JEDDAH — When the western minds wander to Saudi Arabia's music culture, they often get stuck with the same old notion that we are reggae-heads and an infamous story of rock bands. But that was never the truth. Time has changed the international music culture in the country. Saudi Arabia's reputation of being stuck in the same loop of Khaleeji music and rock bands is now a thing of the past. With a strong background in metal, the emergence of hip-hop, RnB and now electronic dance music, Saudi Arabia is an easily compatible music ally. True the days of rock and roll are never old and never will be, we delve deeper in the category and bring back names you have heard growing up. This is where underground started in Saudi Arabia. New rock, punk, death metal and many other bands have emerged with the widespread use of the Internet by Saudis. Online social forums played a role in linking up underground musicians and keeping them alive. Breeze of the Dying Featured on MTV's “True Life” documentary, Breeze of the Dying made news all over the world depicting reality of Saudi Arabia's underground music culture. The six-member metal band consists of Khaled, Majed, Jude, Madani, Abdalla and Ahmed. The band, which spoke to Saudi Gazette in an exclusive interview, said: “We all come from different backgrounds but serve one purpose of playing music and releasing that additional energy we have. The instruments we play produces and ignite the messages we have. We come from great families; we love them to pieces and they support what we do.” The band grew up listening to metal music and said it was far from mainstream rock. “It's not rock that we play, its metal. Rock evolved over the years to a tree of endless genres. Like any form of music, you find the good and the bad. We play Progressive Metal, which is a mixture of all forms put in one.” All members are self-taught, with no classes or help in music. “We took our instruments and figured out how it should be played. It was never difficult, we had our opportunities, we played shows, we had lots of fun. The only sad thing was the minority, which still think that Metal is the devils music or relate us to worshipping Satan.” They plan to record the debut album and maybe get some international sponsors for shows and tours. BOTD have performed with local bands, such as Wasted Land, Grieving Age, Deathless Anguish, Immortal Pain, Sound of Ruby, Octum, and Creative Waste among others. “Internationally we would love to play anywhere with anyone just for the sake of reaching all those who enjoy robust music.” Discussing accomplishments the band members said: “Releasing the EP album and getting exposure around the US and some parts of Europe. We thank Kumji for it and Heidi for the documentary.” In a previous report, the band told Rolling Stone about their MTV documentary. Khaled said: “The director came to Jeddah to record some kind of documentary on the youth movement in Saudi Arabia, and then someone told her about an event that was happening. They couldn't believe that such music existed in Saudi Arabia. And they chose to include us in the documentary. After the MTV interview we had so many people from America contacting us, they couldn't believe we had a metal scene in Saudi Arabia.” The Camel: Featuring Sound of Ruby Mohammad Alhajjaj, also known as “The Camel,” is a guitarist, singer and songwriter who has been part of the Saudi rock culture in the 1990's. The Camel's music reflects his interests in the genres of music like alternative-experimental rock and punk music; he is also affected by avant-garde and themes of surrealism. He told Saudi Gazette how he as a young Saudi lost and found his cast and crew- named Sound of Ruby. He said: “At a young age I had many interests in theme songs and soundtracks, after which I realized the guitar sound so I quit painting and bought my first guitar at the age of 16. “I formed my first band in 1996 called Sound Of Ruby but the members weren't passionate about music. So it took me four years to find out that being musicians is not enough and it must be paired with talent, then I met Nader AlFassam, Kamal Khalil and Essam AlGhamdi. And this is the secret why we are still together. I recorded nine albums with Sound Of Ruby. “In 2009 I started my solo career under the name ‘The Camel.' This reflects more of my real personality and concept music soon will be available on iTunes & Amazon.” Since the new media and Internet age is fairly new as opposed to a decade ago, Mohammad found solace in music and felt it was the most honest way to express his feelings, especially as an underground artist. When asked who he would like to collaborate with, he said: “Actually 90 percent of my musical influences are dead. I need a time machine to play with them, become a major label and change a lot in my life.” Talking about his personal favorite musicians in Saudi Arabia, Mohammad said he is more into folk and music that explains the real culture of Saudi Arabia like Basheer Shannan. “Back in the 1990's we didn't have Internet or music schools so I taught myself and I bought books and read them.” He said he is proud of all the albums he has recorded, reviews and fans he has earned from EU, USA and the Middle East. “Proud of all the shows I played outside Saudi and I've been honored by the British Council.” Mohammad said he hoped Saudi musicians and artists get more respect and acceptance in local culture. Clepto Originally from Saudi Arabia, the band consists of Alex (Rhythm Guitar), Niko (Lead Guitar), Fred (Bass), and Phil (Drums). This band tells a story of punk rock adventures in Saudi Arabia dating back to 2000. This year they plan to kickoff their adventures in Canada halfway across the world. The four friends came together to form the band with albums like “Handmade” (2005), “Acousticide” (2010) and “Sonic Rape” (2010). Clepto started touring three years ago and played throughout Southern California where they settled down in their own studio in Los Angeles like the dream of many Saudi musicians. The band recorded and released their latest B-sides album: “Kebab: Live off the Grill” (2012), a compilation in 2012, and a new full-length album “The Cold Unending March of Progress” to be released this year. In 2012, Clepto played in the US, Canada and toured nine countries in Europe. Wasted Land It all started with Crimson Iris in 2003. Early band members Ahmed Khojah, Emad Ashore, Sultan Alghamdi, Rayan Bahabri and Amer Tashkandi started the thrash metal band. They played together for a couple of months only to break apart and come together again. They met up again, insistent on hopes of creating a new band featuring Ali Maarawi, Ahmed Khojah, Sultan Alghamdi, and Hani Nowillati. Yet broke up the same year. In 2004, Ahmed, Hani Nowillati, Mohammed Shata, Emad Mujalled and Ayman Alghamdi formed a new band called ‘S. M. F'. They played slow metal much like 80s metal. Again the band split. While jamming together in 2005, Ahmed and Ayman decided to give it another shot; and thus Wasted Land was born. The death metal band grew with artists like Emad Mujalled, Sultan Alghamdi and Tameem and became a full-fledged five-member band. Other rock bands in Saudi Arabia: Deathless Anguish, Al-Namrood, Creative Waste, Mephisophilus, Rivers Running Red, Crescent Light, The Empty Quarter, Hed2Ground, Immortal Pain, Cribcaged, Inversion, Final Serenade, Premonition, Octum, Flesh Laceration, Forgotten, Outlive, PhiViper, Grieving Age, Wry Wreathe, Myth among others.
