JEDDAH: Saudi melodic death metal band Immortal Pain have been a pioneer in the Saudi metal scene since 2005 and are the first to perform heavy metal at a large public event.
The band, who sing original songs in English, performed in a concert on the second day of Comic Con Arabia at the Jeddah International Exhibition and Convention Center.
The band members include Emad Ashoor, rhythm guitarist and vocalist; Rasheed Attar, lead guitarist; Moayad Al-Shammari, drummer; and Anan Al-Sabban, bassist.
“Immortal Pain started late 2005, with Rasheed and I joining together to start the band, and it took off from there throughout the years,” the vocalist told Arab News.
“We played a lot of shows here in Riyadh and in Dammam. We’ve released a couple of songs, and we are planning to release more,” he added.
Contrary to popular belief, the band members say, there are more metalheads in the Kingdom than people think.
“The heavy metal scene is huge. It’s kind of an underground scene, but we have a lot of great bands around such as Wasted Land, Kaizer, and it’s still growing,” Ashoor said.
Al-Shammari, the band’s drummer, said the Saudi metal scene has been waiting for opportunities to hold public concerts.
“It’s been quiet for a while, but now practicing music is supported by the country. Immortal Pain are actually one of the pioneers in the metal scene in Saudi Arabia, and I’m so thankful to see the growing number of bands,” he told Arab News.
Expressing his excitement at the opportunity, Al-Shammari added: “It feels so welcoming. People cannot believe that we posted on social media that we are playing at Comic Con Arabia; they said it’s like a dream come true.”
Alternative Hejazi rock band Ana N7n also performed at Comic Con Arabia.
Band members include Saif Mufti, Shaher Karkashan, Saleh Binsaif, Abdulmalik Zubilah, and Maan Balila.
Bassist Mufti said Ana N7n came together in 2019, and the band’s members had all been musicians since 2006.
“We have all played in different bands, and the experience of playing with other bands led us to create Ana N7n,” Mufti told Arab News.
Vocalist Zubilah explained that they sing in a Hejazi dialect because they want to directly reach their community.
“A huge goal we wanted to achieve when we started Ana N7n was to have an open dialogue with the people we feel close to and relate to,” he said.
“The only way to communicate clearly is to speak to people in the same dialect, so that’s why we decided specifically on the Hejazi dialect to sing our songs,” he added.
Ana N7n uses an unconventional instrument in rock, the tabla, which Binsaif plays along with the keyboard and synth.
“I’ve been playing the tabla ever since I was a kid, and when I joined Ana N7n, I listened to a solo that Said created. It had a strong Arabic tune, and that’s when I thought the tabla needed to be added,” Binsaif told Arab News.
“We tried it, and it created a great sound. It also added that Hejazi note in our material; it gave us our own sound,” he added.
Saudi heavy metal band play in large public event for the first time
https://arab.news/pjukx
Saudi heavy metal band play in large public event for the first time
- Contrary to popular belief, the band members say, there are more metalheads in the Kingdom than people think
- Al-Shammari, the band’s drummer, said the Saudi metal scene has been waiting for opportunities to hold public concerts.
Saudi Arabia, Estonia strengthen cyber defense cooperation
- Renowned for its leadership in digital governance, Estonia sees cybersecurity as central to its partnership potential with Saudi Arabia, building on years of regional engagement through its technology firms
RIYADH: Estonia aims to deepen defense, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence cooperation with Saudi Arabia as both nations look to advance technology‑driven defense and cybersecurity capabilities.
Hanno Pevkur, Estonia’s minister of defense, told Arab News at the World Defense Show in Riyadh on Monday that Estonia’s defense industry is eager to contribute to the Kingdom’s fast‑growing defense ecosystem.
“In the modern world, cooperation built on trust and technology is the best defense,” he said. “It is important for us to be here because we clearly see there is a possibility to increase cooperation, not only bilaterally between Saudi Arabia and Estonia, but across the region.”
At Estonia’s pavilion, a cooperation agreement was signed between an Estonian company and a Saudi firm during the show, he noted.
Pevkur also said Estonia’s defense sector has expanded rapidly in recent years, driven by technological innovation and partnership.
“Our defense industry is growing very rapidly, and we continue to see strong momentum,” he said.
He said Estonia’s strengths lie in digital and smart‑system integration rather than large‑scale weapons production.
“We will not build airplanes or tanks, but what we can do is integrate robotics, automation and drones to make existing systems smarter,” he said.
The minister said effective defense collaboration must link businesses and governments to achieve meaningful results.
“When we want to have real cooperation, we need it on all levels,” he said. “The biggest client for any defense company is the government, so we must treat this as one ecosystem where the public and private sectors work hand in hand.”
Renowned for its leadership in digital governance, Estonia sees cybersecurity as central to its partnership potential with Saudi Arabia, building on years of regional engagement through its technology firms.
Pevkur said several Estonian companies, including Nortal, have already assisted Gulf governments in developing open IT and digital‑service systems.
“As the most digitalized nation in the world, almost every service in Estonia can be done online, except getting married,” he said. “But with such digitalization, we also need strong cyberdefense.”
He said data protection and digital resilience are treated as matters of national sovereignty in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.
“Data is what we own. When someone steals that data, it becomes a serious threat,” he added. “That is why cyberdefense is not just about technology, it is about trust, sovereignty and protection.”
Pevkur said Saudi Arabia’s advances in AI offer promising opportunities for collaboration.
“I know that Saudi Arabia is doing great work when it comes to AI,” he said. “For us, as a small country with limited human resources, AI is essential not just for defense but for everyday life.”
Pevkur added that Estonia has launched a national AI strategy to promote responsible development and closer coordination between government and industry. One Estonian company, he said, has developed a system that allows a single operator to control hundreds of drones through AI.
“It is quite easy to put a weapon into the hands of a robot, but we also need to define who is accountable for its actions,” he said.
“The big question for the future is whether we can allow a war to be fought entirely by AI, or if humans must always make the final ethical decisions.”
He said in his conclusion that governments must reach a common understanding on how AI will be used and regulated on the battlefield.
