Egyptian Rock Music

Contrary to popular Western belief, rock music has an influence on a considerably large proportion of music originating from Egypt. The nature of this influence differs with the bands, though; while many of the Egyptian outfits attempt to emulate American and European rock and heavy metal without altering factors that are considered 'generic' in the West, there are also others who use rock not as a primary template but rather an ingredient to mix with the more native Arabic genres; this particular fusion of styles exists in many more areas in the Middle East, Dubai and Bahrain being among the most notable. These combinations lead to a very diverse rock scene in Egypt, but while styles may differ between bands they also lead to differences in recognition and popularity, the country's cultures being the primary factor behind this rift.

As is the case in much of the Middle East, even though fusion and westernization in music is a welcome change, music composed in the Arabic language and predominantly Arabian style is still preferred in the mainstream. Egypt is no exception; in general the bulk of the English rock listeners come from the upper-middle and upper classes, which constitute a relatively small proportion of the Egyptian population. As a result, Arabic-speaking rock bands tend to generate more public interest than those speaking English, although from time to time there have been crossovers between the two musical spheres. With the recent rise in satellite and cable television subscriptions, both local and regional, publicity for rock bands has begun to improve in Egypt; though a majority of the newly formed channels, such as Orascom TV, speak Arabic predominantly on-air, even English-speaking outfits have begun to frequent the scene via interviews and specials on concerts.

Egyptian rock bands

This is a list of the most notable current rock and metal bands originating in Egypt:

*Abuse
*Badapple
*Black Rose
*Brain Candy (The best known punk rock band in Egypt)
*Dark Philosophy
*DaVinCi
*Dieski
* [http://www.myspace.com/diglamusic Digla] (Acoustic/Rock)
*Dusk
*Eftekasat (Contemporary jazz with rock elements)
* [http://www.forgottennotes.com Forgotten Notes]
*Forsaken
*Hatesuffocation
*The Idlemind Project
*Kayan (Arabic-speaking Rock band)
* KONZAROSS ( Psychedelic Melodic Dark Metal ).. "One - Man Project ( Bass & Vocals ) Only. http://www.konzaross.tk"
* [http://www.kravinband.com Kravin]
*The Marbleheads
*MetalloidZ
*Naqada (Hard Rock/Heavy Metal band since 2003)
*Odious (A black metal band, currently under a Greek label)
*Screwdriver
*Sirens (a Savatage tribute band)
*Stigma
*SvartE
*Vybe
*Vyrus
*Wust El-Balad (A soft rock band, probably the only rock band to get a wide following in Egypt, and the only band under a label)
*Wyvern
*Xero (Alternative rock band)