Band of the Day: Zad

There’s a story to this one… I’ve known Georgy, one of the band members, for almost 12 years to the day. I met him completely randomly in Israel when I was backpacking, and he and his mates drove me to a Salem / Betzefer gig in Haifa. The whole story is on my travel blog from ages ago, and for some reason he’s stayed in touch with me. Well, he and his wife have started up a band called Zad and it seems like I owe him one for the lift to the concert. And the dinner on the way. And the beers.

Simple things first – where are you guys from?

From Tel Aviv Area, Israel.

How did you meet?

Meytal the bass player and Dorin the vocalist met back in 2009 in their obligatory service, more or less at that time Meytal and Georgy started dating, and several years later met Eli through mutual friends in the metal scene. When we started the band, we all were friends for quite a while already.

How long have you been playing as a band?

Meytal and Georgy started jamming doom metal in their home around September 2016, and were joined by Dorin and Eli only few weeks afterwards, and already had few songs around December that year. So there’s no official forming date, but roughly 2.5 years.

Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?

It’s a biblical verb that translates “Doing an evil deed” or “doing a deed with an evil intent”. We used to use this word a lot as an inner slang for quite a while before the band started, so it seemed a very natural pick at the time.

What are your influences?

Broadly speaking, rock n’ roll of all sorts, and everything that is dark and gloomy.

More specifically doom and black metal. Several examples that appeal strongly to us all: Black Sabbath, Candlemass, Pentagram, Electric Wizard, Sleep, Old Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Emperor, Immortal, Mayhem, Older Dimmu Borgir, Rotting Christ, Watain and also some newer acts such as Woe, Wolves in the Throne Room, Hooded Menace, Acid Witch, Tombs, Skyforger,  Ruins of Beverast, and many more.

Describe your music. What makes you unique?

Classic doom metal with somewhat 70’s vibes, mixed with more aggressive and Atmospheric 90’s extreme Metal. We really enjoy blending the bluesy side of metal music which brings its particular bitterness and gloom with more epic, fast extreme metal. We do find this fusion exciting and unique.

Unlike most of the bands, we started at a relatively older age (we all are around 30) with many years behind us as metal fans that went through a certain taste evolution – so there are a lot of sub-genres and vibes in metal we can relate to, and some we are particularly passionate about, so our music is in a sense an attempt to create a fusion that drives the listener through a journey of emotions and vibes.

Do you have any particular lyrical themes?

We do. Our debut album is a story of the constant conflict between nature and humans and their institutions, the philosophy of being one, or part with nature vs. the exploitation and greed that kills and destroys. Between Pagan attitude of being part of a complex world, and the anthropocentric monotheism. The lyrics themselves are generally a metaphor, strongly inspired by the nature and wildlife (Jackals in particular) right next to our home.  

What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?

Never seen ourselves live, so it’s hard to tell – but generally – pretty straight forward old school Metal, with a dark and gloomy atmosphere.  Not sure about the exact number, but around 30.

What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?

When we just started we took some harsh gigs, including cases when we had to drive for hours in the middle of the night, walk through miles of beach sand with all the equipment on us, still waiting for our show and end up playing at 5am, drunk, in front of 3 high-on-acid napping kids in their 20’s with zero relation to our music. Also Georgy once got very drunk after a concert in the other side of the country, slept it off in the car, and drove off without his guitar, and realized it only when got home around 8am next morning. What a fun day ahead.    

What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?

Pretty modest for the moment – Gibson SG faded, LTD F-50, T14B Washburn bass

What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?

We just digitally released our debut album, which basically includes our earliest material from the beginning of the band – the first songs we ever wrote and composed, which is pretty exciting!

What are your plans for 2019?

Celebrate the release of the album, play live shows and put a bunch of focus into creating new music, as we have some solid ideas that are waiting to become songs.

If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!

We will go for an unusual mash-up here as well. Opener: Kluvim, a unique and extremely talented Grindcore band from Haifa we shared stage with several times in the past. Do check them out.

Headliner: Candlemass.

From previous Band of the Day, Khaidian: Do you believe metal should challenge the listener?

Yes. Metal music should be harsh, aggressive, weird, surprising and uncompromising. It can and should have melody and be coherent for the trained listener – but as a whole it shoud not be an “easy” experience.

From another BotD, Not Ur Girlfrenz: What was the first concert you ever went to?

First Metal Concert:

  • Georgy – Azazel, Armilos and Bartholomeus Night in Tel Aviv. Around 2001-2002
  • Meytal – Behemoth in Tel Aviv, Aug 2009.
  • Eli – Megadeth 2007
  • Dorin – Epica in 2006

And from She Burns Red: What is the one thing that really annoys you about being in a band?

The regular job.

Header photo by Maria Engler

Zad: facebook | instagram | bandcamp | youtube

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