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Prog Bands from the Middle East!
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zwordser View Drop Down
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    Posted: May 19 2022 at 08:37
Having only been familiar with one band from the Middle East (Osiris, from Bahrain), I became curious about how many other bands from this region are listed on PA, so I went through and found a bunch of them and compiled them into the following list (may have missed some).  Included the name, country, sub-genre, year formed, average rating, number of albums, and a note on how many ratings each band has.

Please Note:

  • I did not include Turkey or Israel, both of which have plenty of bands (I may post separate lists for each country).
  • Included a couple of Mediterranean countries that don't have a lot of bands (Malta, Tunisia, and Morocco)
  • Included all the countries that end in -stan, but not some Black Sea area countries like Georgia and Armenia--also may post separate lists for those areas.
  • If I didn't see clear info on the year the band was formed, I just used the year of their first album.
I was pleasantly surprised to find so many from places you might not think of!  It's clear, though, that the majority of bands from these regions are younger (2000's, mainly) and tend to be heavy/metal oriented.

Please comment on any I may have missed, or on anything you may like/dislike about bands you may have heard.

Band Name Country Category Year formed Avg. Rating Note
6LA8 Pakistan Progressive Electronica 2010 3.73 23 albums, 6 unrated
Across The Waves Iran Post Rock/Math Rock 2010 4 1 album, 3 ratings
Agah Bahari Iran Progressive Metal 2003 3.08 2 albums, 1 unrated
Ahoora Iran Crossover Prog 2002 3.04 3 albums
Al Basim Iraq Eclectic Prog 1970 3.95 1 70's album rated, 2007 album unrated
Amadeus Awad's Eon Lebanon Progressive Metal 2014 4 1 album, 4 ratings
Anuryzm United Arab Emirates Progressive Metal 2003 3.76 2 albums, single digit ratings
Arashk Iran Progressive Metal 2006 3.48 4 albums, single-digit ratings on each
Athelstone Malta Eclectic Prog 2010 2.98 Only one album, 20 ratings
Bader Nana Kuwait Neo-Prog 2009 3.66 5 albums and a lot of singles
Colourblind Malta Progressive Metal 1998 3.87 1 album, 4 ratings
Different Strings Malta Neo-Prog 2000 3.27 4 albums, single-digit ratings on each
Entity Pardigm Pakistan Crossover Prog 2002 2.91 1 album, 4 ratings
Expiration of a Young Man Egypt Post Rock/Math Rock 2017 0 1 album in 2019, no ratings
Faraz Anwar Pakistan Progressive Metal 1995 4 3 albums, but only one rating
Farzad Golpayegani Iran Progressive Metal 2002 3.32 8 albums, few ratings
Flight 09 Uzbekistan Prog Related 1986 2.82 7 albums, few ratings
From.UZ Uzbekistan Eclectic Prog 2007 3.85 5 albums, plenty of ratings
Gunesh Ensemble Turkmenistan Jazz-Rock/Fusion 1970 4.12 3 albums
Kawn Morocco Progressive Metal 2019 2.18 1 album, 3 ratings
Lost Insen Tunisia Progressive Metal 2005 0 1 unrated album
Mizraab Pakistan Progressive Metal 2000 4.25 2 albums, 8 ratings
Myrath Tunisia Progressive Metal 2001 3.72 5 albums
Nu.Clear.Dawn Syria Progressive Metal 1997 3.53 1 album, 5 ratings
Osiris Bahrain Neo-Prog 1980 3.71 5 albums, fair amt of ratings
Ostura Lebanon Progressive Metal 2009 3.81 2 albums, 47 ratings
Overload Pakistan Neo-Prog 2004 3.01 2 albums, 7 ratings
Rabih Abou-Khalil Lebanon Prog Folk 1982 4.03 21 albums with single digit ratings, 2 unrated
Riverwood Egypt Progressive Metal 2018 4.3 2 albums, 10 ratings
Salim Ghazi Saeedi Iran Crossover Prog 2010 3.22 4 albums, single-digit ratings on each
Simplexity Egypt Crossover Prog 2007 3.13 1 album, 4 ratings
The Ursula Minor Tunisia Psychedelic/Space Rock 2007 3.95 1 album, 3 ratings
Vielikan Tunisia Tech/Extreme Prog Metal 2007 4 2 albums, only one rated
Vladimir Badirov Uzbekistan Eclectic Prog 2004 3 One album with 5 ratings
Wasaya Syria Progressive Metal 2014 5 1 album, 3 ratings
X Religion Uzbekistan Symphonic Prog 2002 3.6 2 albums, 32 ratings



Edited by zwordser - May 19 2022 at 08:54
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MortSahlFan View Drop Down
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Damn, not many from the 70s :(
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Not in the database but may be of interest is Ibrahim Maalouf from Lebanon who plays Jazz Fusion, Arabic Jazz, Chamber Jazz, Jazz-Rock. I have his Illusions album which is very good.
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Points: 43626 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Cristi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2022 at 08:46
I don't know much here, I'll have to do some listening. 
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Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
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Points: 40073 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psychedelic Paul Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2022 at 09:04
The only bands I know of from the Middle East are Osiris, from Bahrain, and Sand, from somewhere in the Arabian Desert, probably. Smile
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Points: 66260 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rushfan4 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2022 at 09:10
I might suggest Kavus Torabi and possibly his band Knifeworld (although the rest of the members aren't from the Middle East so definitely, your discretion there.  He is listed as United Kingdom, but he was born in Iran, and moved to the UK when he was 18 months. 

Edited by rushfan4 - May 19 2022 at 09:15
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Atravan, Iranian band, are great. 
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Another might be Blurred Vision, who are an Iranian band based in Canada, who were in the news for covering Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall.
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Points: 1423 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote wiz_d_kidd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2022 at 09:43
I have 4 albums by Fromuz (formerly known as FROM.UZ), but nothing else. Their music has very little in the way of middle eastern influences. They could easily be confused with any western jazz/rock/fusion band.
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Points: 1383 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote zwordser Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2022 at 12:31
Originally posted by MortSahlFan MortSahlFan wrote:

Damn, not many from the 70s :(
 

No, but I don't think you could/would expect there to be, especially from the early 70's, because Prog is primarily a European-born class of music that spread to other areas later. Of course, there may be more--say from the late 70's thru 90's that just haven't made it onto PA (particularly if they're sort of "underground")
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Points: 51030 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote progaardvark Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2022 at 13:46
I'm weak in this region of the world. I have enjoyed the albums from Osiris and Bader Nana.
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Points: 2941 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MortSahlFan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2022 at 17:07
Originally posted by progaardvark progaardvark wrote:

I'm weak in this region of the world. I have enjoyed the albums from Osiris and Bader Nana.


I seem to know more (or prefer?) from Europe (and mostly in the UK) than in my home country of the USA

Speaking of, the last modern one I heard of was from Texas, and they weren't bad, but it wasn't anything progressive.. This doesn't apply to them, but if you're just out there sounding like King Crimson, to me, isn't progressive - just redundant. I think independence is probably the most important aspect.
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Points: 1383 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote zwordser Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2022 at 18:34
Originally posted by wiz_d_kidd wiz_d_kidd wrote:

I have 4 albums by Fromuz (formerly known as FROM.UZ), but nothing else. Their music has very little in the way of middle eastern influences. They could easily be confused with any western jazz/rock/fusion band.


One of the more notable bands on the list; I just put Overlook in my shopping cart on Bandcamp after hearing it.  Sounds very much to me like (mostly) an instrumental fusion of King Crimson with Neo-Prog: great sound!

 I might get another: which album would you recommend??
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Points: 1383 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote zwordser Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2022 at 19:23
Originally posted by Nogbad_The_Bad Nogbad_The_Bad wrote:

Not in the database but may be of interest is Ibrahim Maalouf from Lebanon who plays Jazz Fusion, Arabic Jazz, Chamber Jazz, Jazz-Rock. I have his Illusions album which is very good.



Sounds like he should be in the database!
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No argument here
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Points: 6737 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nick_h_nz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2022 at 00:16
Originally posted by zwordser zwordser wrote:

Originally posted by wiz_d_kidd wiz_d_kidd wrote:

I have 4 albums by Fromuz (formerly known as FROM.UZ), but nothing else. Their music has very little in the way of middle eastern influences. They could easily be confused with any western jazz/rock/fusion band.


One of the more notable bands on the list; I just put Overlook in my shopping cart on Bandcamp after hearing it.  Sounds very much to me like (mostly) an instrumental fusion of King Crimson with Neo-Prog: great sound!

 I might get another: which album would you recommend??

Overlook is my favourite from them, but this year’s release is very good, and does threaten to usurp Overlook’s position as my favourite.
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Points: 10019 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mellotronwave Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2022 at 04:55
Siddartha from Turkey is a good one
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Points: 10019 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mellotronwave Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2022 at 05:02
I got also ARTSRUNI Cruzaid , band from Armenia , imho a prog folk band, fine stuff
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Asia minor ( half french , half turkish) 2 VG cds issued by Musea
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Points: 43626 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Cristi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2022 at 05:07
Originally posted by mellotronwave mellotronwave wrote:

Asia minor ( half french , half turkish) 2 VG cds issued by Musea

Their recent come back album was really good, too. Smile
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