MUTE

(me with Amer, Ziad and Ali)
Wordless I find myself…speechless…
What does it mean to have freewill?
What does it take you to prove, that you’re freewill is really free…
Answers: 1- to have freewill is to form a hard rock\ heavy metal (sometimes), in a city where Ali Aldeek is considered an artist… in a city where you can’t find more than few people who actually listen to real metal…
2- It takes you a hundred Syrian pounds per a month!
Few almost wireless instruments, and the spirit of three talented\hard working guys that lights the dark place, and make the weirdest place in the world where a band can actually practice, seems beautiful on Thursdays…
So as a result…
Mute, the first officially lattakian rock band (as far as I know), have seen the light…
And of course the crazy me who always gets into everything related to music, simply became a friend of the band’s members, after we met at the bus stop :D
Mute was formed two years ago, Sami Zreik “drummer” started the band with Ali Khalil and Maya Mamish on vocals, and of course the very …I’ll call him “yet to be greatest Syrian guitarist” Ziad Khalil… my fave Syrian guitarist…and Mayson on keyboard
After a while Amer Kena’an joined on buss guitar, to complete the first line up, the rehearsing used to take place at the music room at Tishreen University (which after a very short while was closed…because no body benefits of it…and u know how does it work in our country..)
With Maya’s deep voice, the band was ready to perform for the first time in some local restaurant in lattakia, playing some famous cover songs, it was very good as a beginning, and Maya’s voice was awesome!
This was the schedule (don’t remember the right order):
Zombie –the cranberries
Don’t You Cry – Guns N Roses
Creep – Radiohead
Knocking on Heaven’s Door
Gone With the Sin – HIM
Another Brick in the Wall2- Pink Floyd
Come as You Are

The crowd was simply…not a crowd!! Few ppl heard of this concert, so few ppl went, but the reaction was amazing everybody loved the band, and now everyone was waiting to hear from them soon.
But Maya didn’t continue “I don’t know why?” and the lattakian first rock festival was knocking on the doors, and the band was listed in… so a guest vocalist took Maya’s place “unfortunately!” and then was the concert…good concert in general, expect for the vocalist (I delete my first view on the whole concert), at first sight we were thrilled cus you know…lattakian ppl are dying for live shows, and this was the first, so we didn’t really listen! We were actually singing…anyway…we were drunk even by the bad vocalist, cus everything else seemed perfect…

Now that Mayson and Sami left the country for studying, the band is basically keyboardless, and Ali Khalil is the current drummer… but the three of them are on a kind of side-project with another two members of Slumpark Correctional, a hard working thrash metal band from this dead city. I can’t say it’s a side-project, cus Ali is the vocalist in spc, and mute’s members are all spc’s at the same time! Why not…. Due to the lack of talents in lattakia, we’ll have 10 bands with Ziad, Amer and Ali in! as Ziad once said ; )
No matter what I say …I can’t give the “tiny drums” its right…no matter what I say I can’t reflex how it really feels to listen to them practicing… no matter what I say I can’t give them their rights: Take ur hats off for this band guys… they’re –surely- a very unique Syrian band…and we’ll always be proud of you dear friends…
I had some chat with the guys n I asked them few questions:
1- influences:
Amer Kana’an : John Linon, Savatage, Yngwie Malmsteen.
Ziad Khalil: Chris Oliver –Savatage
Ali Khalil: Savatage, (as for vocals- Soulfly’s vocalist “sorry Ali I’m so stupid to remember n I forgot his name”)

2- how do u see the metal scene?
Ziad: good…normal
Ali: Sucks!
Me ( :D) : Sucks…but with u guys in…it’s gonna get better I hope.

Finally I have to mention, that all of the three guys are self-educated musicians. Beware they’re preparing for something…
Till next time…Metal Lives…(more pix to be added soon...as soon as i finish exams....i know that i've abandoned this dear blog for a real while...but i guess i'm coming back...)