Dubai Metal Fest: Meet Smouldering In Forgotten

Smouldering In Forgotten is one of the most successful Metal acts in the Arabic gulf region. The band has a strong extreme career, in addition to wide discography. Smouldering In Forgotten is getting ready for participating in Dubai Metal Festival. The fest will be headlined by world famed Metal acts: Lacuna Coil, and Moonspell.

The Metal Sister blog had the chance to interview SIF’s bassist Hussam on the band’s participation in the Dubai Metal Fest.

How did you apply to the festival? And did you know any information about the headliners before your application?

Actually, we have been invited by the organizers to support the headlining act since we have a strong bond with Metaleast Records and Joscene, taking into consideration our fanbase in Dubai that we earned after several successful shows there.

You performed several times locally in Bahrain, how can you describe your local scene now?

Well, the local scene in Bahrain, despite being small, it is still growing, and we get to see new bands on stage every now and then with different styles and genera as well as taking a spot in some local big events. And what we admire more is we get to see new fans' faces locally and fans from regional countries attending our shows.

Being an active band since 2005, how much was the Metal scene in the region developed, and in your opinion who are the Metal pioneers in the region?

Yes, the metal scene in the region has developed a lot ever since our start kick and many bands have reached top levels not just regionally but internationally, and many bands have reached big festivals abroad such as Bloodstock in the UK, Obscene Extreme in the Czech Republic, Maryland Deathfest in the US and other gigs here and there in Europe, far east and Brazil as I remember.

And in our opinion, there is no just one pioneering band in the region, all of them did a great and phenomenal job to be recognized globally in the metal scene and those who put enormous effort to bring out great music to the audience can be metal pioneers.

There are six regional metal acts participating in Dubai Metal Festival, Did you cooperate with any of them before?

We are already cooperating with Hellionight since both of us are from Bahrain and will perform in the same show. Plus, in fact, 2 members already formed and performing in both bands. And we are looking forward to sharing the stage with the other participating bands in Dubai Metal Fest.

Your latest released album was in 2020, how was challenging to release a Metal album during the pandemic?

We actually released our latest album “Invictus Mortem” before the pandemic chaos and lockdowns but we had to cancel the launch album since the country decided to take the lockdown action within the gig’s week.

Are you planning to introduce any new songs or covers during your upcoming performance?

 Yes sure, it is going to be a mixture of songs from all our three albums.

Tell us more about your preparations for the concert?

We are ready for the concert since we are just done with another gig in Bahrain which was on November 11. Just a couple of practice sessions, preparing our gears, and traveling to Dubai.

Finally, what do you want to tell your fans about your upcoming performance?

Let’s all have a great time and enjoy the shows on both days and let’s keep the metal scene alive in our region.

Smouldering in Forgotten will perform on the 1st day of the Dubai Metal Festival, this Friday, with 5grs, Fatal Qualm, and it will be headlined by Moonspell.