Friday, December 28, 2012

Congratulations

Blaakyum Drummer Mr. Jad Feitrouni has just got married, we wish him the best.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Blaakyum Metal 101 appearance cancelled


It is with regret that Blaakyum have to announce the cancellation of its appearance in Metal 101 Concert, due to timing issues, for the past week we have been in direct communication with Stephanie Sa Croix to try and work things out, as the date change was not suitable for us due to some of our band members being committed to other personal and musical businesses.

Blaakyum performing for Charity in Hard Rock Cafe Beirut

Support the Lebanese Rock and Metal scene's Charity event in Hard Rock Cafe Beirut, were 16 bands will be performing to raise funds for the SOS Village orphanage. BE THERE



Wednesday, November 07, 2012

A simple reply to clarify the unacceptable lies that were said on Enta Horr show on Murr TV

Hello fans and friends, enemies and haters alike,
I will not indulge much in replying to all the lies said about the event we were playing in last Saturday on the 3rd of November 2012, because most lies are not worth replying to, and we understand that Joe Maalouf (the "journalist" that prepares and presents the show) is simply trying to raise the low ratings of his show by creating a "scoop", and we are used to being the scapegoats of such journalism. But since some lies were harmful to the band itself, and to clear the confusion we would like to point out that:

Sunday, September 09, 2012

The Creation has began


We started writing new material right after we released the album. As any creative process many riffs end up in the bin, and many others roam aimlessly in our minds till a day comes where they find their rightful place.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

End of A Tour, And a New Dawn Upon Us


Our Europe tour has ended, and our Night Lords' tour is about to end, and in the process of recovering from travel, we would like to thank everyone who contributed or helped achieving this dream: E.M Management, Ministry of Culture (Minister Gaby Layoun, Mr. Michelle, and especially Ms. Amal Mansour), Our sponsor Turkish Airlines, our financial support Mr. 

Friday, August 03, 2012

Off to Battle

We have been in Ukraine for the past three days, in Evapatoria in the Criman area, and it is a very weird place for us as we are not used to this culture, the atmosphere is so beautiful, people are more than friendly and we are enjoying the Baltic sea's Metal of the day. We will be performing tomorrow in Metal Heads` Mission and then we will be off to Metal Camp in Slovenia, we will be updating our facebook status and twitter along our Blogsite so stay tuned:

http://www.facebook.com/blaakyum
http://www.twitter.com/blaakyumband

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Date in Slovenia and Slovakia announced

After announcing our participation in MetalCamp 2012 in Slovenia (via our facebook page check the post here https://www.facebook.com/Blaakyum ) and adding it to our Night Lords tour, we have finally confirmed and added our date in Bratislava - Slovakia to the Night Lords tour on the 8th of August 2012

http://www.randalclub.eu/en

Monday, July 09, 2012

Rabih Deaibess Joins Blaakyum


Rabih Deaibess

Rabih DeaibessAfter changing many lead guitarists since 2009 (excluding the original reformation lead Elias Rahbani) and after three years of partnership with Mr. Elias Njeim, who had to depart from the band due to his personal life obligations (good luck with the music school mate) and after having the incredible Sevag Hadjian on board with us in few concerts (thank you for the support mate) our latest addition in the band is Mr. Rabih Deaibess who will be handling the lead guitars duties.

Welcome brother (literally as he is my brother) to the band, we will make sure to make your life Hell ;) welcome to your nightmare.

Bassem Deaibess
Rabih Deaibess


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Blaakyum takes part on Musicage.org package


Music Rage is an innovative independent community site, that offers packs of music, here is there description:

"Music Rage delivers packs of albums by lesser-known, independent artists, priced with pay-what-you-like model. You decide how much you pay and how much of your cash goes directly to artists (no middlemen!), and how much goes to MusicRage.org.

There are three packs, a Metal pack, a Rock Pack, and an Alternative-Indie pack.
Choose the genre pack you want and enjoy! Just make it quick, countdown timer is ruthless."
musicrage.org

Blaakyum's album is available as part of the Metal Pack, if you are outside Lebanon this is your chance to buy the album, along side some great underground Metal music. But hurry up, 6 days left till the package is no longer for sail.

Check out the website, and support Independent Arts \m/

Check out the website here

Saturday, June 16, 2012

"First In Line" Lebanon Tour "Byblos" Diary


Our last date in the "First In Line" tour was in the ancient city of Byblos (Jbeil) and it was a nice event to end this tour, despite the fact that the venue "Beach-Bar Bay 183" is a shitty place (shitty because they lied to the organiser and bands) the event was fairly good, considering the obstacles that it passed through. The fans were wonderful, although at points a bit shy, and we loved seeing the young generation there, and the Byblos fans were as well plenty.
We were rewarded well by the fans, and the Wall of Death was phenomenal, a nice way to end our Lebanese tour.
Here is a video taken from a fan camera showing part of the show where the Wall of Death happened.
Finally we would like to thank all the 375+ fans who made it to the event. We shall see you soon.
Keep Metal alive \m/... and we shall Rise!

  

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

"First In Line" Lebanon Tour "Saida" Diary


What can we say about The Saida Metal scene? These people are HUNGRY for Metal, And we really enjoyed their interaction. We loved the stage and the venue! We would like to thank Maarouf Saad Cultural Centre because they supported us in a way we never expected! We were more than happy to see that there are still people in Lebanon that appreciate alternative arts no matter how that art would seem weird for them.

Saida we are DEFINITELY coming back \m/

Here is a video shot by a fan, the sound of the clip is not very good, but well this is how fan videos usually are. Cheers.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Blaakyum "First In Line" Lebanon Tour - Saida

After touring most of Lebanon we are about to land in Saida. As most of the places we go, we have no idea what to expect as most of these events are based on he local metalheads of each area, so far we have noticed that Zahle has a really bigger Metal Scene than we expected, and we have witnessed the unfortunate downfall of Tripoli Metal Scene, during the first decade of the millennium Tripoli had the best metalheads, the most enthusiastic and musically educated and the scene was in my opinion even way better than Beirut. But we have discovered in our last gig in Tripoli that things has changed and that the metal scene in Tripoli is dead.
So let us hope that Saida would far better...

Here are the event description:

As part of its "First in Line" Lebanon tour, Blaakyum will be performing @ Maarouf Saad Cultural Center in Saidai, on Saturday the 18th of May.

Opening band:

Unnamed (Rock and Blues)

Main band:
Blaakyum (Heavy/Thrash Metal)

Event start at 7:30 pm

Ticket for 10$

Tickets are available in Saida at:
AUL, AUST, LIU and the Lebanese University



Bassem Deaibess


Thursday, May 10, 2012

First In Line" Lebanon Tour "Tripoli" Diary

As the tour goes one, here are some pics taken by the fans, from our Tripoli show:

Click on the picture to enlarge

Friday, April 27, 2012

"First In Line" Lebanon Tour "Beirut" Diary


We usually post a bit about each gig we are playing within this tour, so far we covered Egypt, Zahel and Der El Qamar (Lebanon), but as we were about to put our thoughts into the Beirut gig diary we saw this clip on Elias Njeim's facebook page, and we thought, this would be our diary, so we hope you enjoy it:

This Clip was created by Mr. Julien Srour, Elias Njeim's personal photographer
 



Blaakyum would like to thank Julien Srour for this lovely clip.

(Footage from Blaakyum "First In Line" Tour - Beirut.
Music: Awakened Dreams (Studio Version)

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

A New United Dawn for Lebanese Metal

It was worth mentioning that the Middle Eastern Scene has become a major point of attraction and that it has established itself as a main contributor to the new talents in the International Metal scene and Metal music under all it's sub-genres. It is more than obvious that MENA will play a major role in the New Age of Metal and will carry on the flame. So when Blaakyum and Cenotaph were announced to perform in Metal Heads' Mission Festival 2012, it was a great thing to see two bands from the Middle East preparing to assault Ukraine with Heavy, Thrash and Death Metal.

But then came the greatest news I have ever heard since I ever became a Lebanese Metalhead; Kimaera will join the set, so we can all add Doom to the list above \m/. There are no words that can describe my joy and enthusiasm, if I was so looking forward for our show in Ukraine (the second show we give in Europe after London in 2007, and the first in Eastern Europe) now I am looking forward for it a hundred folds. Having Kimaera with us in MHM Fest in Ukraine just boosted the band and my personal feeling of pride. There is nothing greater than sharing the stage with our Brothers... Kimaera and Blaakyum will be hitting the stage in Ukraine and we cannot wait to show everyone some good skull crushing head banging Lebanese Metal.

Here is for a United Lebanese Scene \m/

Bassem Deaibess

"First In Line" Lebanon Tour Diary

After Egypt, we came back right into the "First In Line" tour of Lebanon. Our first Stop was Zahle, the Bride of the Beqaa. The event was great, the band had a blast, and so did the fans, we enjoyed the good sound system (Better than most Beirut sounds we had to deal with). The night was smooth and we were welcomed by the Beqaa Metal fans with enthusiasm. (Beqaa Promoter 4 U 2 Feel)

Next stop was Der El Qamar the capital of the Shouf mountains... What can we say, the city is a beauty that is beyond description and to be playing there in a glorious pub made of stone... We really had a blast... And we loved seeing some really old timers, great spirited Metalheads from the elder generation. (Shouf Promoter Mark Azzi)

Our next stop is Beirut at Nova club this Saturday, and we can't wait to be back to the place that gave us Birth, to our hometown... Beirut, get ready to make the world feel the earth shake \m/

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The Land of the Sphinx and the golden Pyramids has been conquered

Blaakyum would like to Thank Metal Blast crew, friends and fans who made this concert a possibility, The band gave one of its best shows, and we were blown away by the enthusiasm of the fans, and we loved witnessing the Egyptian Moshpit \m/ - As we said on our facebook fan page:

"...We can't wait to tell Lebanon about the Egyptian Metal scene, you guys keep it together, and we will Rise.

We would like also to say that the Egyptian bands, Karma and Wyvern are really great... Karma with its groove metal will definitely blow the minds of our Lebanese NuMetal fans, a very tight and ambitious band.
Wyvern, is a mirror of Blaakyum in Egypt, play a very similar style, being the oldest and having pass through the similar obstacles...

And last but not least Metal Blast crew, you guys are the Heroes of the Nile... And we will always be ready to cooperate with you, such high standard organization and professionalism... You kick some serious big fat fucking ass \m/

Egypt, we can say one thing: You Rock \m/
Keep Metal Alive... For We Shall Rise \m/"

Blaakyum album is on Sale at Vibe's studio in dokki - Cairo and at Bikya Book Store.

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Blaakyum Playing At "Metal Heads' Mission" Ukraine

Metal Head's Mission Fest
Blaakyum has been confirmed to play at Metal Heads' Mission Festival Ukraine 2012 on August the 4th.
This event is part of the "Night Lords" tour in support of our debut album "Lord of The Night" we are looking forward to this new step in the history of the band, and will bring Middle Eastern Heavy and Thrash Metal to Europe. Stay tuned for more dates to be added.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Blaakyum announce "Night Lords" Tour

While Blaakyum is being currently booked in many countries around our area, After booking most Lebanese dates for their "First In Line" tour, and having Egypt on the tour list, Blaakyum is being currently booked in Europe and Asia, dates and venues and countries will be announced once they are announced officially by the promoters. For this end, Blaakyum is announcing the name of it's Tour: Night Lords Tour, in support of it's debut album, the tour so far holds 4 countries:

Egypt: Metal Blast event
Lebanon: "First In Line Lebanon Tour"
Europe: Metal Heads' Mission Festival Ukraine 2012
Asia: TBA

Thursday, March 29, 2012

New Dates posted



Blaakyum Will be going on Tour to support it's Debut release "Lord Of The Night". The tour will be divided in two parts. Egypt Concert, and the "First In Line" Tour that will take place, for the first time in Lebanon's History, across Lebanon.

It is to be noted that never in the history of Rock and Metal did a Lebanese band tour the whole of Lebanon, as in the past big concerts were being held strictly in Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon, and to a lesser extent in Tripoli, while other areas in Lebanon were left neglected or had only it's local bands performing.

Blaakyum hope that this tour will open the gate for a wider national Rock music movement, and hope to encourage other bands to perform all over the Lebanese territories.
Confirmed Dates:

Egypt Metal Blast's Metal: The Heavy Dose
06.04.2012 El Sawy Culturewheel  Cairo, Eygpt

The First In Line
13.04.2012  Zahle Boulevard (60's Pub) Zahle, Lebanon
15.04.2012  Blind Bar Lounge   Der El Qamar, Lebanon
21.04.2012  Nova Club,  Beirut, Lebanon
05.05.2012  Solitaire Music School  Tripoli, Lebanon
12.05.2012  Maarouf Saad Cultual Center Saida, Lebanon

*More Dates will be added as soon as venues are booked in EUROPE, ASIA and around Lebanon: Bshare, Marjeyoun, Ain Ibil and definitely Beirut are among the places being booked

Beirut Date Added

Blaakyum will be performing it's Beirut Date in the "First In Line" Tour at Nova Sin El Fil on the 21st of April, It is to be noted that after a few months of being away from Rock and Metal, the pub is now BACK in Black and Blaakyum will inauguration the re-initiation of Nova to Metal.

Thursday, March 08, 2012

Blaakyum "First In Line" Tour

Blaakyum Will be going on Tour to support it's Debut release "Lord Of The Night". The tour will be divided in two parts. Egypt Concert, and the "First In Line" Tour that will take place, for the first time in Lebanon's History, across Lebanon.

It is to be noted that never in the history of Rock and Metal did a Lebanese band tour the whole of Lebanon, as in the past big concerts were being held strictly in Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon, and to a lesser extent in Tripoli, while other areas in Lebanon were left neglected or had only it's local bands performing.

Blaakyum hope that this tour will open the gate for a wider national Rock music movement, and hope to encourage other bands to perform all over the Lebanese territories.
Confirmed Dates:

Egypt Metal Blast's Metal: The Heavy Dose
06.04.2012 El Sawy Culturewheel Cairo, Eygpt

The First In Line
13.04.2012 Zahle Boulevard (60's Pub) Zahle, Lebanon
15.04.2012 Blind Bar Lounge Der El Qamar, Lebanon
05.05.2012 Solitaire Music School Tripoli, Lebanon
12.05.2012 Maarouf Saad Cultual Center Saida, Lebanon

*More Dates will be added as soon as venues are booked, Bshare, Marjeyoun, Ain Ibil and definitely Beirut are among the places being booked

Friday, February 10, 2012

Blaakyum Topping the Charts again, interviews and radio play



Blaakyum, a Lebanese thrash act, were at the top of the Metal chart last week, and they're still there this week. Good job, guys!
 http://signmeto.roadrunnerrecords.com/blogs/2012-2-7-who-charted-february-7-2012

Blaakyum have been on the top of the Roadrunner Records' Sing Me To Metal charts for the past two weeks and has received the attention of some well known Metal Blogs and onlline radios around the globe,

Blaakyum has been aired on   Metal Messiah Radio http://www.metalmessiahradio.com
Renegade Radio http://www.renegaderadio.net
Metality Radio http://www.metality.net

As well as reviewed on Metality Jorzine,

Our latest addition:

Blaakyum, the Lebanese act currently topping the SignMeTo metal chart, have been interviewed over at InvisibleOranges.com, one of the most intelligent metal sites around! It's an in-depth conversation that goes into the cultural background that informs their music, and much more - so head over there and check it out! Congratulations, guys!
 http://signmeto.roadrunnerrecords.com/blogs/2012-2-9-blaakyum-interviewed-on-invisibleoranges

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Blaakyum peaking at #1 on Roadrunner Records' Sing Me To Daily Metal Top 100 Chart on the 25th of January 2012 and remained in the top 3 for  a week fluctuating between #1 and #3

Blaakyum Peaked at #1 in Roadrunner Records' Sign Me To Weekly Metal Top 100 Chart on the 31st of January 2012 and rating 8.3 out of 40 votes.

Blaakyum had registered to Sign Me To on the 14th of January 2012, in less than 10 days it peaked at number #1 in the Daily Metal Chart and in two weeks peaked at #1 in the Weekly Chart, This is another badge of honour added to the band's list of achievements, Blaakyum would like to thank our fans who made it possible.
Keep Metal Alive \m/



http://signmeto.roadrunnerrecords.com/charts

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

A letter from Lady Moon


On the night of "Lord Of The Night" release, Lady Moon sent this letter:


"My Lord... Sir Black.   
    Try as I may, I'm finding it difficult to put my thoughts and feelings into words. Pride, awe, Love... but most of all reverence before a Genius.
    'Lord Of The Night' is not a musical album. It's a piece of divinity - a Masterpiece, at that. So much so we fear it may be beyond humans' capacity to comprehend and appreciate. But to the goDs and Dark Creatures whose souls are attuned to divinity, It is Art supreme. And today, It takes its place among them, in the High Spheres, where it belongs.
All our Love, devotion and immense appreciation to a Mighty Artist.
Lady Moon

Friday 13 Jan 2012"

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Lord Of The Night in Lebanon

The Album Lord Of The Night is available in Lebanon at the following places:

Online:
At LebMetal www.lebmetal.com (Album and T-shirts available)

Beirut:

Kamelot Pub         Gemmayzeh -    03 094574 (+9613094574) call after 3 pm
N-Jam Music Store Sin El Fil -      03 933155 (+9613933155)

Jounieh:

Shadow Metallica Jounieh (Centre Versailles)
Mr. Jad Feitrouni 03 687621 (+9613687621) Call after 1 pm (Album and T-shirts Available)


The Special First Print Limited Edition is half way sold out, so grab your copy as soon as you can.



The next print will be out in a month more details about new selling points will be out soon

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Friday the 13th has passed, and no bad luck!

I would like to commomerate the release of our debute album "Lord Of The Night" by posting a Blog Post from our Bassist Blogsite, while only adding these words:

It is an honour, and a most satisfying thought, that Blaakyum is:

Rany Battikh on Bass
Jad Feitrouni on Drums
Elias Njeim on Lead Guitar
and Bassem Deaibess on vocals and Rhythm Guitar

Blaakyum: A journey to eternity.

Just a couple of hours before Blaakyum's debut album "Lord of the Night" release party, I thought that this would be the right time to write some of the memories I've had being in the band. It's been almost 5 years now and we are just getting started.

It's a warm day in May 2007, I'm at home going through my daily practice routine then I got a call from a dear friend, Anthony Saab, he asked me if I can get to Cherry's (Lebanon's only Metal pub/venue back then) because Bassem Deaibess wanted to talk to me about a new project. I never met Bassem in person before but I've been a huge fan throughout the years. I've seen him perform with so many bands (Communion, Solitaire, Davinci (I'm not sure about the name) ) and I always told my friends that he is the best Metal vocalist in Lebanon by far. So I called my friend Jad Feitrouni (Blaakyum's future drummer) and asked him if he could drive me to Cherry's.

Once we got to Cherry's, I met Bassem and he told me that he was reforming Blaakyum, a legendary Metal band. So far, everything I knew about the band was their infamous 1998 single  "Am I Black". At first, I wasn't so excited about the idea since I'm not into this kind of music (you might want to call it Doom) which was pretty popular in the 90s in Lebanon. Then Bassem picked the guitar up and said: "well I've been composing some Metal songs lately, when I was still with Communion and here's one of them called 'Twisted Evil' ". Believe me I had very low expectations. 19 minutes later Bassem stopped and looked at me and said: "yes, that's an entire song". And what a song! 19 minutes of Thrash riffing, odd time signatures, technical passages...brilliant and just the type of music I was looking for.

We set a rehearsal date and Bassem told me: "this will be a rehearsal and an audition since I've never heard you play before". Blaakyum at that time was: Bassem Deaibess on vocals and rhythm guitar, Ralph Khoury on lead guitar and Georges Nadjarian on drums. I have never met the guys before but I've seen them performing live and they're just top notch musicians. After a week of preparations, the rehearsal day arrived and I actually learned 2 songs (Lord of the Night and Ship of No Return) that Bassem passed to me earlier. The rehearsal went great, I was a bit stressed about the whole idea but when we started jamming I felt right at home. The guys are very professional and some of the nicest people one could meet in the Lebanese music scene.

A couple of days later Bassem called me and informed that I got the gig and we set a schedule for rehearsals, just myself and him so I would learn all the songs he has completed so far. Ralph eventually left the band due to his work. A couple of days later, Anthony told me that Bassem talked to Elias El-Rehbani from the band "Red" to join Blaakyum. I was thrilled to meet this guy since he was one of the best guitarists around (still is). So while Bassem and I finished up a couple of songs Elias joined the line-up and Blaakyum was ready to unleash its fury. We rehearsed twice a week (Sundays and Mondays) at Cherry's and sometimes we would have a whole crowd watching us going through our practice time. I remember very well during rehearsals, Bassem would leave for a few minutes and the 3 of us (Georges, Elias and myself) would start a non-metal jam ranging from jazz/fusion to reggae or some straight-forward Hard Rock. Musically we were getting along so very well. Our first official appearance was at 2007 GBOB's Metal heat at Cherry's. We qualified to the national finals and won. That performance we did in the finals was unforgettable, we were very tight on stage, the crowd was so aggressive so that led us to represent Lebanon in the Worldwide GBOB finals which took place in London, England in December 2007.

Meanwhile, Blaakyum played a couple of gigs at Cherry's and the band was getting much tighter. We've reached a point where the band was divided into 2 camps: Bassem and I defending Metal & Elias and Georges defending Rock and Hard Rock. Georges was already into Metal but he related himself musically to bands such as Led Zepplin and Deep Purple. Shortly after, Bassem and I were blown away by Georges's new Metal techniques, he was all over the place with his beats and rolls and the adaptation of the double-bass technique. Georges is simply a phenomenal drummer.

Traveling to England in December of 2007 was very exciting for me, it was my first airplane experience. The gigs there went fantastically well. Our first gig at "Underground" was the semi-finals of GBOB worldwide. We met so many great people from all over the world and the bands were all great. It is worth mentioning that we were the only Metal band to participate that year. We played our set then went backstage and I told Bassem: "listen, I just had the greatest time ever but I don't think we have a chance against all these bands so let's just enjoy our stay here from the moment". Bassem completely agreed that he even left the venue along with Elias and Georges. I stayed and watched the rest of the show and when the results came in, one of the jury went on stage with a paper in his hand and announced the winning bands in order of appearance. Our order was skipped so I thought that it's over. As I turned my back to leave I heard the jury saying: "...and finally from Lebanon, BLAAKYUM!" I was jumping and cheering like a typical Lebanese guy then I ran outside and informed the guys that we won, we qualified to the finals!

Most of the bands who qualified to the finals agreed to play the same set they did in the semi-finals. But no, not us, we decided to go with new material to showcase our musical diversity. We played our second gig at "Electric Ballroom" where we unfortunately had some sound problems on stage but we had a good time and the audience reacted positively to our music. We ranked 7th out of 32 bands...well we couldn't ask for more, we were Metal, other bands were mainstream Pop/Rock.

Back to Lebanon, Bassem and I spent sleepless nights playing music then having long discussions about Metal. We put together all of our songs into 2 different concept albums (The Land & The Gate) and we were dreaming of recording them. We were so proud of that material back then. Blaakyum played at "Back to the Roots 3" (the biggest Metal event in Lebanon) in March 2008 and it was our last show with Elias who had lost interest in the style and decided to leave the band shortly after. Bassem and I shared this common vision about Metal and Blaakyum, we wanted to take this band so high, we would sacrifice anything to make it out there, in the tough Metal world. Sacrifice came harder than we expected. Bassem who ran Cherry's for 3 years had to shut the place down due to financial reasons and I had to join a big commercial Jazz/Lounge group just to be able to go on...

The Summer of 2008 was a very hard period for Blaakyum. But we played the final edition RockNation (a yearly music festival) as a 3-piece band and released our anger on stage and this performance is voted to be one of our greatest to date. My brother Hady joined the band on lead guitar replacing Elias. Hady added a new element to the band; we weren't used to such guitar playing. He is a shred master. Influenced by Rusty Cooley and Chris Broderick he came into Blaakyum and brought this new technical approach with him. The solos sounded completely different. We did one gig with Hady and we barely had time to prepare for it. Hady felt that he should rehearse more with the band or he would leave Blaakyum for good. Bassem still preferred old-school Hard Rock solos so there was clearly a musical difference in here. Hady eventually left the band 2 months later. We also lost during that time our drummer Georges since he had to leave the band due to his new job.

The only members left in the band were Bassem and myself. The good part is that we never stopped rehearsing as Bassem kept on revealing old songs to me such as "The Gate". During that time I met Elias Njeim, undeniably one of the biggest names among Lebanese musicians. Just like I was a fan of Bassem, I always admired Elias and when I got to talk to him I found out that he is a great guy and an outstanding musician so I immediately asked him to join Blaakyum and he gladly accepted. The very next day I asked a dear friend of mine and a long time co-worker Marc Bassila to join the band and he surprisingly accepted with enthusiasm. We had a couple of rehearsals with this new line-up and the music was so intense, that was a powerful Metal machine. Marc left the band 2 months later due to musical differences and that happened just a week before we had to open for "Lake of Tears" in Kaslik - Lebanon. I talked to my dearest friend Jad Feitrouni whom in my opinion is not just a great drummer but one of the best musicians in this country.  Jad learned our playlist in 5 days and did a great gig. He eventually remained as a permanent member in the band.

Jad revived Blaakyum, he brought us back from the dead. When he first joined the band he wasn't much into Thrash but quickly caught up with the rest of us. Bassem just couldn't believe how fast Jad could adapt to our material and he made us feel like he has been our drummer since day 1. With the band all set we decided it was about time to record our album properly as we already attempted to do so when Georges was still in the band but failed due to wrong recording techniques.

We've been trying to record our album "Lord of the Night" (which is a 'best of' of our 2 previously mentioned concept albums) since late 2008. We've recorded it 4 times in its entirety.

In early 2011, Jad and I founded Phoenikia Studios and we wanted to help all the Lebanese Metal bands to record their music since we have so many lost potential in here. So in Summer of 2011 we decided that it was Blaakyum's time to go again into the studio but this time it's our studio. My bass parts were left from a recording session done in 2010 at Karim Njeim's studios. I wanted to leave them the way they are because they represent the right sound I used for all these years in Blaakyum, the sound that Bassem and I rehearsed for hours while defining our sound together. I do sound different now and I'm using different gear.

With Karim Njeim behind the mixing board we successfully completed our long awaited debut album, I am currently listening to it and can't wait for the release party tonight so people would enjoy it as well. Bassem has practically done nothing, for the past few months, other than working to finalize the albums in every aspect. Jad showed amazing cooperation and Elias would always sneak into the studio to check the progress.

It's great to be in a band with your dearest friends playing your favorite kind of music and living in such a retarded society that keeps on inspiring us. Without our rotten society (a word often used by Bassem) we wouldn't be fueled with anger. We deliver a message of change and respect. I've been in Blaakyum since 2007  and today Friday the 13th of January marks history for the band as we've just started to spread our message to a wider audience. I'm glad to be part of this on-going adventure and no I won't wait for what the future holds, we will hopefully make the future, we shall rise!

Blaakyum is:
Bassem Deaibess - Vocals/Rhythm guitars
Elias Nejim - Lead guitars
Jad Feitrouni - Drums
Rany Battikh - Bass

http://www.blaakyum.com

http://www.reverbnation.com/blaakyum

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

The Final Stage

Mastering is complete, Blaakyum would like to thank Cutting Room Studios and Mr. Björn Engelmann has done a great job.


Next step, Pressing!! The Debut is ready for the printing and information about the release night will be on by midnight... Stay Tuned \m/



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