Text by INDIA STOUGHTON |Photography: RICHARD SAMMOUR
In a small, soundproof rehearsal room in the mountains just outside Beirut, Lebanon’s first all-female metal band, Slave to Sirens, is getting ready to make some noise. The band is comprised of Shery Bechara and Lilas Mayassi, the five-piece’s lead and rhythm guitarists, respectively, vocalist Maya Khairallah, bassist Alma Doumani and drummer Tatyana Boughaba.
Formed in late 2015, Slave to Sirens have swiftly earned the respect of Lebanon’s small but impassioned metal scene. Their determination to succeed has helped them to overcome the myriad challenges of producing metal music in a country with limited infrastructure and audiences, and a systematic misunderstanding of metal culture and what it represents — made worse by the fact that they are women.
It’s an adrenaline rush to show people that you’re a woman and you can do what men can do.”
Alma Doumani, Slaves to Sirens bassist
The band came together after Bechara and Mayassi met in the summer of 2015, at an anti-government protest spurred by long-running mismanagement of the country’s waste, which led to garbage piling up on the streets for weeks on end, rotting in the summer heat. They quickly discovered a shared love of thrash and death metal and began to hand-pick kick-ass women with a shared vision to form the country’s first all-female metal outfit.
“Our focus is mainly the human being, the things man does: evil, corruption, war, poverty … Any human action that ruins the environment, we write about that.”
Lilas Mayassi, Slave to Sirens guitarist
In spring 2018, Slave to Sirens released their first EP, Terminal Leeches, featuring four original tracks exploring subjects from the evils of animal abuse (“Humanesticide”) to the wicked instincts that make humans wage war (the title track) to the seductive power of music and the mythical creatures that inspired their band name.
After initial surprise at seeing “a bunch of girls” onstage playing pure thrash, the male-dominated local metal community has embraced the group, offering encouragement and support, but despite their talent and growing local following, they struggle to get regular gigs. Most venues in Lebanon will not host metal bands for fear the noise will upset neighbors, they explain. The small scene also means that few venues have sound systems capable of adapting to their setup and that local labels and producers don’t understand their music.
