INTERVIEW WITH BASSEM DEAIBESS (BLAAKYUM)
Hey Bassem how’s it going? Must be
excited to be opening up for Epica tomorrow night at Byblos Festival in
Lebanon.
It is indeed exciting to finally be able to
perform in a festival on the Lebanese soil; actually I am wondering how will
that experience be? How will it feel? Will it be similar or different than big
festivals in Europe? But the thrill of doing this in Lebanon, along with the
burden of meeting the expectations of people and yourself, for some reason, I
feel an obligation to have this show the best we ever did, it is like a duty,
this is my country and I want to give it the best we can.
Not many heavy bands play at the Byblos
Festival, but we’ve seen bands like Scorpions and Nightwish play, and now
Epica. For such a popular festival in Lebanon, it must be good news to metal
fans and bands such as yourself and Blaakyum.
Of course any news is good news when it
comes to having any kind of bands related to Rock and Metal on a Lebanese
International festival, now sadly we would not at the moment dream of having
Slayer or Testament or Hypocrisy for example on such festivals, I think this is
far-fetched, but indeed Byblos have been doing a great job keeping some Metal
elements there. I have no idea how will people react to us, since we will be
our normal metal selves we will not compromise in our show, and definitely
looking forward to see the people and the organizers reaction to some of
Epica’s more heavy songs… Maybe this will pave the way for heavier and more
“uncommon” bands to come later. Fingers crossed.
What can fans expect from Blaakyum’s
performance tomorrow night? Are we going to hear some new tracks in addition to
some songs off Lord of the Night?
Well taking into consideration that most of
our fans will not make it to the concert, of course many will do but not the
majority, and that more or less we will be performing for a new crowed, we will
be performing mostly from our debut album, we do have a surprise ready though,
and there will be probably two songs performed from the new album.
You’ve been working on a second album.
How’s the process been so far?
Terrible hahahaha… Well we have completed
the composition of the second (and even more, probably some of the third album)
We were supposed to enter the studio last month, but we are delaying that till
we find a way to fund the recording process.
What have you been listening to lately?
Does what you listen to influence the writing process?
Sometimes I just stop listening to music
all together, of course I do have my daily dose of Classical music, Metal, and
some of the Arabic music I enjoy, lately I have been into experimental Jazz
especially the oriental stuff and unbelievable talents such as Ibrahim Maalouf…
But since few months now, I have been hooked up on Thrash metal again, my
all-time favourite Metal genre, I have been slaying my ears with Onslaught,
Testament, and a bit of the few Black Metal bands I like, Immortal and
Behemoth, and of course Death Metal always have a share, Vader I must say. But
the daily dose of Classical music is always a must. I think everything
influence the writing process, although lately nothing is more influential than
the anger I feel… At a point where I
wish my music can actually kill those immoral creatures (they are not even
humans) that are making us suffer… Anyway I will try not to fall into
negativity so yea, everything is influential.
Blaakyum have played many shows in
Lebanon and abroad while touring. What was your favorite performance in Lebanon
thus far and why?
I do not want to talk about the guys,
personally and I think it is the same for my Brother Rabih who is our lead
guitarist, our performance in Sour was the one we enjoyed the most, the sound
was surprisingly amazing, and the atmosphere, and the fact that we were playing
in the south… it was just really enjoyable.
Any final words for Metality.net’s
readers?
Thank you for Metality.net for the support
and for your readers I can say Metal has never died, they keep saying it is
dying, for hell’s sake that must be the longest death process ever, so Metal is
always alive and has become a classical musical genre, thanks to you… So keep it
up.
Thanks for talking to us, Bassem! See
you at the show!
Metal on mate \m/
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