Interview Interrogation: Nothing Lies Beyond (Israel)

Truth be told, Israel is one of the more active metal scenes in the Middle East (let's not get political here) alongside the likes of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey, the Gulf States (Bahrain and Kuwait; Qatar less so) and to a certain extent The Lebanon.

Salem, Orphaned Land, Arallu, Melechesh, they've all graced and kissed the golden sands of this Mediterranean nation, the latest to walk in their footsteps are Nothing Lies Beyond. A Melodic Death Metal force with enough ferocity about them to challenge the already-overloaded Swedish (nay Gothenburg) Metal scene.

So what makes this Israeli outfit an exciting one to watch? Well let's find out.

Guys in recent years the Israeli Metal scene has been flourishing and breaking international ground, what would you put this success to?


          "Hey! I think that the reason that the Israeli metal scene is flourishing in the past 3-4 years and actually getting some recognition on the global ground is because there are more interest from the local bands to break into the global scene.

          It's not something new of course, every band wants to get as much attention as possible, especially I think if you are living outside of the main music areas like the US and Europe, but the thing that helped us in the past years is mainly in my opinion, the whole digital era. There are more ways to bring your music to other people then there were before, when you needed in the past to send physical CD's or cassettes, now you can send a digital version of the album and of course the whole Facebook and YouTube platform.

          So to summarize it, I think that because of the digital platforms, many Israeli bands and also as I said, bands that are not from the US or EU, can now reach new exposure levels.


Would it be right to say that metal music offers Israeli's a means of expressing discontent during dangerous times? E.g. war, attacks, etc. But also can metal music bring the world together regardless of social, political and religious differences?


        "Well, you can say that the music that we make gives us a way to get our words out, about politics or any other difficulty that we face in our country.

          But I can say the same thing about any kind of music from any part of the world. Music gives us a way to express our feelings and thoughts, no matter what separates us – religious, social status, political differences.. We can hear the music that somebody else created and just enjoy.

          I don't know if metal music in specific, or any music for that matter can "bring the world together", but I'm sure that nobody would pay any attention to the artist's nation, religion, etc.. if the actual music is good for the listener.


Your debut album 'Fragile Reality' came out 22nd July, could you give us the background behind it and what your messages are?


        "The album's main topic is the struggles that we have to face in our life, I think that "Closed In Chains" and also "Lost" are the songs with the lyrics that pronounce the idea behind "Fragile Reality" in the best way. We tried to present our music in the best way, and I think that the outcome was perfect."


How supportive is Israeli society of metal music, does the Government know about it? How hard is it for metal music to exist in the Middle East?


          "I can say only our opinion about the whole Israeli's music preferences so maybe some people will think differently about the whole situation..

          In my opinion, metal music is not so "big" in Israel, there were times that the crowd in shows was bigger and there were more local bands, but I think that it depends on the whole environment and "musical era" of the specific time..

          Nowadays, people connect more to pop or electronic music because it's catchy, and in our country specific also for Middle Eastern style (not my cup of tea to be honest), so I do think that maybe in the 90's, the connection to metal music and the whole genres that it includes was bigger.

          I think that metal music could exist in any place, as long as people keep listen to it. Maybe in some countries in the Middle East it's "forbidden" or something like that, but in Israel we can play as much as we want and whatever we want to play."

Will you be embarking on a European or 'Eurasian' tour to promote the album? Surely the UAE would be an ideal location as well as Israel in the Middle East?


        "Actually, we are not planning to go on tour yet, there are some private issues that deny us from touring at this moment, but I do think that in the right time we will start planning our first tour.
We will try to play our music as much as we can and in any place that will be available, not only Europe (that is our main goal for now), but also maybe in Japan and other places in the East that in my opinion has great potential."


Talk to us more about the Israeli Metal scene, what festivals are there, clubs, markets, in fact what is a day like in Israel?


          "OK, so first of all, the metal scene in Israel is not so big. There are many people who love metal music over here, but if you compare it to the numbers in Europe... It's really not so many.

          Nevertheless, there are local producers that try to bring over here an international band every couple of months, so we do enjoy a variety of metal bands that come to Israel and perform. Regarding festivals and clubs... usually there aren't any festivals over here, not in metal anyway, we do enjoy the shows over here, but usually it consist of a local band as an opening act (as we were for Children of Bodom), and the headliner.

          The clubs for metal are also few, as I said before, I know that in the early days there were more clubs that gave metal bands an opportunity, but one after the other they closed the gates and now there isn't as much as used to be.

          In terms of the day here in Israel, it's pretty much the same as in any other place (only probably hotter haha)... we do live in a country that has its own problems, if it's local problems or international problems, but I think that every person here in Israel just try to live his life quietly as possible.


Is it true that Israeli's have to do service be it army, navy, air force? Have any of you done this?


          Yes it's true. In Israel, when you turn 18 years old (not at the very moment... it could take up to a year until you can get recruited, but usually its at the age of 18), you are joining the army. For men its about 3 years and for women it's 2 years of service, they are changing it a little bit now but it will remain in the area of those numbers.

          Usually everybody has to recruit to the army but you know..There are special cases sometimes. Alon and me already finished our service, and the rest of the guys are doing it now or about to start, we can't elaborate on what we did during our service  but I can honestly say that this experience toughen us and made us ready for the "real world".

          I do know some bands that the army torn apart because the band members couldn’t meet on a regular basis due to their jobs... so it really depends on what you are doing in your own service.


          What plans have you got for the rest of the year?


          "We are now focusing mainly on the album release and all the things that it includes, if it’s the CD release and after that we are planning a massive release show, so mainly this is what we are focusing on for the next 2-3 months. After the release show we will continue performing and maybe start planning our tour, and beside that we will start in early 2017 to work on the next album's music.
So it's going to be a busy year!"


          Finally have you got any greetings you wish to send out?


        "Well first of all, we want to thank you guys for the interview, it was a pleasure. We also want to thank all of our followers around the world for the support that they give to us. We hope to see everybody soon on stage and we hope that you will like our album."

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