Tuesday, October 12, 2021

We are ALIVE

The past 5 years has been very difficult for Blaakyum, 3 of which have been difficult on the entire world, but also on our beloved homeland Lebanon. We took time to revolt, to riot, to grief, to survive, and we are now trying to recover... and then this appeared in out Twitter 


Time to shake the dust... \m/ 

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Tomorrow at 6 pm UTC:
Our frontman Bassem Deaibess will be live on Unmutedshow Podcast Episode 87, for an unrestricted, uncensored interview on Twitch.tv. Join the chat and ask any question you want.
Podcast announcement will follow later today. Stay Tuned



Monday, December 02, 2019

We shall always remain Destined to Rise (VIDEO)

After years and years of trying to fund a video, the revolution came to push us to make a NO-budget video, thanks to Ayeesha Starkey, an AUB graduate, who encouraged and offered Blaakyum to go for the video during the protests. Most Blaakyum members have been part of the revolution, and it was only logical to release this video especially with the theme of the song, and the whole Line of Fear album, which tackles the same issues and that was released right after the 2015 uprising in Lebanon.
Thanks to the volunteering of Ayeesha Starkey and Jad Shokor who is a Metal fan and musician, this was possible.

you can watch the video exclusively through Metal Hammer's Loudersound website here:

https://www.loudersound.com/features/lebanese-metallers-blaakyum-rise-up-against-oppression

More to come...


Monday, May 06, 2019

Blaakyum Releases another fan footage from their tribute to Sepultura after band was censored in Lebanon

Blaakyum will be releasing new footage from the "Banned and Confused" event that happened in honour of Sepultura who were banned from entering Lebanon by the Lebanese Authorities on baseless and faults accusation.

The song is Territory, one of the most celebrated Sepultura songs that talks about the evil of colonialism and its video clip considered highly critical of Israel.

Friday, May 03, 2019

Blaakyum performs Sepultura songs in a Sepultura "banned" concert, while the band watches from Skype


  On April 28th, the Lebanese Metal Scene was promised to watch one of the most iconic Metal Bands of all times: Sepultura. Sadly the hand of oppression struck again. The Lebanese Authorities, cued by "hidden" forces, banned Sepultura members from entering the country based on baseless and ridiculous accusations of Devil Worshipping, and performing in Israel!
Blaakyum  is no stranger to discrimination, having our frontman detained and jailed a couple of times because of the music he listens to and composes. During that time Sepultura songs were his main escape from all the hell he had to face.
Blaakyum, and in an act of defiance against this unjust order of ban decided to perform three Sepultura songs: "Refuse/Resist" "Territory" and "Roots Bloody Roots", furthermore Bassem Deaibess, being the founder of Skull Session, and Rabih Deaibess asked Sepultura management if it was possible to make a Skype call with the band, so that Sepultura can see their fans in Lebanon, talk to them and watch the Metal Scene giving tribute to them.
Blaakyum also invited members of the other bands who performed on that night to join them on stage during their performance of "Roots Bloody Roots".

  Right before Blaakyum performed "Roots", the four members of Sepultura addressed their fans in Lebanon,  "Hey Beirut, I hope you can hear us..." Andreas Kisser said to the enthusiastic fans who cheered loudly, some even in tears, "we are here in Istanbul, Turkey, unfortunately we couldn't be in Beirut this night, due to stupidity and ignorance, we've been travelling the world for 35 years and that never happened! But we are so pleased and so happy to see you all gathered to celebrate Sepultura's music. We would like to thank you all.. we would like to thank all the bands that were a part of this... this special night, and hopefully in the near future we can reschedule and rearrange a show for Sepultura in Beirut Lebanon. We love you very much. We're going to play in Dubai..." Continued Kisser, "We're going to play in Dubai on May 2nd, and we are going to do a special broadcast of the show, only for you guys actually, it's like a... we are going to dedicate the show to the Lebanese Sepultura fans and we are going to do this special broadcast from Dubai on May 2nd, so be aware, and hopefully you guys at least can enjoy a little bit of the show, but like I said, thank you very much for the support, we are all here [Sepultura members] together to say thank you and hopefully, we will see you soon. Thank you Lebanon."

   While Sepultura's four members were still on the line watching their fans and the band perform, Blaakyum and handful of musicians from the Lebanese Metal Scene performed Roots, during that song Bassem Deaibess said the following:
"What are we going to tell [say] to Sepultura? We will see you in Lebanon again! Censorship is NOT democratic. What they have done is a shame on everyone who does not understand democracy. And the reason why this is happening is because none of us is saying anything. Silence means DEATH (quoting Sepultura). And we will not be silent again... Are you with us?"

Watch Blaakyum's cover of Roots Bloody Roots here.


We Have Been Away Again

A lot has happened the past year and we were away from social media for a while, but we will be updating the website soon, starting with the Sepultura ban issue, then we will let you in on what has been going on... expect some nice surprises.

Saturday, August 05, 2017

To the Birthplace of Metal, we set aim.

Blaakyum, performed in London Camden Underworld, and Electric Ball room in December of 2007. Now 10 years later, we return to the land that gave the world, among many other things, Heavy Metal!

 Our Bloodstock Open Air appearance will be preceded by a warm-up show at The Devonshire Arms, one of the landmarks of the Metal Movement in London, and as the gods have it, a rite of passage for every Metal band from the Underground all the way to the international stage.

We will be at B.O.A. from the 10th, as we do not want to miss any of that unique experience, please feel free to track us and hang out with us, this will be a breather for us, to live free and be who we are amongst a brotherhood that has stood the test of time. We will hit the New Blood Stage on Sunday the 13th of August. Stay tuned for more information on our exact time.

We would like to thank those who took the time to interview and review and mention us, check out our interview over at Moshville Times, and Bands to check out on the Hobgoblin New Blood Stage from Fake Geeks.


Also, big thanks from Blaakyum to Fox James who posted this picture, for Bloodstock bands recommendation, check it out:
Click to enlarge




Tuesday, June 06, 2017

Blaakyum Announces First Dates For This Summer 2017

We have been working hard lately to finalise the preparation for Onslaught's performance in Lebanon, This year's Skull Session will be very special, and it will be the first live performance for Blaakyum since their Europe tour supporting British Veteran Thrashers ONSLAUGHT, alongside Damage Rite and Slave to Sirens.
<--









Blaakyum have been also announced to perform at BloodStock 2017 on the Hobgoblin New Blood Stage on the 13th of August making this the first major UK festival they will take part in. -->
















Also as a warm-up event, for BloodStock Blaakyum will be hitting London's Metal centre: Camden Town at the DEV on the 9th of August supported by local act Caskets, and our own Alexy Khoury in his project GODD -->

 MORE DATES will be announced soon, so keep an eye on this space.


Tuesday, April 04, 2017

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Thrash Mercenaries Tour 2016 Chronicles Part 4

Thrash Mercenaries Tour 2016 Chronicles up next:
This is by no means a detailed account of our days spent with the iconic band Onslaught. In fact this merely scratches the surface of the wealth of information, advice, experience and friendship we have built with the band’s members.
For those of you who dare not know Onslaught, this is one of the pioneers of British Thrash Metal, formed in 1982. While the world is much aware of the Big Four and the American Thrash bands, and in fact Thrash is known to be an American genre, Onslaught, like most British Thrash bands, has remained underrated, despite being a highly respected band in the realm of Thrash metal and among its fans. They released their first album "Power From Hell", in 1985 followed by “The Force” in 1986. "The Force" became one of Thrash Metal’s classic albums, most probably one of the few outside the American arena. It is this album's 30th anniversary that Onslaught set out to celebrate by touring the world in 2016 (and of which we supported the European leg during the Thrash Mercenaries Tour 2016)
It took three years to follow up on "The Force", and here, ladies and gentlemen, is an epic example of how the music industry can destroy a band. Because of the success of "The Force", Onslaught was signed to London Records, a major semi-independent label at the time and one of the biggest in the UK. The label decided that the band needed a new vocalist, and despite the band having another opinion, they changed the frontman and made the sound much more polished. “They [London Records] wanted a British version of Metallica” said Sy Keeler to our frontman. Subsequently the follow up record was much different from the first two, especially "The Force", and fans were disappointed, which led to poor sales that contrasted greatly with the intense pre-release publicity the label had given the record. Poor sales led the label to drop the band, leaving them without a contract, after ruining their career. Eventually this also led to the band's break-up in 1990, a classic example, again, of how clueless music industry people can destroy a very successful band.
The band reunited in 2005, and later released the highly acclaimed “Killing Peace” (2007) album, followed by “Sound Of Violence” (2011) and their latest “VI” (2013). Refusing to be a nostalgic band, these releases have defied the limitation of the Thrash genre, and have been classified by many as the benchmark of “Modern Thrash”.
During our 16 days of debauchery with Onsalught on tour, we met these kind gentlemen:
Nige Rockett: Apart from being the mastermind behind Onslaught, as a main composer and lyricist and Rhythm Guitarist, Nige is a quiet fellow, maybe quiet is an understatement! More accurately, Nige is a mystery, yet a pleasant one. He keeps to himself most of the time, but would never refuse a conversation. He’s extremely supportive and a pure soul.
Sy Keeler: We’d expected the monstrous voice of Onslaught to be an angry, threatening figure of a person. But other than the fact that he is very tall and very well built, Mr. Sy is just a sweetheart. WHAT? Can’t a metal god be a sweetheart?! At age 54, his voice is incredible, from guttery devilish growls to high pitches, Sy's got it all. His knowledge of music is vast, in all senses of the word. His sense of caring about everyone around and urge to help, his calm and soothing presence, and his eternal smile make you feel a deep yet unexpected sense of serenity.
Jeff Williams: THANK GOD FOR JEFF. This is what we can say about this incredible person. Jeff joined Onslaught as Heavy Armoured Infantry (Bass Guitar) in 2006. Jeff kept the tour fun at all times, from endless (and sometimes embarrassing) challenges that he would set us up to do on stage, to the sheer fun and laughter that we had. He was the first to listen to Blaakyum’s album in its entirety and give us critical feedback. Jeff was there for us all along, watching our every show every single night, and guiding us towards showmanship. Jeff is incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to music industry and band management know-how. His feedback and guidance were essential for Blaakyum and in fact, transformed us from a local act to something much better. It is because of Jeff that this tour went from a lot of fun to tons of fun!! And we are up for the next challenge mate.
Mike Hourihan: Mike is Onslaught’s Artillery commander-in-chief (Drummer). His drumming prowess made him sought after by many bands, and he is currently performing with two other bands: Desecration, and Extreme Noise Terror. Mike is an incredible and relentless drummer, which is evident; what is not evident, is that he has a degree in Astrophysics!!!! FUCK, what a blow to the stereotype image of a Metal rock star!! Aren’t Metalheads and Metal Musicians supposed to be marginal illiterate idiots (nudge nudge Middle Eastern society)!? What a sad day for social conformists.
Iain 'GT' Davies: Iain is the newest and the youngest member of Onslaught. Taking over the Lead Guitar role, Iain joined Onslaught in 2015, though most probably Iain has been around before then, as when we were watching Onslaught’s DVD “Live at the Slaughterhouse”, Iain makes a brief few seconds appearance in the documentary that was filmed in 2014. Iain can be usually found in the backstage areas strapped to his tablet, learning and learning whatever he can, and practicing on his machinegun (Guitar). He is tons of fun on stage, and when we shared the stage with Onslaught, Iain and Rabih were usually spotted cracking facial jokes and messing around!
This, ladies and gentlemen, is as we said just the tip of the iceberg of what it was like to be around the almighty Onslaught. This has been a great privilege for Blaakyum, and will probably remain one of the biggest highlights of our career.

Tuesday, December 06, 2016

Thrash Mercenaries Tour 2016 Chronicles Part 3

Today on Thrash Mercenaries Tour 2016 Chronicles, we have the Finnish Melodic Death Metallers Mors Principium Est… If you are wondering what this Latin phrase means, it's “Death is the Beginning”--this being in line with the Finnish personality as the country is filled with dark and cold gloom for 6 months of the year, which defines a lot of Finnish bands’ musical path.
Sadly for this tour the original MPE Drummer and Bassist couldn’t make it due to personal commitments, and their Rhythm guitarist left in 2014. That leaves the band with 2 original members, the wizard Andy Gillion, from the UK, and hellish vocalist Ville Viljanen (cowabunga!!). But the supporting sessionists were incredible as well, and loads of fun: we have Guitarist Tomy Laisto (Tomy was an official member of MPE from 2007 till 2011, will he join back?), Bassist Toni Tieaho and Drummer Liro Aittokoski. Tomy lived up to national expectations by having the darkest sense of humour on the tour. Andy was the one we got to know the most, musically and otherwise. There is something very touching about his melodies, they ensnare you and enchant you (watching Mors Principium Est during the tour became a regular ritual especially for our Drummer and Manager). We also spent many a late night hooked on Andy's surreal humour.
As for the Finns, unlike what you might imagine Death Metallers are like, they were an extremely calm and relaxed bunch off stage. But on stage they just seemed to come from another realm altogether, morbid, melodic and crushing!
It was not till the last day of the tour, before they disappeared into the darkness, that we finally had the time to chill out properly with these amazing guys… thanks to the great cataclysmic socialiser: BEER... but certainly not before witnessing Toni's hilarious 70s-inspired dance moves during the all-band stage invasion on Onslaught's set (more on that to come) \B/
This was Blaakyum reporting from the aftermath of the Thrash Mercenaries Europe invasion of 2016.

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