Akher Zapheer ( meaning Last Exhale) is a

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

ian

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

Arabic rock band from

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

, formed in late 2007. The band was founded by

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

and

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

Basem Sayej who has been the only constant member throughout multiple line-up changes. The current line-up since 2020 consists of Basem Sayej alongside Rami Alqasem (

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

), Amr Abukhalaf (

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

) and Masis Mardirossian (

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

)

History

Formation and debut album (2007-2012)

Akher Zapheer's

frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

Basem Sayej discovered his passion towards

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

at an early age mentioning that he started writing

songs A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usuall ...

when he was 12 and kept writing during his

adolescence Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age o ...

before forming the band. The band's name, which means "Last Exhale" simply refers to the relief after getting things off chest. Basem Sayej also mentioned that the name was inspired by

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

's exhale while performing

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

's " Where Did You Sleep Last Night". Basem co-founded Akher Zapheer with his childhood friend and neighbor,

Salem Dallal. Basem said that he used to write songs in English, then he stopped and starting writing in Arabic instead. Basem and Salem kept writing songs until they met

Kayed Qunibi and then they started jamming together at Kayed's building which made them face troubles with the neighbors, so they moved their instruments into Mohamed Salem's library in one of

's loudest and busiest streets so no one could be annoyed by their jams. The band's first

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

was Mohammad Awwad who was originally a guitarist but he agreed to turn into

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

in order to join the band. Akher Zapheer kept rehearsing together until they met

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...

and musical producer Sari Abuladel who liked their music and decided to make an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

with the band. Akher Zapheer started working on the new album besides performing live shows which helped building a fanbase for the

ian rockers. The bassist Mohammad Awwad left the band between 2009/2010 and was replaced by bassist Yazan Risheq. In 2011, Akher Zapheer released their hit and most successful song to the day "Akherto Lahen Hazeen" as a

video clip Video clip may refer to: *Short videos, especially short-form content ** Video clip (online media), a short snippet of a video uploaded on the internet *A music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that ...

. It was the first single from their debut album ''Converse Culture''. Starting from October 2012, Akher Zapheer started releasing their album which consisted of 11 songs as a song per day. On January 2, 2013, Akher Zapheer released "Arba’ Seneen" the final song of their album as a video clip. "Converse Culture" was well received by the audience and helped the band to expand its fanbase and become one of the best bands in the alternative scene. At late 2013, Akher Zapheer released an acoustic version of their new single "Bein el waraq" which featured only Basem Sayej and Yazan Risheq on acoustic guitars.

Hiatus (2013-2016) - (2016-2018)

Akher Zapheer took a break for 3 years due to Basem's engagement outside of

. Basem took advantage of these 3 years writing new material for their new album ''Emm Elmousiqa''. The band reformed in 2016 with 3 new members:

Rami Alqasem,

Abdulrahman Alatari and

Motaz Almasri, replacing the former ones to start promoting for their new album. The new formation of the band performed four live shows together between

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

before going on a hiatus once again for 2 years.

Comeback and new music (2018- )

In September 2018, a shocking comeback was announced when Akher Zapheer's name headlined

ian music festival "Music Park 2". The band returned with the same members except for

Abdulrahman Alatari who joined Autostrad during Akher Zapheer's hiatus and was replaced by

Amr Abukhalaf. The band mentioned during its first interaction with the fans after the comeback that as soon as they are done with "Music Park 2" they are gonna be fully active and will start working on their new album ''Emm Elmousiqa''. Basem Sayej also added that he wrote new material in 2018 for a 3rd album that will be named ''Tho3ban''. On October 5, 2018, Akher Zapheer performed at Music Park festival for an epic comeback performance. The

setlist A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

featured songs from their debut album ''Converse Culture'' and their next 2 albums ''Emm Elmousiqa'' and ''Tho’ban''. In March 2019, It was announced that Akher Zapheer are participating in Redbull Soundclash in

playing against

ian band Autostrad on April 4 of the same year. Akher Zapheer showed a huge talent at Redbull Soundclash and their performance was admired by the thousdands who attended the show as they played a couple of their most rocking songs on the Warm-up round. And covered Egyptian veteran

Mohamed Mounir Mohamed Mounir (; born October 10, 1954) is an Egyptian singer and actor, with a musical career spanning more than four decades. He incorporates various genres into his music, including classical Egyptian music, Nubian music, Blues, Jazz and ...

's " Ashky Lmeen " turning it into a rock tune on "The Cover" round. Akher Zapheer's performance witnessed their talent in playing different genres other than rock such as:

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

Reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

and Electronic. In May 2019, photos of Akher Zapheer in the rehearsal room showed Masis Mardirossian on drums replacing Motaz Almasri who left the band. Masis played his very first live performance with Akher Zapheer on PPTT Red Online Concert. The band's performance featured 3 of their big hits in addition to a new song named "Kaslan". In June 2019, Akher Zapheer performed in the celebration of Europe Day in

. In July 2019, Akher Zapheer headlined

ian

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

"Redbull Local Vocals". In August 2019, Akher Zapheer Played an epic

sold out To "sell out" is to compromise one's integrity, morality, authenticity, or principles in exchange for personal gain, such as money or power. In terms of music or art, selling out is associated with attempts to tailor material to a mainstream or ...

show in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

. The band's performance was 2 hours long and the

contained 22 songs. In October 2019, Akher Zapheer played their very first gig in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Emm Elmousiqa and live gigs

On January 3, 2020, Akher Zapheer released a video clip of their new song Metfaje’ as the first single of their new album "Emm Elmousiqa". Emm Elmousiqa is the band's second studio album that came after 8 years from the release of their debut album ''Converse Culture''. The 2nd album was released as singles and contained 10 songs. On January 9, Akher Zapheer headlined the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Music Event in

. On March 5, Akher Zapheer played an epic sold-out show at Elsawy Culture Wheel in Egypt.

Tho3ban 2022

On June 8, Akher Zapheer released the song "Shakhsi El da’em" as the first single from their third studio album ''Tho3ban''. Shakshi El da'em's video clip was shot in Beirut and was directed by Basem's sister, Sandra Sayej. On June 14, Akher Zapheer released Urtuwazi as the second single of Tho3ban. The footage of Urtuwazi's video clip was fully generated by Artificial Intelligence, the first of its kind in the Middle East. On June 17, Akher Zapheer released their third studio album Tho3ban, containing 7 tracks. DotMsr: "آخر زفير".. رمز الموسيقى الأردنية المستقلة

Musical style, lyrical themes and influences

Throughout its career, Akher Zapheer has been described as

Alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

Grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

Hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

Punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

. The band's musical style is hugely influenced and driven by the grunge scene in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. The band has mentioned that they have been influenced by many bands such as:

, Duman,

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and tu ...

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

Placebo A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. They comprise lead singer Alex Turner, drummer Matt Helders, guitarist Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O'Malley. The co-founder and original bassist Andy Nicholson ...

, Slipknot and Dream Theater. Akher Zapheer songs are all written by Basem Sayej. The band's lyrics are mainly melancholic and enraged. Akher Zapheer lyrics tackle social issues, political issues, love and depression. Basem Sayej mentioned that all the lyrics are inspired by true events that influenced him to write about. Sayej discussed his writing process mentioning that he always has to be sad in order to write new songs and he has never been able to write new songs while he was happy. File:Akher Zapheer Music Park 2018.jpg, Music Park 2018 File:Akher Zapheer Soundclash 2019.jpg, Soundclash 2019 File:Red bull local vocals-akher zapheer-26.jpg, Redbull Local Vocals 2019 File:Akher Zapheer Europe Day Concert.jpg, Akher Zapheer at the Boulevard 2019 File:Akher Zapheer Alexandria.jpg, Alexandria 2019 File:Akher Zapheer Beirut .jpg, Beirut 2019

Members

;Present *Basem Sayej - electric guitar and vocals (2007–Present) *Rami Alqasem - Bass guitar (2016–Present) *Amr Abukhlif - Lead guitar (2018–Present) *Masis Mardirossian - Drums (2019–present) ;Past *Mohammad Awwad - Bass Guitar (2007-2009) *Kayed Qunibi - Drums (2007 - 2013) *Salem Dallal - Lead Guitar (2007-2013) *Yazan Risheq - Bass guitar (2009-2013) *Motaz Almasri - Drums (2016-2019)

Discography

Albums

*Converse Culture (2012) *Emm El Mousiqa (2020) *Tho3ban (2022) *Mesh Fann (2023)

References

16. ^akher zapheer at music park 2 (2018) 17. ^akher zapheer live at redbull soundclash 2019

External links

* {{Authority control Jordanian rock music groups