Interview: Crescent

The Egyptian metal band Crescent was formed in 1998, released their debut album Pyramid Slaves in 2014, was the first Egyptian metal band to tour Europe and now they released their new album The Order Of Amenti through Listenable Records. DutchMetalManiac’s Tim van Velthuysen recently interviewed Crescent’s Youssef Saleh and Ismaeel Attallah.

Hey, congratulations with your new album, The Order Of Amenti, it sounds really nice!

Many thanks, glad you liked it!

When you compare The Order Of Amenti to its predecessor, Pyramid Slaves (2014), what is it you notice?

The Order of Amenti is more mature, dark, and highlights our tendencies towards creating a black metal atmosphere with a death metal sound!

The Order Of Amenti is a tribute to the Ancient Egyptian gods. What means Egypt for you and what makes it that way?

Other than the fact that Egypt is our home where we grow up, it is also a huge inspiration. Egypt with all its history, culture, and present is always teaching everyone something about life (or perhaps the afterlife as well?). The ancients found their inspiration in the environment, everyday life and things we learn as we go by, hence their reflection of such teachings in the mythologies and the stories about the Gods. We, also, get our inspiration from the same sources.

For releasing The Order Of Amenti you signed to Listenable Records, what makes them the best option for Crescent at this moment?

Listenable Records is an extremely renowned and respected label! We know, like most people do, about their history and how they were/are the home of many of the great bands in metal today. We knew that we were going to deal with decent people who are passionate about metal and who knew how to help their bands achieve their goals. We are always working together coherently to get the best result out of everything we do and that makes it the best option for us!

The cover of the new album is made by Michał “Xaay” Loranc, what made him the best person for this job?
Xaay is a great artist and he has experience with many famous bands like Behemoth and Nile. The guy knows what he’s doing and how to reflect what the band is asking for. Not to mention his productive feedback and always involving us in the process. We tried with other artists but Xaay was just the best one for it.

You hail from Egypt, how is the metal scene in Egypt?

The metal scene here exists pretty much from the mid-90s. However, it faced a hiatus due to allegations of Satanism and inactivity when it comes to concerts and whatnot. It took many years until it picked up again only to be demolished by the devaluation of the Egyptian pound, thus inactivity again, but we are doing our best to contribute to its revival.

It must be noted that the scene here is still not mature enough and it is quite young, we get many attendees to concerts (around 1000 people) but it lacks the purchasing culture, not enough webzines, no record stores, only one venue that hosts metal concerts, not even one record label and no competitiveness when it comes to festivals (it is pretty much just one professional fest, which is Metal Blast).

How is playing in a metal band in Egypt?

It has its challenges of course. As I mentioned before, it lacks the basis on which the band can survive. Only a few people buy CDs and/or merch and there’s no real basis for growth. Not to mention that due to the currency devaluation, equipments prices tripled, organizing a concert costs tripled as well and so on! Not to mention the occasional societal pressures from bullshit media allegations about how such music poses a danger to society, luckily no one buys from that crap anymore (maybe just a few).

Any Egyptian bands you would recommend?

Definitely, keep an eye on Ahl Sina as they are currently recording their album!

You were the first Egyptian band to tour Europe, any plans to come back to Europe in the near future? Maybe also playing in The Netherlands?

Absolutely, we always make it to Europe 2-3 times a year! We would love to play in The Netherlands; we actually performed there during our tour.

We are confirmed for Party.San Open Air in Germany and we are absolutely psyched about it, we cannot wait to unleash The Order of Amenti there! We might reveal another appearance later this year in Europe, possibly a place where we have never been before.

You are also announced as headliner of the Metal Blast Festival in Egypt, looking forward to it?

Hell yes! It has been almost 2 years and a half since the last time we performed in Egypt, due to the issues I’ve mentioned before.

It is always great to perform at home and to be on the forefront of the scene’s revival and growth!

Thanks for your answers! Is there anything you want to say to our readers?

We hope to perform in your hometown in the near future!

Keep the Extreme Metal flames burning!

Cheers
Youssef Saleh and Ismaeel Attallah
CRESCENT

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