Report: In Egypt, Heavy Metal Music Is Making A Quiet Comeback
August 13, 2006Omar Sinan of the Associated Press has issued the following report:
The music was loud and the tattooed fans were wild, dancing and swaying in flashing strobe lights to the crashing sounds of heavy-metal songs. Suddenly, the music stopped. The band leader grasped the mike and announced: "It's prayer time."
No one left to pray. Everyone stood by the stage and waited, as the band paused its music while a nearby mosque began the call to prayer from a loudspeaker. Then the music resumed.
Welcome to Egypt's heavy-metal scene, making a tentative comeback in a conservative Muslim society nine years after a government crackdown amid allegations of satanic worship, drug use, and group sex among the upper-crust youthful fans.
"We are Arab Muslims. We respect our religion. But we only love this music," said Noor, a 23-year-old part-time German language teacher and guitarist for DARK PHILOSOPHY, an Egyptian heavy-metal band.
Noor has no illusions that the music will catch on in a society where many young adults still date with a chaperone.
"The first step is always the hard one," he said. "People are not used to our music and songs yet. People cannot get over all the negativities that happened in the past."
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