Metal Bell Magazine Presents QANTARA

It was quite a ride organizing Wacken Metal Battle in Lebanon: bumpy, full of obstacles, but fun. Well, you can say it was like an off-road trip, and we enjoyed every tiny bit of it. I hope you all enjoyed it as well.

During the decision-making phase of the event, Hussein Shehady and I were stumbled with the choice of the guest band; many names came across, but we have always had that hesitation about the right band for such an event. And then, Hussein suggested to me QANTARA, a band that never performed live. The idea of introducing a new talent to the scene, that no one knows anything about, with no social media presence at the time, and a really hush hush project, was really attractive to me. So I asked for demos that I got very shortly after, and I really liked the music and their professionalism in work. After a few days of thinking the whole thing over, I started the campaign and posted 2 videos in order to promote their participation in the Battle event: For The First Time… & QANTARA – LIVE FOR THE FIRST TIME – TEASER 1. I always had this inner fear: “what if they didn’t pull off a good show!” To be honest, it was really risky to have a band that never performed live before as a special guest at our very first event. But truth be told, there are very few bands that can leave a strong impression on a crowd after their first performance . QANTARA did not only leave a good impression, they also made people headbang hard on songs they never heard before, from a band that they never knew existed. They then succeeded in building an instant small fan base and gained tons of positive reviews.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE PRESENT TO YOU: “QANTARA”
Check out this summary video of their “First Time Ever” performance during the Lebanese Metal Battle event below and leave your thoughts in the comment box.

Qantara will be performing on July 11, 2015 at Metal Bell Magazine’s event NEW BLOOD.