JO Magazine

After a hard-fought and very close third night of competition, only two bands remain in Jordan’s rock- and metal-themed talent contest.

Words by John Lillywhite.

THURDSDAY'S SHOW WAS THE last stand for two of the groups competing in the Crash of the Titans, but despite a few technical difficulties, they went out with style. Indeed, when votes where counted, the difference between first and second place was only 2.5 percent; and between second and third it was only 0.2.

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Crash of the Titans

Profile: Purgatory
The First Show
Profile: Methanol
Profile: Cactus
The Second Show
Profile: Cerberus
The Semifinal

The third stage of the competition was in many ways a marked improvement on the second -- with the notable exception of the sound engineering, which was (to put it very mildly) awful. The sound setup posed a substantial challenge to all the bands in the competition, including the warm-up act, in which Omar Abu Rabea and Zaher Madanat played assorted covers and tracks from the new album by their band, Relics Of Martyrs, with Mazan Ayyoub on drums.

METHANOL

The group opened with “Hollow,” by Pantera, an unfortunately titled track, for a performance that very much underwhelmed.

After a lot of twiddling with the sound system, things vastly improved with the group's second cover, Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.” The choice of track was excellent, and vocalist Mohammad Madi did a great job of including the audience in the lyrics -- not that they needed much persuasion.

At one point bassist Eyad Salameh’s microphone almost fell off the stage, but he didn’t seem to mind, and was possibly the group’s strongest performer of the night. Drummer Seif Abu Hamdan went to great pains to don his beanie-hat in the middle of the second track, whilst somehow smashed the drums and head-banging all at the same time; it was the party-trick of the competition.

The judges were surprisingly lavish in their praise of Methanol, with Tojan Naghaway calling it the group’s “best performance,” and Zeid Amarin praising their improvisation. Perhaps the judges felt a little bad about having been unduly harsh to the group earlier in the competition.

CACTUS

There’s something about Cactus. They’re almost like a brand, with their own distinctive culture and look. It’s evident even in the way they walk on stage, with guitarist Abd Atari grinning to his adoring crowd and singer Edgar Lorenzo mumbling barely coherent nothings into the microphone. Each of the musicians is a character, but from the get-go they’ve had an easy and familiar manner with each other both onstage and off-.

After losing ground to Cerberus in the first stage of the competition, the group have played consistently and well, but never quite delivered on the promise of their remorseless self-promotion.  (An unscientific poll on JO’s website overwhelmingly picked Cerberus as the likely winners.)

But Thursday night’s performance changed all that. From the opening rifts of Iron Maiden’s “Fear of the Dark,” Cactus were in a league of their own. They displayed a sense of energy that had been lacking in their other performances, as the group’s various strengths finally found form. Most importantly they were having fun, making it look easy: performing where the other groups were auditioning.

The audience called for an encore as Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” took the hall away. Edgar’s vocals weren’t quite as on point here, but the choice of tune went down so well that few particularly cared.

“I think they just won,” mused an anonymous bystander in the audience.

The judge’s response was very positive, but perhaps a little muted given the quality of both covers. Edgar was berated for turning his back to the audience, a charge to which he responded with characteristic cheek. Cactus have spent the past few months talking a big game, and on Thursday they finally delivered on it.

CERBERUS

Cerberus had a hard act to follow, but it was clear everyone in the audience wished them well.  Things were complicated by the fact that their bassist, Foad Azar, couldn’t make the performance. All the bands in the contest have suffered from the loss, temporary or otherwise, of a band member, and in general Cerberus adapted well.

They opened with “Cowboys From Hell” by the ever-popular Pantera. It was a very heavy track, and the presentation wasn’t quite a slick as usual -- with Zenah wearing glasses and a zebra-print hoodie while she screamed “pillage the village, trash the scene” with trademark intensity.* Again the sound system did the group no favors. Still, Cerberus remained a massive hit with the crowd, earning shouts for an encore.

Testament’s “New World Order” was an improvement on “Cowboys From Hell,” with Zenah head-banging relentlessly and Ali Lars definitely enjoying himself on the drums. Substitute bassist Anas Cooper and guitarist Omar abu Rabea also gave very solid performances.*

Did Cerberus rediscover that elusive magic that defined their first performance? Ultimately, no, but as always the group evidenced a professional, disciplined approach, at the same time enjoying themselves almost as much as the crowd.

PURGATORY

After missing stage two due to the defection of their keyboardist, Purgatory came back for a place in the third round.

“We’ve added another guitar instead,” grinned the drummer Tamer Bga’en, as he introduced the group’s newest member: “Khaled Poland.”

Asked how he felt about the performance, Bga’en was true to form: “We’re totally gonna suck. I’ve barely practiced.” But despite this prophecy, the group did pretty well, even faced with the unenviable task of improving on Cerberus and Cactus.

They opened with “Watching Over Me,” a power ballad by Iced Earth. It was a good, accessible choice of track; Tamer had obviously practiced more than he suggested, and the group as a whole were determined to simply do their best. Vocalist Kareem Kelani skipped two hours of his brother’s wedding to attend the performance -- and definitely enjoyed it!

Purgatory finished the night with Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” again a good choice that showed off their competence and style, even as the night grew late. Everyone knew these guys were not going to be the winners, but it was good to see them back giving their all, and the judges wished them good luck.

VOTING FOR THE TWO finalists took place by SMS. Purgatory took only 7.1 percent of the vote, but the other groups were all very, very close: Methanol took 30 percent, Cactus, ahead by only 0.2 points, got 30.2 percent, and Cerberus took the night by a still-slim margin of 32.7 percent.*

So now it’s Cactus and Cerberus who will face off in the final evening, to determine who has, for the moment, Jordan’s most titanic sound.

In September, dozens of musicians auditioned for spaces in Jordan's first rock- and metal-themed talent contest, Crash of the Titans. Nineteen were chosen and scrambled into four impromptu bands, which performed in two live shows in November. You can read their stories here, and go to Crash of the Titans to vote for your favorite band. Check out the JO or Crash of the Titans facebook groups for information on the date and venue of the final show.

(*) Corrected sentences