Worldwide Metal: Egypt
In another edition of Worldwide Metal, I travel the world (aka the internet) to see what countries have some bands that you need to check out. Today, we are traveling to a land of pharaohs and pyramids in the country of Egypt. A region that is soaked in mythology and Egyptian history, that has fascinated countless acts to form their own bands and tell the story of the culture and history of their Gods and Deities. Today, we will cover a wide scope of genres that shows the versatility and uniqueness of many acts from the country.
Our first band is the progressive/Middle Eastern folk metal act Riverwood. Hailing from Alexandria, Egypt, the band’s music has a folk grandeur that would come off of any Ensiferum or Finntroll album. With only two albums, 2018’s Fairytale and 2022’s Shadows and Flames, the band executes a unique and complex hybrid of progressive metal and instrumentation from their homeland. Very reminiscent of Orphaned Land in the band’s homage to the roots of their subject matter, combined with deep guttural growls and Dream Theater-esque song structures throughout.
You can check out the band’s Bandcamp or Spotify.
Next up is a blackened death metal act from Cairo called Crescent. Formed in 1999, the band wrote and performed live in their native country, releasing their debut album Pyramid Slaves in 2014. Combining the brutality of well-known acts like Behemoth and Nile, but with a rougher mix and a little bit of groove and old school death metal. They would follow that up with the more popular 2018 album The Order of Amenti, then the 2021 album Carving The Fires of Akhet. Straightforward blackened death metal with hints of unique percussion like on “As Nu Enshrines Death”. A perfect, heavy hybrid of death metal and Egyptian history and mythology.
You can check out the band’s Bandcamp or Spotify.
Now delving into straight black metal, we have the band Lycopolis. From the Asyut Governorate region and formed in 2018, the band stayed steady in productivity. Releasing countless E.P.’s and one full length album, 2021’s The Procession. With raw, gritty, demo-like production you’d hear from a second wave black metal band and screeching vocals, it is a sonic onslaught of an album. Reminiscent of early Darkthrone and Burzum in the vocals and cavernous production. The band’s most recent E.P. Thinite Confederacy has better production in the guitars, but the screeching vocals and buried drum mix continues to channel the origins of the early second wave of black metal. True, raw black metal band that is worth checking out if you like your black metal a little more harsher and rough around the edges.
Next up, we are veering into the technical deathcore genre with Mephostophilis. With brutal, chugging guitars and machine gun like double bass, the band delivers a sonic barrage of gutturals combined with high-energy and technical guitar playing. Though only releasing one album, 2018’s Craft of Rotten Flesh, it truly delivers all those hallmarks of the deathcore genre. Heavy, slowed-down breakdowns, harsh highs and deep growls, and technical proficiency in the guitar playing. Definitely scratches that itch if you are a fan of bands like Beneath The Massacre, The Faceless, and The Red Chord.
You check out the band’s Bandcamp
The last band I’ll be covering today is depressive black metal act Frostagrath. A one-man black metal project formed in 2011, the band has released three studio albums. With their most recent album being 2015’s A Defective Incarnation. Mimicking the legends of the depressive black metal sound of Xasthur, Leviathan and Striborg, the dark, ominous keys over Lord Mist’s cavernous and throat shredding screams just encapsulate that perfect hybrid of beauty in tragedy that the genre is known for. Though the project lay in dormancy according to Metal-Archives and the band’s Bandcamp page, they are truly worth checking out if you love that dark, hopeless and melancholic sound that only depressive black metal can deliver.
You can check out the band’s Bandcamp or Spotify.
That’s going to do it for my time visiting the country of Egypt and another edition of Worldwide Metal. Did you dig some of the bands I featured in this edition? Were there any bands you think other readers should check out? You can also let me know what country I should travel to next, so I can stamp my metal passport on my journey to discover Worldwide Metal.
