Massive Scar Era |

0 Antichrist Metalzine Compilation #20 w/ Accursed Spawn, Infrared, Massive Scar Era, Tornado, Widow’s Peak, Xael

0 Denied At US Border Question’s Who Is “Color Blind” – Egyptian / Canadian Metal Band MASSIVE SCAR ERA Premiere Protest Video via Decibel Magazine

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NEWS RELEASE

Montreal, QC – April 25, 2018

Denied At US Border Question’s Who Is “Color Blind”

Egyptian / Canadian Metal Band MASSIVE SCAR ERA Premiere Protest Video via Decibel Magazine

L-R – Cherine Amr (Guitar + Vocals), Allan Heppner (Session Drummer), Nancy Mounir (Violin + Percussion + Egyptian Flute), Dylan Wijdenes-Charles (Bass)
Photo Credit: My City Photos

Obstacles and persecution, these are just a few of the things Cairo / Vancouver post hardcore band MASSIVE SCAR ERA have become accustom to since first forming in Alexandria, Egypt in 2005 where they were accused of being Satanist for simply just performing the music they love, a form of metal with classical and Middle Eastern influences. Over the years, through all the struggles, band co-founder Cherine Amr decided it was time to relocate to a safe haven where the band’s artistry would be more accepting. With the difficult decision along with other founding member Nancy Mournir, MASSIVE SCAR ERA would be a band working in two continents from two countries. Cherine would relocate to Vancouver, Canada and Nancy would remain in Cairo, Egypt. Over the years, the band has seen much attention for their unique take on metal along with their lyrical messages. They have performed on festivals such as Metalocalypstick (Canada), Total Metal Festival (Italy), Inferno Metal Festival (Norway), FreakStock Festival (Germany), Saxstock Festival (Germany), Metal Asylum, Dubai (UAE), SOS Music Festival (Egypt) and Sweden Rock Festival, but there was one event last year during March 2017, SXSW in Austin, TX, MASSIVE SCAR ERA were denied performing at, even though they had showcased in 2015 and 2013. On their travel to the festival through Canada, the band was blocked from entry at the USA border.

Cherine Amr comments:

“Last year, the band was invited once again to perform at SXSW, although Egypt wasn’t on Trump’s ban list along with being granted the visas from the American embassy, the border agents didn’t allow us into the country. We were given multiple inexplicable excuses.”

This denial fueled MASSIVE SCAR ERA‘s next musical expression / protest in the form of their fifth EP “Color Blind”.

Cherine adds:

“The new EP we are planning to release later this year is heavily influenced by this incident; the songs mostly talk about discrimination and stereotype. Plus we continue to introduce pre-colonial Egyptian music to our sound celebrating our Egyptian identity, which means all the violins are in Egyptian scales and microtones don’t follow the guidelines of the Cairo Music Conference (1932) that was held during the British Colonization of Egypt.”

Joining forces with Decibel Magazine, MASSIVE SCAR ERA are sharing their music video for the EP’s title track. The video is collaboration between the band and Vancouver’s Nebula Company Theatre merging modern contemporary dance with metal music to demonstrate the artistic emotions MASSIVE SCAR ERA have felt during their US denial to SXSW in 2017.

Watch “Color Blind” at the following link: https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2018/04/25/watch-massive-scar-era-channel-traditional-egyptian-influence-on-color-blind/

MASSIVE SCAR ERA‘s single “Color Blind” is available for download on Bandcamp here.

Track Listing:
1. Color Blind (3:13)

Recording Band Line Up:
– Cherine Amr (Vocalist, Guitar)
– Nancy Mounir (Violin + Percussion + Egyptian Flute)
– Dylan Wijdenes-Charles (Bass)

Live Band Line Up:
– Cherine Amr (Vocalist, Guitar)
– Nancy Mounir (Violin)
– Meghan Engel (Viloin and Cello)
– Dylan Wijdenes-Charles (Bass)
– Allan Heppner (Drums)

For more info:
http://www.massivescarera.com
http://www.facebook.com/massivescarera
http://www.twitter.com/MassiveScarEra
http://www.instagram.com/MassiveScarEra
EPK – https://wp.me/pciNW-bU7
(Bio written by Steve Earles)

– 30 –

“Egypt’s female fronted metal band Massive Scar Era shred a whole new sound.” – Bitch Media

” Massive Scar Era tends to describe itself as a posthardcore act. That doesn’t begin to do the group justice on 30 Years, which might be the most fascinating dark-horse record to come out of the city this year.” The Georgia Straight (Vancouver)

“Fighting every step of the way, Massive Scar Era is determined to bring their music to the world. Amr’s heavy riffs and wailing growls are offset by her singing voice and middle-eastern steeped violin. It all comes together for some truly unique hardcore music. The anger in “My Ground,” their last single, speaks to every touring female musician who has ever faced sexism (read: all of them), and the groove in “Pray” would get even the staunchest arms-crossed-at-the-back-of-the-crowd concert goer moving. We can all be thankful they’ve stood their ground, and that their new EP, 30 Years, comes out.” – Beatroute (BC)

—

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0 EPK – Massive Scar Era – Color Blind (2018) (single)

Massive Scar Era – Color Blind (2018) (single)

Release Date: April 25, 2018

For fans of Seether, Jinjer, Kittie, Alternative Metal bands and metal bands with cultural influences, Arch Enemy, Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, Epica

Publicist – Jon Asher – ashermedia(@)gmail.com

“Egypt’s female fronted metal band Massive Scar Era shred a whole new sound.” – Bitch Media

Track Listing:

1. Color Blind (3:13)

Single Credits:
• All songs performed by: Cherine Amr, Nancy Mounir, Dylan Wijdenes-Charles, and Allan Heppner
• All songs written by: Cherine Amr, Nancy Mounir, Dylan Wijdenes-Charles, and Allan Heppner
• Produced by: Massive Scar Era + Matt Roach
• Mixed and Engineered by: Matt Roach
• Mastered by: Dan Swano
• Album Artwork by: Mohamed El-Sherbieny
• Member of SOCAN
• Canadian Content (MAPL)
• Album Band Line Up:
– Cherine Amr (Vocalist, Guitar)
– Nancy Mounir (Violin + Percussion + Egyptian Flute)
– Dylan Wijdenes-Charles (Bass)

Live Band Line Up:
– Cherine Amr (Vocalist, Guitar)
– Nancy Mounir (Violin)
– Meghan Engel (Viloin and Cello)
– Dylan Wijdenes-Charles (Bass)
– Allan Heppner (Drums)

Discography:
2018 – Color Blind (single)
2016 – 30 Years (EP)
2012 – Comes Around You (EP)
2011 – Precautionary Measures (EP)
2010 – Unfamiliar Territory (EP)
2006 – Reincarnation (EP)

Shared Stage with:
Kreator, Dream Theatre, Dimmu Borgir, Septic Flesh, The Algorithm, Moonspell

Tours and Festivals:
2017 – Metalocalypstick (Lone Butte, BC)
2016 – Metalocalypstick (Valemount, BC)
2015 – SXSW (Austin, TX)
2014 – Total Metal Festival (Italy)
2014 – Inferno Metal Festival (Norway)
2013 – FreakStock Festival (Borgenstreich, Germany)
2013 – SXSW (Austin, TX)
2012 – Saxstock Festival (Germany)
2012 – Slot Art Festival (Poland)
2011 – Whiskey A Go Go (Los Angeles)
2011 – Metal Asylum, Dubai (UAE)
2011 – Cornerstone Festival, USA
2010 – Dubai Film Festival (UAE)
2010 – Cornerstone Festival (Marietta, IL)
2007 – SOS Music Festival (Egypt)
2008 – Sweden Rock Festival (Sweden)

Music Placements:
Egyptian Award Winning film: MICROPHONE

Endorsements:
Skate Impact (Egypt)

L-R – Cherine Amr (Guitar + Vocals), Allan Heppner (Session Drummer), Nancy Mounir (Violin + Percussion + Egyptian Flute), Dylan Wijdenes-Charles (Bass) – Photo Credit – MY CITY PHOTOS

Even the place, Alexandria, Massive Scar Era formed in is unique, historical, and special, like the band themselves.

From the moment of its establishment by Alexander the Great, Alexandria was always a melting pot of different, creeds, colours, cultures and ideas, like it’s great Pharos Lighthouse, one of the Wonder of the Ancient World, it stood as a shining beacon of courage, culture and change in the world (not for nothing was the Great Library Established there, would that it still stood today, but it was destroyed by barbarians, enemies of truth and change, a cursory glance at the news today will tell you nothing has changed there, as the great 21st century philosopher John Grey said recently: “Human beings never learn and never evolve…Gas attacks on children in Syria, the recreation of the Cold War…there is no evidence human progress is inevitable.”)

Yet, the individual with always have the courage to progress, such an individual hails from Alexandria, Egypt, guitarist and vocalist Cherine Amr.

The courageous Cherine started her musical journey in 2005 when only a teenager. Due to her family’s restrictions, she was only allowed to play music with other women; so she formed the all-female Massive Scar Era.

The travails the band has faced throughout their careers would fill many bios, and we can only salute their courage and conviction, this is a band that truly deserve all our support.

Cherine formed a musical partnership with violinist Nancy Mounir; they melded their distinctive musical backgrounds to create something truly special and original, which combines Middle Eastern music with metal. Massive Scar Era began to attract an audience, allowing them to tour Europe and North America.

Make no mistake, Massive Scar Era’s path has been hard. Even though they were invited to perform at SXSW last year, they were unable to do so (despite Egypt not being on the Trump Ban List).

Their new EP, aptly titled ‘Colour Blind’ will be released this year. We should all aim to live in a world that is blind not just to colour, race, and religion.

Cherine says that the EP is “heavily influenced by the incident at SXSW. The songs talk about discrimination and stereotype. We continue to introduce pre-colonial Egyptian music to our sound, celebrating the Egyptian identity, which means all the violin’s Egyptian scales and microtones in this EP do not follow the guidelines of the Cairo Music Conference (1932) that was held during the British Colonization of Egypt. Plus with the addition of Dylan Widjenes-Charles to the band as our bassist. He’s an indigenous guitarist, bassist, and songwriter from Musqueam that is heavily influenced by Edge of Sanity, Opeth, Ihsan, and Porcupine Tree. He has been my creative companion for COLOR BLIND. Dylan grew up on the reserve and his life wasn’t easy, we all know the discrimination that indigenous people are facing and 25 years ago, things were even worse than now. The experiences we share as band members are quite similar and this what made the creative process smoother because we all understood, felt, and lived what the songs are actually talking about.”

Influenced by Egyptian folk music, metalcore, hardcore, metal and punk, Cherine describes Massive Scar Era’s music as a “colourful fusion of metal, pop, and Egyptian music.”

Cherine explains the band’s name refers “simply to the trauma the world is living in today.”

Cherine can promise that, unlike so many bands, Massive Scar Era can truly give their fans a unique listening experience. “We incorporate a lot Egyptian elements in our music, even the accent in the singing gives the band an identity in its sound. We want to project how we feel and deliver another perspective of music that is 100% influenced by all the sexism and discrimination we face. It’s not common for women to lead the writing process, we usually see contributions in the lyrics or vocals but the full production of leadership isn’t common…With that in mind, our experiences are different and this would reflect by nature in our writing. Nature’s biological diversity can be a reason why people experience certain things and we just feel that our experience as women of color in a male-dominated industry/society/culture hasn’t been represented yet.”

Massive Scar Era have more music to offer but are “constrained by financial resources, this is why we release EPs only, but we have the capacity to write more if we have the resources.”

Their unique experiences have created a unique sound. “We have been around for 13 years now. Our music has become more mature because we evolved as people. Nancy has explored a lot of sounds and studied a lot of traditional Egyptian pre-colonial music, which influenced her compositions. She also continuously explores other folk instruments from many parts of the world which opens the door to new ideas in the arrangements.”

Yet despite hardships that would have broken lesser bands, Massive Scar Era “are bright on stage and we have a positive energy and attitude.”

Category: Massive Scar Era

0 Antichrist Metalzine Compilation #20 w/ Accursed Spawn, Infrared, Massive Scar Era, Tornado, Widow’s Peak, Xael

0 Spirit Level Magazine – SINGLE REVIEW: MASSIVE SCAR ERA – COLOR BLIND

0 Nataliez World – Massive Scar Era’s Cherine Talks of being Color Blinded By Their Own Works!

0 Denied At US Border Question’s Who Is “Color Blind” – Egyptian / Canadian Metal Band MASSIVE SCAR ERA Premiere Protest Video via Decibel Magazine

0 EPK – Massive Scar Era – Color Blind (2018) (single)