Crescent is a

blackened death metal Blackened death metal (also known as black death metal) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that fuses elements of black metal and death metal. The genre emerged in early 1990s when black metal bands began incorporating elements of death met ...

band from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

, founded in 1998. Crescent formed in 1998 as a black metal band, making it one of the oldest extreme metal bands in Egypt and the region. It was the first to perform at

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music, rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and su ...

and many other festivals and countries. Crescent headlined numerous gigs and concerts in their homeland – Egypt, such as in El Sawy Culture Wheel,

Bibliotheca Alexandrina The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Latin for "Library of Alexandria"; arz, مكتبة الإسكندرية ', ) is a major library and cultural center on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria, Egypt. It is a commemoration of the Library ...

, Swiss Club,

Azhar Park Al-Azhar Park ( ar, حديقة الأزهر ) is a public park located in Cairo, Egypt. Among several honors, this park is listed as one of the world's sixty great public spaces by the Project for Public Spaces. The park was created by the Histo ...

and many other small venues.

History

Founding and early days (1998)

Crescent was formed in 1998 in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...

, Egypt by Ismaeel Attallah and Amr Mokhtar. They started as a pure

black metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw ( lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an em ...

band, inspired by

Dissection Dissection (from Latin ' "to cut to pieces"; also called anatomization) is the dismembering of the body of a deceased animal or plant to study its anatomical structure. Autopsy is used in pathology and forensic medicine to determine the cause ...

At The Gates At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal alongside In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Prior to their first disbandment in 1996, At the ...

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

and

Bolt Thrower Bolt Thrower were an English death metal band from Coventry. They formed in 1986 and released their first album with Vinyl Solution in 1988. The band then shifted to a new record label, Earache Records, soon becoming one of the best selling ba ...

. They released a demo in 1999 titled ''Edgar Allan Poe's "Dreamland"''. Later, they started gradually shifting towards the Egyptian death metal sound using Eastern sounding scales, going back to the roots to embrace the Egyptian sound.

EP: The Retribution (2008)

In 2008, they released the EP, ''The Retribution'' which marked their shift towards a more melodic and death metal-inclined sound.

''Pyramid Slaves'' (2014) and Metal Apocalypse Euro tour

Before ''Pyramid Slaves'', Crescent changed about four of rhythm guitarists. They self-released ''Pyramid Slaves'' in 2014, which signified their ultimate shift towards their unique blackened death metal with Egyptian elements sound they possess today along with adopting Ancient Egyptian-based lyrical themes. In the same year, Crescent announced being on the

Metal Apocalypse Euro Tour A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typical ...

. They went on the tour in May 2014 sharing the stage with international bands covering

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

Wacken 2014 and new rhythm guitarist (2015)

2014 is the year that marked Crescent going international. On 30 July 2014, Crescent won the local metal battle of the bands 2014 in Cairo, Ginnina Theater at

and represented Egypt for the first time at Wacken’s 25th Anniversary. Crescent was the first band from Egypt and the Middle East to participate in Wacken, battling against 30 other countries and reaching the top 10. On the first day of 2015, they announced Youssef Saleh as the new rhythm guitarist and backing-vocalist and on 3 April they took part of the Inferno Fest in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

sharing stage with bands including Behemoth,

Septicflesh Septicflesh (formerly known as Septic Flesh) are a Greek death metal band from Athens, founded in 1990. History Septicflesh were formed in Athens in March 1990 by Sotiris Vayenas (guitar), Spiros Antoniou (bass and vocals), and Christos Ant ...

, My Dying Bride,

Bloodbath Bloodbath is a Swedish death metal supergroup from Stockholm, formed in 1998. The band has released six full-length albums, two EPs and two DVDs depicting their performances at Wacken Open Air (in 2005) and Bloodstock Open Air (in 2010). The ...

1349 Year 1349 ( MCCCXLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January 22 – An earthquake affects L'Aquila in southern Italy with a maximum Merca ...

, Enslaved and many more. They co-headlined

Metal Blast Festival (Egypt) A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typical ...

in the same year.

''The Order of Amenti'' (2015-2017)

Crescent started working on their second album ''The Order of Amenti'' in 2015. In 2016, Crescent performed at Rockstadt Extreme Fest Indoor Edition in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

, sharing stage with Enslaved, Samael, Anaal Nathrakh, Oceans of Slumber, Ne Obliviscaris, Sinister In 2017, Crescent performed at Ukraine's top metal festivals: Carpathian Alliance (sharing stage with Hate, Cruachan,

Horna Horna (formerly known as Shadowed) is a Finnish black metal band that formed in 1993. The band has appeared on over thirty releases including splits, demos, EPs and albums since 1995, which have been released through numerous record labels. T ...

, Cemetery of Scream,

Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult is a German-Polish black metal band from Dormagen. They are considered to be a traditional black metal band, and as such has been interviewed in 2006 by the Franco-German TV network Arte. The lead singer is fema ...

and many more) and Metal Head's Mission (headliner). In the same year, Crescent performed at Fall of Summer Festival in France among some of the biggest bands in the metal world. In October of the same year, Crescent finalized the making of ''The Order of Amenti'' which was mixed and mastered by Vamacara Studio in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. Crescent is the first and only metal band from Egypt to perform at Wacken Open Air and in France, Ukraine, Norway, and Romania.

''Carving the Fires of Akhet'' (2021-)

On July 16th, they released their 3rd album ''Carving the Fires of Akhet''. The album was nominated 'Global Metal Release Of The Year' at the 2021 Global Metal Apocalypse awards, the album finished 10th.

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1999 till:05/17/2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:01/01/1999 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:01/01/1999 Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:LGuitars value:teal legend:Lead_Guitar id:RGuitars value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_Guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Album value:black legend:Album LineData = at:04/15/2014 color:album layer:back at:02/09/2018 color:album layer:back BarData = bar:Ismaeel text:"Ismaeel Attallah" bar:Marzeban text:"Al sharif Marzeban" bar:Farouque text:"Farouque Akef " bar:Omar text:"Omar Abou Doma" bar:Mohamed text:"Mohamed adel" bar:Youssef text:"Youssef Saleh" bar:Moanis text:"Moanis Salem" bar:André text:"André" bar:Amr text:"Amr Mokhtar" bar:Julian text:"Julian Dietrich" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) bar:Ismaeel from:01/01/1999 till:end color:Vocals bar:Ismaeel from:01/01/1999 till:end color:LGuitars width:7 bar:Ismaeel from:01/01/1999 till:end color:RGuitars width:3 bar:Moanis from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2019 color:Bass bar:Marzeban from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2010 color:RGuitars bar:Farouque from:01/01/2010 till:01/05/2010 color:RGuitars bar:Omar from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2012 color:RGuitars bar:Mohamed from:01/01/2013 till:01/01/2014 color:RGuitars bar:Youssef from:09/15/2014 till:end color:RGuitars bar:Amr from:start till:01/01/2020 color:Drums bar:André from:01/01/2019 till:end color:Bass bar:Julian from:01/01/2020 till:end color:Drums

Members

;Current members *Ismaeel Attalah - lead vocals and lead guitar (1998–present) *Youssef Saleh - rhythm guitar and backing vocals (2014–present) *André - bass guitar and backing vocals (2019–present) *Julian Dietrich - drums (2020–present) ;Former members *Amr Mokhtar - drums (1998–2020) *Moanis Salem - bass guitar (2007–2019) *Al Sharif Marzeban - rhythm guitar (2009-2010) *Farouque Akef - rhythm guitar (2010) *Omar Abou Doma - rhythm guitar (2011–2012) *Mohamed Adel - rhythm guitar (2013-2014)

Discography

Albums

*''Pyramid Slaves'' (2014) *''The Order of Amenti'' (2018) *''Carving the Fires of Akhet'' (2021)

EPs

*''The Retribution'' (EP, 2008)

Demos

*''Dreamland'' (1999)

References

External links

*
YouTube Page

Facebook Page
{{Authority control Egyptian musical groups Blackened death metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1999 Listenable Records artists 1999 establishments in Egypt