A little over 12 years ago, Roxy The Rock Dog had the very real pleasure of interviewing an up-and-coming band who were redefining the Thrash genre and energising it with their own ingenuity and so helping it onward in its evolution. Thrash, funk, death, rock ‘n’ roll, add in a generous serving of Iced Earth – it all combined beautifully under the one voice of Anarchadia, a Syrian Heavy Metal band.
Anarchadia: ”We are trying to be a part of the change that the world MUST see eventually.”
At the time, we and the rest of the world had no idea what was starting up in Syria. The Arab Spring had already started when Tunisian street trader Mohamed Bouazizi self-immolated in December 2010 in protest against police brutality. By January 2011, with Tunisians taking to the streets to protest against the government, which collapsed, their president resigned, fled the country, and a new government was elected.
The unrest spread from Tunisia across to its neighbour Libya, where President Gaddafi also fled but was captured and executed by rebels; his son was still awaiting trial.
Onward to Egypt, longstanding President Mubarak resigned after pressure from President Obama.
Jordan was not swept into the uprisings, but its neighbour Syria was. Syrians held street protests against their President Bashir, who fought back, bombing his fellow Syrian people and destroying lives, homes, families, communities, and businesses. Bashir survived the uprising and now has Russian backing and support. However, the Syrian crisis has sparked one of the biggest refugee exodus since the Second World War. This protest and unrest made a global impact.
At the time, many news crews and journalists from reputable broadsheets were in place across the Middle East, reporting back on details, political interventions, politicians fleeing, being captured and the general conflict and its impact.
Other journalists in the field reported back on behalf of populations. There was an occasional question shouted at an individual in a protest situation along the lines of ‘Why are you doing this?’ but no one actually held an interview with citizens of Syria and asked – ‘What is life like for you? What do you want to tell us?’
Into this chaos arrived MetalTalk, with its global readership, community and network of like-minded Metalheads who love the music and want little to do with the politics. Thank you very much. We met Anarchadia and I conducted our first interview with Syrian citizens.
We asked, specifically, ‘As a Metal musician, what is life like for you in Syria?’
Our Middle Eastern Metal Brothers And Sisters
This interview was first published in MetalTalk on 29 November 2012. You can read the interview in full here. Anarchadia were the best band I had heard that year and I could not wait to tell MetalTalk readers all about them. The band members—Nour, Raafat, Siam, Ala’a, and Sami—spoke of their evolution from childhood friends with a shared musical passion to a cohesive group aiming to innovate.
They acknowledged influences from bands like Metallica but emphasised their unique blend of genres, incorporating Technical and Progressive elements. Anarchadia were committed to delivering honest messages through their music, addressing global issues and encouraging critical thinking among listeners. ”We are trying to be a part of the change that the world MUST see eventually,” they said, “in order for this damned race to not only be able to exist but to live and co-exist as well.
“It has to happen somehow, otherwise we will just keep killing each other until the last man standing looks around as he crawls in an endless ocean of blood and realizes the atrocities of mankind, and just says ‘fuck it’, and shoots himself in the fuckin’ head.”
Anarchadia – What Happened Next?
So, what happened next? For Anarchadia, they fled Syria to Lebanon. Sadly, we have not heard from them since, although we would very much like to hear how everyone is getting on. What happened to Roxy, the interviewer? Well, that is an interesting story, too.
As someone who travels regularly for work, and that includes flights, I noticed, after this interview and establishing contacts with other musicians in the Middle East, that I started being stopped and my bagging searched.
I started to notice being directed to less busy customs and having my belongings checked with other travellers being directed away to other lines. I started to notice being ‘randomly’ selected for explosive checks, as were my children and spouse.
I don’t think it is a ‘random’ selection if you are in line with many others who all go through without being checked and you, your spouse and children are all checked one after the other.
My internet also would grind to a halt, especially when I was conducting an interview between an India-based Metal musician and a Pakistan-based musician.
So, are we being watched – probably? Does MetalTalk have a readership at GCHQ? Most likely, and probably, it is the highlight of their day. Is MetalTalk interested in politics? Absolutely not! It is all about the music and folk who read, and that includes the spooks, too.
At MetalTalk, we not only published the first interview with people experiencing and living the conflict. We also offered them a monthly column. Sadly, they were only able to make use of this once before fleeing the country they were born and raised in and were actively part of growing and developing their cultural music world.
This was the last time we heard from them.
Nour, Raafat, Siam, Ala’a, Sami, we remember you and the music you made as part of Anarchadia. We remember your manager, Osama, too.
We wish you all well and would love to hear from you.
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Anarchadia / The Lost Voices Of Syria’s Thrash Metal Scene first appeared on
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