Tag: Metal Bell 6th Anniversary

GORILLA WARFARE | Born From College Campus Jams

December 11, 2018 / CARMINA KHAIRALLAH / 0 Comments

Next up on our list of Metal Bell 6^th Anniversary bands, we have Gorilla Warfare, a young local Heavy Metal band.

Gorilla Warfare started off in AUB, where its members played some music for fun and ended up deciding that they enjoyed it.

Each of the band’s members has their own personal set of influences and musical tendencies:

Their vocalist, Shadi Shaar, is very passionate about vocals and practices them daily. His favorite bands are Alter Bridge, Dio, and Judas Priest;
Their lead guitarist, Simon Semaan, loves Dream Theater, Opeth, and Avenged Sevenfold;
Their rhythm guitarist, Layan Bedran, is a Metalcore enthusiast who enjoys writing “epic riffs”;
Their bassist, Mostafa Itani, is a huge Iron Maiden fan and knows all of their songs by heart;
Their drummer, Omar Captan, is known by his bandmates as an awesome person and an awesome drummer. He’s also known for getting injured a lot.

The name Gorilla Warfare was born from a joke. When they first started performing, they had a second guitarist whose name was Jad. Both Jad and Simon Semaan were relatively beefy guys, and their fellow band members teasingly drew some resemblance between them and gorillas.

The band focuses mostly on covers, and will be performing songs by Dio, Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, and Megadeth (however, their last song isn’t confirmed yet – we’re in for a surprise!).

They do have some demos of original material ready. However, they are not planning on remaining together after the upcoming event, which will be their final performance as Gorilla Warfare. They cannot currently find enough time to practice. Also, they have noticed that the Heavy Metal genre isn’t generating much enthusiasm these days and are thus a bit bored. Some of the members might start something new in the future, but nothing is confirmed so far. Let’s hope to hear more from them soon!

When asked for a statement regarding Gorilla Warfare’s appearance at SledgeHammer Production and Metal Bell’s upcoming event, their vocalist Shadi Shaar replied: “We are honored to play at this event and very excited to give our best at this show and have a great time.”

Current Lineup

Shadi Shaar – Vocals
Simon Semaan – Lead Guitar
Layan Bedran – Rhythm Guitar
Mostafa Itani – Bass
Omar Captan – Drums

Gorilla Warfare, we do not want to bid you farewell but look forward to sharing one last show with you!

PROMINENCE | A Melting Pot Of Death

December 9, 2018 / CARMINA KHAIRALLAH / 0 Comments

Introducing yet another one of our Metal Bell 6th Anniversary bands: Prominence, a Death Metal band from Beirut, Lebanon.
Prominence was founded by Jack Khamo in 2017. Shortly after their inception, they were part of the Rock Insight event That One Night III at Metro al Madina on November 11th, 2017, and on May 5th, 2018, they partook in Metal United World Wide, an event organized by Sledgehammer Productions and presented by Metal Bell Magazine, which also took place in Metro al Madina.

On February 4th, 2018, they released their first ever single: “Slaughter of Dreams”. The song featured the legendary Derek Roddy on drums. Roddy was previously part of the American Death Metal band Nile, the American Death Metal band Hate Eternal, and more.

After the release of their single, the band went through a change of lineup. Maurice Semaan joined as their new guitarist as well as composer of their originals following “Slaughter of Dreams”. Nareg Cherchian, their vocalist, became responsible for the lyrics. As for the rest of the band, Serge Ashjian took over the bass, Monir (Matt) Lawand the rhythm guitar, and Sam Baghdo will be on the drums during the upcoming Metal Bell 6th Anniversary event.

Each member of the band has his own distinct musical influences. Consequently, the original material that they are working on strays away from “traditional” Death Metal towards something more multidimensional.

They are currently working on their EP titled “Sepulchered”. Two of its tracks were already recorded: “Sepulchered in Slumber” which was released on YouTube (watch video below) and Facebook in September, and Voices Reside, which was recorded in late November and will be available on YouTube after December 15th, 2018. Stay tuned for that!

In November, following the aforementioned release of “Sepulchered in Slumber”, the band was asked to be featured on USA’s Licking County Metalheads podcast, on which they had rave reviews, and we quote: “it has been a long time since they had listened to an actual lead in a metal song”. The band was asked to be featured for a second time with “Voices Reside”, during which they were lauded even further.

Prominence is managed by Maggie Varbedian of Sledgehammer Productions, the latter being co-owned by Maurice Semaan. As we have already mentioned, Sledgehammer Productions are the organizers behind the upcoming Metal Bell 6th Anniversary event.

When asked for a statement regarding Prominence’s appearance at SledgeHammer Productions and Metal Bell’s upcoming event, they replied: “Prominence are very excited to be part of this celebration, and to have the chance to perform both their songs from their upcoming EP “Sepulchered” for the first time on stage. They wish Metal Bell Magazine a happy anniversary, and a successful journey ahead.”

If you’re curious about the kind of sound that these boys will be dishing out, check out their aforementioned track on their YouTube channel: Prominence Official Lb.

Current Lineup:

Nareg Cherchian: Vocals
Maurice Semaan: Lead Guitar
Matt Lawand: Rhythm Guitar
Sergio Achjian: Bass
Sam Baghdo: Drums

Discography:

Slaughter of Dreams (Single; 2018)
Sepulchered in Slumber (Track from the upcoming EP “Sepulchered”; 2018)
Voices Reside (Track from the upcoming EP “Sepulchered”; 2018)
Prominence, we’ll be seeing you on your path towards prominence!

Article Photo Credit to Beirut Metal Fest

UPCOMING EVENTS

METAL BELL 6TH ANNIVERSARY – December 15 – Metro Al Madina
Alex Skolnick Free Guitar Clinic – December 17 – Instruments Garage

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Sound Of DeGeneration | Tastes Like Vintage Leather

December 6, 2018 / CARMINA KHAIRALLAH / 0 Comments

The Metal Bell 6th Anniversary act whom we will be introducing next is Sound of DeGeneration, a Heavy Metal band from Lebanon.

Sound of DeGeneration has been around the scene for quite a while, but a fair share of changes has occurred since their initial inception. They originally appeared in 2011 under the name “Calling Earth” with founding members Ossy Mash (guitar and vocals) and Ramzy Alaeddine (guitar). A bunch of additions and removals took place until the band’s lineup stabilized in 2012 and their name was changed to “Rebellion”.

As Rebellion, they wrote five original tracks which they performed live numerous times alongside covers of classic Heavy Metal bands such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motley Crue, Dio, Metallica, and more. They often took to the small stages of pubs and bars as well as some bigger music festivals.

Unfortunately, financial and personal circumstances as well as the departure of Alaeddine who sought to pursue his career elsewhere halted the band’s project of recording their debut album, and ultimately their activity in general.

However, in late 2017, a call from Hisham El Hajj Boutros (the band’s bassist) encouraged the four remaining members to get back to it, and finally resume working on their long-abandoned album. The latter includes eight tracks and is now in its demo stage, awaiting mixing and mastering before its ultimate release.

Around that time, they also decided to change their name to S.O.D, or Sound of DeGeneration. They felt like that name better represents the message behind their band and their music, which is to “bring back the good old Rock and Heavy Metal of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s [that is] now destroyed by the new media”, as they put it. The name originally came from one of their original songs, and will also be extended to their self-titled debut album.

In 2018, the band started to push towards hopefully getting a label, and their new website www.soundofdegeneration.com is coming soon. Stay tuned for that!

When asked for a statement regarding Sound of DeGeneration’s appearance at SledgeHammer Productions and Metal Bell’s upcoming event, they replied: “It has been almost two years since we last performed at Metro al Madina. For us, this place feels like home and to be a part of Metal Bell magazine’s event makes us feel like we are with our family. We miss our fans and believe that they miss us too. We are ready for this night and we will make sure it will be a night to remember. As always our promise to the fans is ‘WE WILL BE HEAVY’!”

If you wish to take a sneak peak at what these Heavy Metal Men can do, check out their Soundcloud account for a taste of their Heavy material.

Current Lineup:
Nigol Ozz – Vocals
Ossy Mash – Guitar / Back Vocals
Samer Rkab – Drums
Hisham El Hajj Boutros – Bass

Sound of DeGeneration, take us back in time!

UPCOMING EVENTS

METAL BELL 6TH ANNIVERSARY – December 15 – Metro Al Madina
Alex Skolnick Free Guitar Clinic – December 17 – Instruments Garage

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Avelyntale | The Return Of Lebanese Symphonic Metal

December 3, 2018 / CARMINA KHAIRALLAH / 0 Comments

On Saturday, December 15^th 2018, SledgeHammer Productions are organizing an event in order to celebrate no less than Metal Bell’s 6^th anniversary!

While we all wait for the chance to partake in the celebration, we will be providing you with information about all the participating bands.

First up, we have Avelyntale, a relatively new local Symphonic Metal band.

It all started when Anthony Abdo (whom you might know as local Melodic/Fusion/Technical Death Metal band Nocturna’s vocalist), his wife Magdalena Eid Abdo, and Mood Yassine (whose talent on the keys has been around the local scene for a while, most notably with local Progressive Metal/Rock band Turbulence) were gathered at the Bach Music Institute.

Pretty much out of nowhere, each one of them started expressing their own preferences regarding Symphonic Metal. Magdalena favors female-fronted bands, such as Nightwish, most notably with their first vocalist Tarja Turunen; Mood, who has more of a Progressive background, sets Epica at the top of his own list; as for Anthony, he refers to himself as having a more “aggressive” background, and his favorite Metal genre of all time is Orchestral Black Metal, with bands such as Carach Angren, Dimmu Borgir, and Graveworm.

All it took after that was a subsequent pregnant pause that gave birth to the idea of them teaming up in order to perform the songs that they all love.

As such, Avelyntale is currently a covers-only band, since their main objective was essentially to garner enjoyment from performing as aforementioned. The thought of diving into the realm of musical creations has most definitely crossed their minds, especially since each one of their members would technically be capable of orchestral composition. However, they admit that they currently lack commitment, and would only be up for starting something if they were certain that they would all be up for finishing it.

That being said, a concept that would engulf the yet-unborn songs already exists. The name of the band, Avelyntale, translates to “the tale of Avelyn”, with the latter being an undefined character who could pretty much represent anyone in the band. So, when they do make the step towards composition, they will recount their own daily lives and the problems they encounter within them through the voice of Avelyn.

When asked for a statement regarding Avelyntale’s appearance at SledgeHammer Production and Metal Bell’s upcoming event, their guitarist and vocalist Anthony Abdo replied: ”It’s been a while that Symphonic Metal has disappeared from the local scene; people miss it. They should come to Metal Bell’s 6^th anniversary and rock with us!”

Current Lineup:
Magdalena Eid Abdo – Vocals (Mezzo-Soprano)
Mood Yassine – Keyboard
Anthony Atwe – Bass
Rudy Fares – Drums
Anthony Abdo – Vocals (Guttural)

Avelyntale, we can’t wait to witness your tale unfolding before our ears!

UPCOMING EVENTS

METAL BELL 6TH ANNIVERSARY – December 15 – Metro Al Madina
Alex Skolnick Free Guitar Clinic – December 17 – Instruments Garage

Want to join Metal Bell? We are looking for authors, photographers, and designers.

Send an email to: JOIN US.

What do you think? Leave a Comment.

Tag: Metal Bell 6th Anniversary