ONE NIGHT. TWO TEXAS POWERHOUSES.
Thrashing in the “Infinite”
Nahaya and Memories In Broken Glass recall the lessons of the past and share the details of the relentless journey of a metal musician today
by Ryan A Vasquez
ratedrv79@gmail.com
We begin with five of the most thrashy, explosive, “slow it down for what?”-type of musicians out of San Antonio, Texas called Nahaya, which is an ancient Arabic term meaning “the end,” according to the band. Semir Ozerkan (bass/vocals) and Daniel Abbott (guitar/vocals) took RoM – TUJ all the way back to the very beginning when Nahaya was formed and shared their journey leading up to where we are today.
Ozerkan explained he and Ryan Peters (guitar/vocals) left their previous project Perish The Land in 2014 to form Nahaya, but quickly experienced challenges in creating their signature thrash metal that came so organically to the two of them. “Since we like this music genre, it was kind of hard to find exactly the same type of people we were looking for,” Ozerkan said.
“I think the hardest thing that ever happened in those [first] two years would be finding the right drummer,” Ozerkan said, bassist for Nahaya.
Abbott also added another reoccurring problem during the first years off the ground.
“They’re weren’t a whole lot of other bands, there still is not a whole lot of other bands around here (San Antonio) that are doing the kind of stuff we do which makes it kind of difficult to put shows together,” Abbott said, guitarist for Nahaya.
Despite the slight genre displacement when booked, Nahaya shared the stage with “great bands in San Antonio, in Dallas and Houston,” Abbott said. With the help of Gabriel, the guitarist for Immortal Gaurdian, Nahaya was pointed in the right direction to find Andrew Gonzalez, the elected director for “The Marauder” official music video in 2016. This project took about 35 hours over the span of three days but payed off when they were well received more and more at Fitzgerald’s and Jacks Patio Bar in San Antonio and The Dirty Dog Bar in Austin.
“We played the second day of Dirty Fest (2016) and it was incredible,” Ozerkan said. “We made a lot of fans and sold a lot of merchandise.”
Nahaya predicted the release date of “Transcendence,” the debut EP, to be in the spring of next year along with the release of three bonus tracks not found on the EP. And lastly the band wanted to take an opportunity to say this to the fans and supporters who will show up at Fitzgerald’s for tonight’s banger:
“We’re gonna throw the hell down,” Abbott said. “This is the last show of the year…and it’s gonna probably be one of our most aggressive shows,” Ozerkan said. “Stay thrashy, San Antonio.”
Since 2009, and with the current singer since 2014, Memories In Broken Glass (MIBG) began their journey to make their mark in the Texas metal music scene despite several member changes, more so with the vocalist, no real guidance on how the industry works and the pure desire to share their music. Mark Martinez (guitar/b. vocals) spoke with RoM – TUJ about life for MIBG when it all began. “The members definitely was hard to overcome in the early years but it never stopped us from playing,” Martinez said. “We knew a lot of musicians and we were all young and wanting to play.”
And play they did. MIBG made their way through the south Texas circuit and gaining speed.
“We’re pretty well received in the great state of Texas but I would have to say House of Rock in Corpus Christi and Dirty Dog Bar and Come and Take It Live in Austin are always some of the best shows,” Martinez said, guitarist for MIBG.
Their debut full length album dropped 2013 and was to say the least, agressive, fast and demanding attention. “We were just so excited to finally break into a different/bigger scene and there were so many different flavors of music, it was hard not to wanna get together and bust some ass to make some tunes!,” Martinez said.
During the circulation of this album, Martinez told RoM – TUJ about shows with artists such as Shattered Sun and a tour with Shugga Shugga Blast Blast in one van for two weeks bound for California for two Sumerian Records final round battle of the bands competition.
With the addition of Saul Castillo on vocals and finding Robert Beltran, co-founder of Hammer Forged Records as their producer, MIBG found their chemistry and created their signature sound of metal phenomena with a strong vocal attention-grabber. “One thing with MIBG is we’re never satisfied,” Martinez said. “As we grow we find newer avenues we feel we need to explore! We all love heavy music, but each of us have different backgrounds…”
“I don’t foresee us going off the deep end adding dubstep or rapping, but we’ll definitely try to keep ourselves the ‘oddballs,’ Martinez said. “One thing is for sure, we want the listener to feel the music.”
Fast forward to 2017 and not only did MIBG release their second full length album “Enigma Infinite” but also released the official music video “The Constant,” where it was the first time they had the opportunity to acquire high end camera equipment. Future plans for MIBG include more exposure on more levels for the current album and their work on the way. “Look’s like we’ll be back on the road again here pretty quick,” Martinez said. “May even be playing outside the US a bit as well.” Lastly, Martinez had this to say to all the fans and supporters who are reading this now:
“We love you guys/gals, keep your eyes on ours and Hammer Forged Records’ and [MIBG’s] YouTube page for new content coming soon…and of course thank you so much for sticking by your boiz!,” Martinez said.
See both Nahaya and MIBG at Fitzgerald’s in San Antonio tonight with Eyes Of An Emperor, The Destroyer of Worlds, Gnarwolf, Donella Drive, Silent Minority, and Covina.
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