1. For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Sure, We are AHL SINA Band from Egypt, Germany and USA, the band was originally formed in Egypt in 2009 founded by our Singer “Moustafa Troll” We want to sound completely different! Making music that doesn’t sound like other bands! Our lyrical message is about human conflicts and peace!
2. Recently you have released your first full length, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on the recording.
AHL SINA is an Oriental Extreme Metal inspired mainly by the old legacy of the Egyptian folklore music mixed with old school Metal. In this record We went through many different styles, you will find the music flow change from one riff to another, from classic rock to the extreme melodic Death & Black metal.
3. The band has been around since 2009 but you waited until 2019 to release the first album, can you tell us a little bit more about the earlier years?
Actually, the beginning was earlier than 2009, it was Me, Shung & Ronnie alone in a band called (BEYOND EAST). In 2005 we recorded our first EP then I left the band for some health issues! In 2009 I returned to Cairo from Sinai and met with Shung, I told him about the idea of AHL SINA & the debut album concept of 'Troops of Pain', we wrote together “as usual” few new songs then we formed a complete line up of 9 members, performed in some festival in Cairo for three times till 2014, the lineup changed a lot during that time, and I felt it wouldn’t be the right step to record the album back then. In 2015 I moved to Germany and it took around two years to find the right members. I found our drummer Shaadie from USA, Stefanie (Violin) & Marcel (Bass guitar) from Germany and of course we all consider them a great gift to AHL SINA, then our professional & talented Producer ‘Joey Jones’ so it was just the right time to record this album.
4. The lyrics on the recording are a concept album, can you tell us a little bit more about the story you cover with your songwriting?
The album has a flow of events in the sequence of the songs. From the track 1 to track 8, the story unfolds of creation, humanity and what we have become. The main focus is on racism and bigotry, which we criticize in our album, and the story of false preachers in various religious institutions.
Track 1, "The Gift", is about the creation of the Earth, how untouched & virgin it was and how harmonious everything was.
Track 2, "Vowed", describes how evil swept through the Earth & how it poisoned generation after generation.
Tracks 3, 4 & 5: As you can see on the album cover artwork, three false preachers are represented watching the Earth burning because of their corrupt preaching, who abused peaceful messages and turned them into hate, separation, war, racism and bigotry.
Track 6, "Beyond the East", describes how the Eastern civilization was thriving and offered humanity enlightenment, science and justice.
Track 7, "No Boundaries - The Fall of Utopia": AHL SINA is destroying racism and bigotry.
Track 8, "Troops of Pain": This is the peaceful message that AHL SINA is aspiring to and hoping for. Troops of pain are those who suffered and died as a result of such hypocrisy, those who bared the consequence of such sinister, conniving and ongoing conspiracy. Our message is a message of peace that sheds light on this perpetual global topic that existed since the beginning of time, passing from one era to the next for centuries till the end of time. Our message is directed against those false preachers from different faiths, who stained what was supposed to be pure, that turned man against his brother till destruction prevailed!
Track 9, "Regret": An instrumental song/outro for which we used a fusion of two different instruments, one from the West and one from the East, hoping that music can unite us all and that’s why we chose this title.
5. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'AHL SINA'?
AHL SINA simply means people of Sinai, but I had a specific reason for choosing this name. Sinai is a very peaceful place for all human beings, cultures and races. People can live there together in peace, no matter where they come from or what they believe.
6. Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the album cover/
The three represented false preachers from the three monotheistic religions! Those who abused any peaceful messages and turned it into hate, separation, war, racism & bigotry! Watching the earth burning is enough proof to their corrupt preaching!
7. All of the band members live in different parts of the world, can you tell us how this works out in the recording process?
The foundation of the line-up was not easy, that’s why we had several changes between 2009 back home in Egypt, when the band started, and 2014, except for the four rooted members! Me, my music mate Shung, the guitarist and the music composer of this album, and the oriental section Ahmed Eskandarny on nay flutes and Amr Zanaty on percussion. After I moved to Germany I was lucky enough to find Shaadie Khoury our drummer. Shaadie is a very well known drummer in the Egyptian scene. He moved to America back in '97
I then found Stefanie Pfaffenzeller from the Frankfurt Radio Symphony to be our violinist. I heard her in a chamber music concert as a soloist and she truly amazed me. I offered her to meet and listen to our album guide. Marcel Hauptmann on bass guitar, I play with Marcel in Thrash Metal Band called WAR AGENDA.
It was a big risk to work on an album between three different continents, ONLINE, and the members would NOT meet! I thought for many nights that it would never work, but I was wrong. It worked better than we ever imagined! I organized everything from Germany. The recording started in Cairo - Egypt, all guitars, nay flutes, percussion and keyboards. Then the studio in Cairo transferred all the recorded materials (stems) to me. Then we recorded the violin and bass guitar here in Germany. I added the violin and bass lines (stems) to the others and transferred them to the USA for the drum recording. Then everything was transferred back to me in Germany to finish the recording process with my vocals. That means: Every musician in the band added his own lines that suit the guide of our album.
8. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
Yes we received some deals from some labels but we are waiting for the right one!
9. On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of extreme metal?
It’s surprising somehow! We started having fans from the Classic scene as well since they considered the album as a Rock/Metal Opera! So far it’s really good and we are very happy about the feedback! However we still consider ourselves as an underground/new band and we need sometimes to get recognized by the metal scene worldwide.
10. What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are apart of?
Me & Marcel are working together in the new WAR AGENDA Album, Shaadie is doing some new music for his band ULTRAMUNDANE, Stefanie is in her normal routine as a classic musician in the symphony orchestra, Ahmed is working with Egyptian well-known singers & Amr is doing many workshops and live concerts in the Latin/Jazz scene.
Most importantly, we all started writing the second AHL SINA Album.
11. Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
You never know what the future brings but we are very motivated and hopefully we will some good chances to perform our music in some summer festivals in Europe.
12. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
AHL SINA's music as I mentioned before has a lot of inspirations to the legacy of the old Egyptian folklore music, when it comes to metal inspirations, we are old school Warriors!
13. What are some of your non musical interests?
Hiking. Reading, Meditation & walking in forests!
14. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thank you for interviewing us!
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