Interview by Tim Krysko from - Punk International

8/6/2004 (Interview from the Phex Era)

Tell me a little about the history of metal in Jordan. Is the scene strong and active these days?
The real and strong metal scene in Jordan started in late 80's, 88 or something like that. I personally divide the metal history in Jordan into 3 parts; the first from 88 to 97, the second from 97 to 2001, and the third since 2002. Well in the first part, the scene was really strong and true, there were many big bands like "Hebron" (black metal), "Zahareth" (doom metal). Unfortunately none of the bands of that period now exist, and that's due to many reasons. The seconds part was also strong and true, There were many more bands than before and various styles where played, there where loads of concerts. Although some shitty bands started forming in that period, but there was a hell of great bands, like the infamous "DarkCide" (death metal), these guys released an extremely great kick ass album. Other big bands in that period where, "X" (death/doom metal), "Dyjour", known before as "Ethereal" and many other great bands. Also unfortunately most of these bands don't exist anymore. The first reason for that is because there is no support at all, also because important members of the bands leave the country to Europe and North America for university; DarkCide broke up because the guitarist/vocalist left to Canada, and the other guitarist left to Poland, and he's now the front man of the band "Ajdath (brutal death metal). The third part, which is from 2002 until now; we are facing many problems with the police and government and stuff, metal heads are being accused of being Satanists, people who don't know about metal are mixing between metal as music and as a satanic thing, so we are not being able to make concerts and stuff, so we're so pressured. But talking about the underground, the metal underground is so strong here, there are loads of metal heads, and there isn't much stuff like nu-metal and this crap, those people who listens to this stuff aren't counted as metal heads and they are out of the metal scene totally. Anyways, I can say that the problem that we're facing now is the lack of gigs, we don't have any support. There are also some big bands these days; Esodic (thrash metal) and us Augury (melodic black metal) - (well I hope we're big in the metal heads' eyes). To summarize, I guess that if we get more support from the outside, Jordan will play a huge part in the worldwide metal scene, because really as much as I tell you, you will not believe the amount of talent here, but sadly its neglected and wasted

What about other styles of independent music in Jordan? Is there punk music, Indie rock, hip hop or anything like that?
Well yes sure, in Jordan you can find bands or musicians from any musical style that you think of. There are many rap and hip hop stuff (thank God I'm not into this stuff). I think the rap community is so big here, you can see rappers all the time in the streets doing their silly stuff, you know, hehe. And hell yeah there is lots of punks here.

How did you get into metal music? Are you influenced mostly by local stuff, or foreign bands?
Well the start was funny, when I was a kid at the age of 9 or 10 I used to listen to slow rock and pop rock, you know Bryan Adams and these stuff, hehe, so one day I went to a music shop and asked the owner if he has anything for Bryan A. and the answer was no but he said that he has something like him, so he gave me an "Iron Maiden" tape (I don't know how he finds them the same), anyways, I went crazy on the tape, and I remember jumping on my bed while listening to it, hehe. So I got into the thing, but I was like alone in it so it wasn't like so much or so, but when I met the guys (my band members) at school (that's 5 years later), they were into the metal thing, "Pantera", "Machine Head", and these stuff, even punk, so I like regained my powers or so, hehe. Talking about influences, its not like that I'm interested in local or foreign, well, I always give respect to local stuff and of course I like some bands, like "DarkCide", I really like their stuff, and of course other local stuff. But I'm more influenced by the Scandinavian stuff; I mostly like melodic black and death, and power metal. But I also listen to other styles of course. Some of my favorite bands are, "Children Of Bodom, Old Man's Child, Kalmah, Stratovarius, King Diamond ..." Also I must mention that I'm so into classical music, I'm so influenced by it, and that's clear in my band "Augury's" music.

What is the difference between the music of your band Augury and your solo project Phex?
Augury is a melodic classical black metal band, medieval black metal; some people call us atmospheric black metal. The band was formed in 2000 and we released one demo in 2004, it's called "Temptation Of Oath", and it received really great feedback. In the summer we'll start working on the next demo. The members are - Basil Bursheh (keyboards - he's my cousin), Tareq Fayyad (vocals), Saeed Abu-Jaber (guitars), Omar Nooreddin (guitars) and I (Phex (a.k.a Muhannad Bursheh) * - bass). Phex is a death/doom metal band, the music is quite strange. 2001 was the year of start. I have 2 releases as Phex; "The Black Vision", demo 2002, and "Spirits And Devils", full length 2003. Now I'm working on the second full length "Prisoner Of Darkness". Band members are only me doing all the instruments, hehe.

You have been passing out demos and spreading your music around the world through the internet, right? What kinds of responses have you received? And, what are your musical plans for the future?
Yeah, well as I said, we received really great feedback, everyone who heard our demo seems to like it. We're receiving loads of requests for the CD from magazines, radio shows and websites. We also got some label offers, and we're now thinking deeply into the label thing.

Metal lyrics are generally very dark and sinister, but in the Western countries there is an active underground scene for Christian bands. Is there the same thing in Jordan, with some Islamic metal, and some that antagonistic to religious beliefs? Or, does religion play any role in independent music at all?
Well concerning this, here it's a bit different from the west. We don't have this big freedom to do religious or anti-religious lyrics, you can do them for yourself or the metal heads surrounding you, but you can't spread them beyond the underground. I think the Christian bands are mostly punk bands, right? Anyways, there are no bands here with lyrics that have to do with religion, or at least I don't know any bands that are into this. To tell the truth, I hate anti-religious lyrics, or even religious ones, I find it disrespectful for religion, Christianity, Islam or whatever it was.

How much freedom is there in Jordan to play metal shows, and distribute CDs or demos - perhaps in comparison to other countries nearby? Is there any opposition from authorities?
Like I said earlier, before 2002, we were so free, we could do everything we wanted, we were living true metal life, but what ended this all is a problem that happened in a gig in 2002. There was a gig, I think that was in October or something, and the police broke in and arrested 200 people - you know everyone was head banging and stage diving and everyone dressed in black, so the police though that these were satanic rituals (since they don't know that there is an existing thing called metal). After that freedom was nearly zero, and people are now afraid to arrange concerts. The problem with the authorities is that they don't consider metal as music, they don't use their heads. But about distributing CDs and demos, it's totally free; we never faced problems concerning that. Strange eh?

Are bands from abroad, like Europe or America, able to get their CDs distributed in Jordan for people to buy? Do you rely on pirated CDs or the internet to hear a lot of music?
We have no problem with CDs coming from the outside; you can find everything in shops. (That explains that the authorities don't know that metal is music. Because if they knew that these metal CDs coming from the outside are the same thing that's being played in gigs (that they call satanic rituals), they would stop the CDs exchange. I wonder if you got my point!!!).

You are located in a country that is right in between countries where there has been a lot of violence recently: Iraq and Palestine. As a Jordanian, how do you react to these things happening in your region?
Well, here in Jordan as a country, we're not affected by this stuff, but of course the people are always angry about what's happening in these countries. Even the metal scene is affected, bands are always writing lyrics about the wars that are happening.

The media has helped portray all Arab countries as a place for foreigners to be afraid of. They like to talk about terrorism and flag-burning. How would you address that? What do people need to know?
I think foreigners have to be open minded when they think of the Arab world. First of all, not everyone is a terrorist here, and not everyone who is called a terrorist deserves this name; some people are loyal to their countries and they try to defend them, but the west still calls them terrorists. The second thing is that the media in the west hides almost all the truth; when I went to USA and Europe I watched a lot of news and all the suffering of the people here is hidden, but I can't say there is no terrorism, there are terrorists but they are so disliked by people, and they aren't active everywhere in the Arab world. Also people have to differentiate between those who defend their countries for loyalty and terrorists who kill people in the name of religion. But take my word, in Jordan you have nothing to be afraid of, westerns are so respected here. About the flag burning thing, well I don't call this terrorism, because imagine your living in peace, and then a country invades your land and starts killing people and destroying things for false excuses, wont you get mad and start burning flags? I think the Iraqi case is known to all - PETROL!!!

(a.k.a Muhannad Bursheh) * - Not included in original interview