Interview Interrogation: Scarab (Egypt)

Scarab are arguably the leaders of the Egyptian Metal scene, and whilst they're purveyors of 'True Egyptian Death Metal', the sextet are always exploring new avenues in which to take their music down. Humbled by the past oppression seen across most countries in the MENA (Middle East/North Africa) region in terms of authorities viewing metal music as the 'devil's music'; watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDXqP49ZNE8, Scarab's origins start back in 2001 under their previous guise 'Hate Suffocation' from which became Scarab in 2006; carried on by three members (Sammy Sayed - vocals, Tarek Amr - guitars and Al-Sharif Marzeban - guitars/backing vocals); the original bassist Bombest left in 2015 and a year after that the original drummer Hatem El Akkad left.

Scarab are on the home run stretch in the completion of their third album "Martyrs of the Storm", Scarab spoke to GMA about the impending album, the current state of the Egyptian Metal scene, Rami Malek in the film 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and what to do when visiting Egypt.

""The Papyrus Trilogy" (an era in Scarab that connected "Blinding The Masses", "Serpents Of The Nile" and then "finally Martyrs Of The Storm". That doesn't mean the end, it means a newer era Scarab)."

A lot has been going on in the Scarab camp with a new album and line-up changes, what is the current mood in the Scarab camp?

     "Right now, Scarab is dedicated to finalizing the album "Martyrs of the Storm" of which is proving to be a very challenging release for us. It has been a strongly initiative journey that is full of chaotic energies to put into order after immersing yourself into it in order to understand it; this has been the experience of creating "Martyrs of the Storm" until it has reached its final phase now at Noizz Studio in Cairo, Egypt.

     It is tricky to find the right people to work with, making music is all about energy and chemistry, it is a magical experience where we turn abstract feelings into something honest & real. During the making of the album Scarab had a lot of line up changes, and this is part of the challenges we met, we find that losing the members strangely relate to the title "Martyrs of the Storm" because really, being in the band during this album in particular is one hell of a journey that needs a proper warrior spirit within a storm of inner and outer forces to fight with, whether if the fight is with your own personal ego, or just indescribable events that happens during the process that feels like a hinder; but as we overcome the challenges, we realize that it is for the greater good of the album and the band, and for us on a personal level, as they say "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" and this is the whole idea of Scarab's concept for us, to constantly reinvent ourselves.


What can fans expect from "Martyrs Of The Storm" that was not present on the previous album "Serpents Of The Nile".

     "Martyrs of the Storm is condensed and has shorter songs than Scarab's previous releases, most certainly it is way more brutal and mature than anything we wrote before, and nevertheless more complicated in the sense of the ideas and energies behind them and how to musically & lyrically represent that in the most honest and effective way possible. The music is mostly written in collaboration between Al Sharif Marzeban and Sammy Sayed and we can pretty much say that we have now an artistic master piece that we are all grateful to be a part of.

     With our new drummer Amir El Saidi joining us on the album we have new energy that is really organic and honest, the drums were recorded in a studio called "El Warsha" in a magical place right next to the pyramids of Giza. The album features guest musicians from all around the globe that we are very proud to work with, and we want to make this collaboration as a statement showing brotherhood and unity of metalheads worldwide. We want to bluntly tell all the fans who feel Scarab, "Martyrs of the Storm" is a beast that we cannot wait to share with you, it is a real heavy weight that has a great deal of energies that we carry and cannot wait to let it out and share it with everyone! Contain your spirit as the storm is approaching!"


There seems to be a continual theme with the albums, 'of the' is prevalent in all three albums - do the albums relate to one another?

     "We didn't really plan it to come out this way, we channel the music and it comes out as it is supposed to come out, and then we start the construction until we are finished. The concept and the lyrics come after contemplation into the energy of every song and also the bunch of songs in the album as a whole, Sammy Sayed does this process and after the lyrical content is done we realized that there is a theme going on with every album. We analyse our music after it is finished to understand what it really means to us and so should every listener of our music decide for themselves.

     The common feedback we got was that "Blinding The Masses" was a prophetic album before the revolutions in Egypt, but we didn't really think of it this way, we were just channelling music and the lyrics were expressing how that music felt.

     On the other hand "Serpents Of The Nile", was kind of a surreal journey for an individual who is channelling wisdom from ancient forms of God and spirits, a journey of self-evolution being expressed through the music through the mind's eye of the protagonist.

     "Martyrs Of The Storm" deals with a completely different type of energy, it is dealing with cosmic forces of nature, it is the sound of a cosmic upheaval beyond the will of human beings. Every song in the album is a universe of its own all interconnected in a sphere of chaos that we organized in an album. We will leave it to the listener to interpret it deeply on their own because "Martyrs Of The Storm" has a lot more complicated depth and meanings into it whether musically, thematically or lyrically. We would say that "Martyrs Of The Storm" is the completion of what we call "The Papyrus Trilogy" and that this was an era in Scarab that connected "Blinding The Masses", "Serpents Of The Nile" and then "finally Martyrs Of The Storm". That doesn't mean the end, it means a newer era Scarab."


What is the current state of the Egyptian Metal scene? Strong? Healthy? Is there still an element of oppression towards metal music?

     "The Egyptian metal scene is getting stronger, back in the days we believe it was only us and a countable few who really wrote music passionately and was serious about what they are doing and honest to it, now there are many bands present and active; there is a healthier metal scene in the sense of better events that is hosting international bands, yet we still need more venues that can host this type of music in Egypt without breaching any kind of rules; everything has to be authentic and with full permits, just like any professional festival or show outside of Egypt. It is taking time, but it is getting there, we feel it."

Pyramid of Djoser, Saqqara, Egypt. Built by Pharaoh Djoser's vizier Imhotep.

Speaking of Egyptian's, will you see Rami Malek in 'Bohemian Rhapsody'? Would you hope he would be able to put Egypt on the map for rock and metal too?

     "It is definitely great to see an Egyptian playing the role of one of our idols whom we grew up listening to, Freddie Mercury of Queen. It does Egypt a lot of good indeed. Of course we will be watching it in the theatres."


Can you tell us the meaning behind the song 'Circles of Verminejya', who created the lyric video also?

     "The question always rises, what does 'Verminejya' mean? Is it some different language or is it English driven? It doesn't have to have a direct meaning that one must analyse linguistically, Verminejya' is a realm within the aetheric abyss that is full of dangerous energies to deal with, and the voodoo energy presented itself in the music and then this energy was translated into lyrics, the lyrics are meant to be sung through the tongue of a powerful vooodoo warrior whom have tamed the dangers of this realm and made it work for his own benefit. We couldn't help but to proudly dedicate this song to the vooodoo culture of Africa. The song is only the tip of the iceberg, as every song in "Martyrs Of The Storm" holds a universe of its own. The lyric video is created by Sammy Sayed to represent as much as possible the proper meaning behind the song visually."


With 2018 not far from ending, what plans do you have for the rest of the year and into 2019?

     "We plan to release "Martyrs Of The Storm", tour and perform our music. There is a lot more going on in Scarab but we prefer to keep silent until we can share it with the masses. With 2019 knocking the doors soon we will also be working on recording our newer release which we have captured the road for."


For those visiting Cairo, what sights / attractions would you recommend to metalheads?

     "This is the hardest question, because Cairo / Giza has a lot of things to see and it all depends on your favourite cup of tea. From ancient to old to modern places to visit, we recommend the ancient though. For example visiting all the pyramids and ancient Egyptian tombs and temples, it isn't only the three famous pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, there is also Dahsour, About Sir, Zawyet El Eryan, Saqqara, also destroyed pyramids like the one in Abu Rawash. Basically, we don't want to get into details because it is too much to talk about when it comes to what you can see and visit in Cairo and Giza, nevertheless... Egypt itself, it is good you only asked about Cairo, Cairo and Giza are almost the same city by the way. One has to do a proper research before they come cause there is a lot to see! \m/


Are there any greetings, thank you's, etc you wish to send out?

     "We wish to greet and thank everyone who has been in the back of Scarab and supporting the band since the beginning, our fans and lovers we promise you an album that will pay this favour back 10 times fold \m/"

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