africa and in the Middle East founded civilization, and from there we moved to inhabit the rest of the world. Empire after Empire, country after country ruled the know world and religious thought and faith changed as we grew and changed our views etc. But what stays fundamental is mankind's basic nature. Our PrimEvil side. If in no other way we can connect and be a brotherhood through our music then so let it be! Let’s stand as One and FUCK the dissenters!! All the best for 2011 and our glorious future!

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Make sure to visit Primevil on Myspace to listen to 4 new tracks taken from the band's upcoming debut album "Hell To The Holly" out March 2011.

Metality.net is proud to announce the release of the blog's first digital album "METALITY - The Compilation."

The digital release is a free giveaway, celebrating the blog's 1000th post. The album includes bands from all around the world, and also features the release of an exclusive video by Dutch progressive metal band CiLiCe for the song "Mental Breakdown" that will leave your head buzzing in awe.

The album is available for streaming below and is also available through online record label METALHIT.com, where you can download the songs individually or download all tracks in 2 parts.

The compilation includes bands that have been featured before on the blog, which are personal favorites, as well as new comers that are already favorites as well (pointing at Neosis).

METALITY - The Compilation includes the following track list: (Cover art, and flyers are designed by NEW BREED STUDIO)

1. THE EMPIRE SHALL FALL - Lords of War [U.S.] (Sponsored by BareBones Music)
2. FOMENTO - [Italy] The Die Is Cast
3. NEOSIS - [Switzerland] Unwilling Fate
4. NERVECELL - [U.A.E.] Vicious Circle Of Bloodshed
5. NORTHER - [Finland] Break Myself Away
6. DEMONIC RESURRECTION - The Unrelenting Surge Of Vengeance [India] Winners of "The Global Metal Award" at METAL HAMMER's Golden Gods Award (Sponsored by Vengeance Music) (Visit Candlelight Records and Demonstealer Records on Facebook)
7. DAYLIGHT DIES - A Portrait In White [U.S.] (Visit Candlelight Records on Facebook)
   
8. SCARAB - War To End [Egypt]
   
9. CILICE - Mental Breakdown [Netherlands]
   
10. EMPYREON - Beyond Perception [U.S.]
    
11. MANTRIC - Symptoms [Norway]
    
12. BREEZE Of The Dying - FOA Act II [K.S.A.]
    
13. DREAMSHADE - Our Buried Secrets [Switzerland]
    
14. CHROMIUM - All I Have [South Africa] (Sponsored by: LT MAG and Turning Tricks Entertainment)
15. BENEVOLENT - Haunting Shores [Kuwait] (Sponsored by: Rockability)
16. A THOUSAND REASONS - Strength and Fight [Italy]
    
17. WARTHANE - Lord Oblivion [South Africa] (Sponsored by: LT MAG)
18. VOICE OF THE SOUL - Farewell To Hope [Kuwait] (Sponsored by: Rockability)
19. COAT OF ARMS - Ballad of the Mariner [U.A.E.]
    
20. PAURA - Scars Of Life [Brazil]
    
21. BILOCATE - Inoculate [Jordan] (Sponsored by: JorZine)
    
22. CRESCENT - Jerusalem [Egypt]
    
23. POSTMORTEM - Whispers Of Ages [Lebanon] (Sponsored by: LebMetal)
24. A SHOT OF ADRENALINE - The Human Plague [U.A.E.]
    
25. DEPTH - Memento Mori [Kuwait] (Sponsored by: Rockability)

There is also 3 bonus tracks available on the "download" version of the album, including:

1. KILL THE ROMANCE - Trespasser
2. THE CROW MURDER - Doubt (Sponsored by METALITY UAE)
3. BLACKWELL - Deliverance

Copy the link below, to embedded the player onto your Facebook page:

http://www.mixpod.com/playlist/61738005

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A personal side note:

I really hope you guys enjoy the album and the diverse line up of bands it has to offer. All the bands on the release deserve your full support.

This project has taken about 4 month to finish, initially it was planned out as a 2 month project, but there was a good amount of surprises that kept pushing the release date, which also meant that work on the blog had to be slowed down to make ends meet, but ultimately I'm really proud of the outcome and the support it has received during the making, and really hope everyone will keep supporting the album after they listen in.

It's a free giveaway, all we want in return is for you guys to support these talented bands, visit their sites, check out more of their music, and if you think they kick ass, buy yourself a CD or a t-shirt, tell you're friends about them, post their links to you're Facebook, Twitter, Myspace or other social networking accounts, and make sure to visit Metality because that's where you'll find all their latest updates along with our coverage of all that is Metal from around the world.

A Huge THANK YOU To:

All our promotional partners for their support and for contributing to their respective scenes in the utmost professional matter.

BareBones Music Network
LT Mag
Turning Tricks Management
METALITY UAE
Rockability
JorZine
LebMetal
Vengeance Music
Turning Tricks Entertainment

Spirit Crusher who is officially a part of the Metality Crew, for all his help and support during this project, and for the great writing over the past couple of months. You will certainly be seeing a lot more material from him (and his band).

New Breed Studio for designing the cover art, and flyers for the album. The guys have been more then friendly to work with over the course of this project, and made sure that we get the most satisfying results.

Thank you all for taking the time to visit the blog, and for supporting the album, keep an eye out for the next METALITY release.

iRoar Head [Admin/Founder]

Egyptian death metal veterans Scarab are set to release their debut full length album "Blinding The Masses" in Europe, on June 7th via Osmose Productions.

Scarab are currently writing material for their next album, more information about the release should be available in the near future.

Click here to read METALITY's review for Blinding The Masses

Blinding The Masses is the debut full length album from Egyptian Death Metal band Scarab (formerly known as Hate Suffocation).

The album starts off with the instrumental opener "Into The Dunes" which creates a great build up to the first track on the album "Valley of The Sandwalkers" a deathly thrashed metal song with a very oriental vibe. Vocalist Sammy Sayed has some of the best guttural growls in the Middle Eastern scene, which really helps add an extra layer of intensity.

Blinding The Masses is a traditional death meets thrash metal album with oriental elements, highly influenced by the likes of Nile. The 3rd track on the album "Ankh" is one of the band's most popular songs, being part of the recently released "Planet Metal" compilation CD (included in the March issue of Metal Hammer) the song shows off the band's technical side. Leaders of Agony has one of the most haunting riffs on the album, with blast beats to aid the chaos, along with Sammy's growls that turn this song into a mammoth of a track. The title track "Blinding The Masses" has pounding drums all around, with old school death metal riffing.

"War To End"
While Scarab are still perfecting their structures, they are still very capable of executing brutal death metal music, with an Egyptian vibe that will easily be familiar for fellow countrymen and something fresh and new for global listeners.

The album runs around 38 minutes, and includes 8 tracks. In an overall deal, this is a killer debut release for Scarab. The band did a good amount of touring to promote the album by winning the "United We Rock" online competition that was held prior to Dubai Desert Rock 09 to determine the winner, who would perform at DDRF 09 as well as With Full Force Festival (Germany).

Scarab shared the stage with Dubai based death metal juggernauts Nervecell on those shows. The band also inked a deal with Osmose Productions for the European release of Blinding The Masses.

Conclusion:

Blinding The Masses is a raw, brutal, death metal record, highly recommended for fans of Nile. Scarab have managed to put their own touch on the formula and this is just the beginning for the band. Recently Scarab announced work on their follow up to BTM, dates are not slated yet though.

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Visit Scarab on:
Official Site
Myspace
Facebook

For readers in Egypt, you can purchase the album and Tshirts at a discounted price for a limited time.Click Here for more information

Dubai based monsters Nervecell and Egyptian death metal beasts Scarab are featured in this month's issue of Metal Hammer's Planet Metal.

Planet Metal is a mini magazine that is attached to this month's issue of Metal Hammer along with a compilation CD for some of the most popular underground metal bands from around the globe (outside Europe and North America).

The CD includes music from Bilocate (Jordan), Bhayanak Maut (India), Myrath (Tunisia), and Farzad (Iran), among many others.

Click here to order your copy today.

Scarab's full length debut "Blinding The Masses" is currently on my player, listening to it for the first time. So far the intro is epic, and a review will be up in the next few days.

If your not familiar with Scarab, they are Egypt's premier death metal export, which performed at With Full Force (Germany) and at Desert Rock (Dubai) in 2009.

Check out the clip below for a short interview with the band and a performance clip of their title track "Blinding The Masses" at WFF 09.

Scarab on Myspace

Egyptian death metal heavy weights Scarab posted the following blog concerning the band's recent deal with Osmose Productions to release the band's debut full length album "Blinding The Masses" in Europe.

"Scarab would like to announce the official signing for "Blinding the Masses" album on Osmose Productions as an introductory plan of our message across the world.

They are “Blinding the Masses”!!

It is about time that we spread awareness of the evil grounds around us, proving that it will give us nothing but absolute weakness and failure.

Scarab's music is neither about hate nor about an act of Redemption but In fact a subject matter that has affected the world for centuries, rather a spiritual healing within thy self away from such demonic possessions.

We do hold the key to positive thinking "Ankh" & "Eye for Sanity" We aim at showing the world that no matter what you are, no matter where you are, you already have all the qualities and liberty to choose and create your life wisely.

They are what we call “The Leaders of Agony” & and must be given An “Eye for Sanity”.

We are not in the same subject matter of certain bands that are projecting negative energy, our message is entirely different, we have joined the elites that tend to spread the common goal of evil themes and descent the baseness of the human being, in fact our main goal is to elevate and encourage the spirit with positive energy.

We are Scarab our message is different & we are an act of positive energy

The Album "Blinding the masses" is about their control of our body, mind & soul. We are not looking for the same acts of bands that dishonor beliefs & political agenda, but in fact to create awareness that change is a must before it's too late.

Thanks for all who supported us through out the years and thanks to Osmose productions for this opportunity to showcase our music around the globe.

Scarab's Second Album is almost ready for recording. Stay tuned for updates."


The track listing for Blinding The Masses is the following:

1. Into the Dunes...
2. Valley of the Sandwalkers
3. Ankh
4. Leaders of Agony
5. Blinding the Masses
6. Eye for Sanity
7. The Devourer of the Unjustified Souls
8. War to End

Osmose Productions
Scarabegypt.com
Myspace.com/ScarabEgypt

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Egyptian Death Metal band Scarab recently launched their new (awesomely designed) website at ScarabEgypt.com.
The band's debut full length album "Blinding The Masses" is currently available in Egypt, you can get a copy by contacting the band here. Scarab has already been working on their follow up album which should be ready in a couple of months.

"We haven't been updating lately, since we have so much on our hand at the moment... for instance, new album will be wrapped up within the next couple of months and the its title will be announced soon.

For now, we announce the launch of Scarab's website at http://www.scarabegypt.com Head over there and check it out.

Thanks for all the support we've been receiving in the mail and here on MySpace's messages and friend adds.

"Blinding The Masses" is now available in Egypt, just send us a message on MySpace and we'll send you the details."

Egypt's brutal death metal band Scarab posted a new blog on their official Myspace, where they talk about their recent shows at Desert Rock (Dubai) and With Full Force (Germany) the band also mentions that "Blinding The Masses" is ready to be released, and that they are currently looking for a distribution deal. Not only are they ready to release their new album, Scarab has already started writing material for their follow up to "Blinding The Masses", prepare for some ass kicking!

"It is a pleasure and honor to have appeared in UAE's "Dubai Desert Rock Festival" and in Germany's "With Full Force Festival", it served as a great inspiration to us personally to continue the work and keep writing more music. We are damn proud to have been so well received by the magical community of these iconic festivals. These were truly some magical moments - actually hours! - and we're not just talking about the crowd who did a tremendous job! You were such a great audience and we were so pleased with how you responded to our music. It was a very rewarding experience to see the crowds going crazy at both festivals and know that all the time and effort that went into making the music was well worth the effort.

“We are very excited to have played with great bands that have influenced us for years and definitely the German and UAE metal fans felt our music and agreed to it. We have a message of globalizing metal and having a unity regardless of what culture you’re from. WFF and CSM granted us the chance to showcase our music is a dream that came true. This marked history in the metal world for us coming from Egypt.” - Marzeban, guitarist of Scarab.

We would first like to thank Lara for giving us the chance to an unforgettable experience, Fab Sioul & Mathilde for helping us out, our friends in arms Nervecell who joined us in both festivals and made us feel at home. Finally, CSM & WFF and their crews... Thanks for maintaining an amazing place where people from all walks of life can go for an unforgettable time. Thanks to the people who have devoted themselves to watching our show and the other bands performances, Looking forward to seeing you in a near performance! A true pleasure!

At "Scarab's Valley" (our headquarter!) we have been working non-stop in the past couple of months on getting our album "Blinding The Masses" recorded, mixed, mastered, printed then packaged and YES!! It's READY to be RELEASED!!! We are looking right now at distributing options including online album ordering which will be made available soon! Also, check out the new added track "Ankh" on our MySpace player.

In another part of the Valley (it's a huge headquarter!) the band members are working on the upcoming album, which will follow "Blinding The Masses" - the album title will be announced soon - and we are done with three new - heart pounding - tracks and we are fully satisfied with the results (we debuted 2 of them at DDRF and WFF). A hint... it's much more powerful, technical and progressive than "Blinding The Masses".

Last, head over to Spinearth's "Scarab Breaks Out of Cairo's Metal Music Mold" to read an interview with Scarab (conducted before Germany's WFF) about the new album "Blinding The Masses". You can also watch the attached video shot by a fan at WFF Festival, the track is the title track of "Blinding the Masses".

Scarab... Winners of United We Rock, in which they rocked! the stage at this year's DDRF and will be OWNING "With Full Force" Germany this summer, finished wrapping up work for their latest release "Blinding The Masses", they posted a track from the album, titled "Devourer Of The Unjustified"

The band recently announced the following on their official Myspace:

"Over the past couple of months our new album "Blinding The Masses" has been entrusted into the hands and mind of Egyptian sound engineer and fellow musician "Samadie" and he has been working over the 45 minutes album non-stop, making sure that every note is heard perfectly and coming up with a brutal and in-your-face production that defines our sound and music. We are proud of the sound and the whole outcome of the album, we can't wait for the feedback!

Things have progressed a little slower than anticipated due to detailed work on the "Blinding The Masses" album. We are working on allowing pre-orders as soon as the album art and packaging is done.

In the meantime, you can listen to a post-production sample of the album and the whole 7th track "Devourer of the Unjustified" on the MySpace player. Also, preparations for the 3 upcoming concerts and jam sessions are going fine, plus writing for the next SCARAB studio record is well underway, with the band recently working on new tracks and ideas for the follow-up album. While on the promotional side, "Muhammad Lafi" from JorZine.com conducted an interview with Scarab discussing the new album, "United We Rock" and the follow-up concerts, you can find it at...
http://www.jorzine.com/Interviews/Interview_with_scarab.html

Anticipate a blast with the new vital and brutal album from SCARAB, and be sure to catch us on the 28th of this month at "Alex Headbangers" in Alexandria, Egypt .
~ Scarab"


What are you still doing here ? head over to the band's Myspace to listen to the brutally crafted "Devourer Of The Unjustified".

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That's right, its that time of the year again, where the build up to the Dubai Desert Rock Festival begins with the annual battle of the bands "United We Rock (formerly known as Shamal - Battle 4 DDRF )" 2009 is shaping up to be a pretty eventful year for the city's metal heads, on February 13th the almighty Iron Maiden makes a stop to play a show as part of their "Somewhere Back in Time World Tour ’" then on March 6th its the annual 2 day DDRF with a great line up so far Arch Enemy, Opeth, Chimaira, and August Burns Red (with more bands to be announced) are going to be a part of the 2 day festival.


The official United We Rock website was recently launched, and announced the 8 finalists that will get to compete for a spot at 2009's DDRF and also perform at Germany's With Full Force Festival, this is the first time the winning band will get to play at 2 major festivals, which will be a great push for the lucky head bangers, and also With Full Force will pick the best band from Germany to play at DDRF (awesome idea !).

The 8 finalists that you can now vote for on UnitedWeRockBattle.com are:

3PM (Saudi Arabia)
Abhorred (UAE)
Scarab (Egypt)
Bilocate (Jordan)
Beneath The Remains (UAE)
Perversion (UAE)
Sun King (UAE)
The Metaphysics (Iran)

Go check out the bands, vote for your favorite over at UnitedWeRockBattle.com, help spread the word and let the neck breaking begin !