BIOGRAPHY
It seems that in the last years metal bands from the African continent are steadily leaving their mark on the international metal scene. The Tunisian heavy metal formation Carthagods has existed for over seventeen years, but not until recently the band released their self titled debut record.
CARTHAGODS was one of the first metal bands to emerge from Tunisia in the late 1990's. Undoubtedly, they are the pioneers of heavy-metal scene in Tunisia. CARTHAGODS’s powerful sound, influence, and longevity make them one of the best Metal Bands in Tunisia.
Carthagods, one of the first Metal bands to emerge from Tunisia and pioneers of Heavy Metal in their country,they had just signed a worldwide record contract with a German label “HANDS OF BLUE records” to release their first album, which was released on June 19th, 2015.
"We're really excited to see our first album released, after all the line-up changes we've seen. It's been a long time that we look for this occasion to finally satisfy our fans," commented the band.
Formed in 1997 by founding members, Tarak ben sassi (guitar), Aymen benhamed (drums) and Nader berber (vocals). The lineup was completed the same year with Sami (bass) and wassim (guitars). For three years the band played covering bands as Megadeth , Iron maiden Metallica , Pantera …..In several local shows.
In 2001 Wassim left the band and was replaced by guitar prodigy Khalil Naweli, at that time the band decided to write their own music. Regrettably the year 2001 was marked by the death of khalil, so the band almost split but the founding members kept writing music till 2004 CARTHAGODS are back on stage with Tarak, Aymen, Mehdi KHEMA (Vocals), Khaled (guitars) and Houssem (bass), with the new lineup and a new spirit, to perform in local concerts till the 1st international metal event in Tunisia “ROCK TUNISIA” on March 2006 supporting the famous Dutch band EPICA.
On April 2007 the band performed in “ROCK TUNISIA II” with KIKO LOUREIRO (Angra/Guitarist) as guest star, who was the first guitar hero performing in Tunisia.
2008 CARTHAGODS released their first records (SHADOWS and EATER OF SIN) with the famous Dutch guitar player Marcel COENEN (Sun caged; Stormrider …), who accepted to produce the band and performed LIVE in “ROCK TUNISIA III”.
On February 2009 Haythem MAHBOULI (Lead Guitars) and Khalil KHIREDDINE (Bass) joined the band and assisted the recording of the new songs “YOUR FAVORITE DESGUISE” and “MEMORIES OF NEVER ENDING PAINS”, on October of the same year the band released the video clip of “Memories of never ending pains (monep)”, the song that had a big success on the web and local radio stations. After that the band was invited to support the Swedish death metal legend DARK TRANQUILLITY in “RESERVOIR ROCK’S”, one of the biggest METAL events in Tunisia, on December 2009.
On July 2010 CARTHAGODS was invited to support the English metal band ANATHEMA in the "SOUND OF PERSEVERANCE" event in which the band played their new compositions.
2011: Tunisia had its first popular revolution on January 14th, the band members splitted for several reasons, only Mehdi KHEMA and Tarak kept faith in the project and hired new musicians, Mohamed Ben Hadida on Drums“who used to be part of the band in 2006,Yassine aka Timon as a bass player (Lost Insen) and the prodigy Marcel COENEN (Ex-SUNCAGED, StormRider, GodsCum) as a guitar performer and a producer, to work on the record.
2014: Khaled Trabelsi (Metal Bar Owner) was interested to join the band as manager and helped out the band to guest some international Metal Stars such as Tim RIPPER OWENS (Ex-Judas Prist, Ex-Iced Earth, Yngwie Malmsteen, Dio Disciples, Charred walls of damned, Beyond Fear…), Ron “BUMBLEFOOT” Thal (BUMBLEFOOT, Guns n’Roses), Timo Somers (Delain, Vengeance), Barend COURBOIS (Blind Guardian), Hans IN T Sandt (Ex-Mad Max, Marcel COENEN and Friends), Paul Di ANNO (Ex-Iron Maiden), MAX CAVALERA (Ex-Sepultura, SoulFly, Cavalera Concperacy…),Mark Reign (Ex-Destruction, Morgoth) and some of them are part of the upcoming album.
2015: The album is a "best of" what Carthagods have produced during the years (the band was formed in 1997) and introduces guest stars who all have a relationship with the band, including Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (Guns N'Roses), Mark Jansen (Epica), Tim "Ripper" Owens (ex-Judas Priest/Iced Earth), Zuberoa Aznarez (Diabulus In Musica) and Hans T' Zandt (Mad Max). The album was produced by Marcel Coenen (Sun Caged/Stormbrider) and the artwork is by Niklas Sundin (Dark Tranquillity).
The album – the band describes the album as a compilation: it features old material from demos that Carthagods released in 2005 and 2008 and new songs- opens with My Favourite Disguise. This song features vocal contributions from Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, one of the guest contributions on the album (from a few notable names in the metal scene). What Carthagods offers is a trademark, fast and riff-orientated heavy metal sound.
"We has just released our first self titled album after years of Line up changing for thousands of reasons...But finally found the way to finish the first chapter of a long adventure with the precious help of our friend MARCEL COENEN. 8 tracks = 8 different metal genres = 8 different emotions ... this is what we propose to share with you guys after so many years of waiting." commented the band.
Status: Active
Years active: 1997-Present
Genre: Progressive Power Metal
Current label: Hands of Blue Records
CEO/Agent: Khaled Trabelsi
Booking/Press Contact: carthagods@gmail.com
Country of origin: Tunisia
Location: Carthage
LINE UP
Mehdi Khema: Vocals
Tarak Ben Sassi: Guitar
Marcel Coenen: Guitar
Yessine Belghith: Bass
Mohamed Ben Hadida: Drums
Guest/Session
Tim "Ripper" Owens : Vocals (track 1)
Mark Jansen : Vocals (track 2)
Bumblefoot : Guitars (track 3)
Zuberoa Aznárez : Vocals (track 8)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CARTHAGODS
Myspace: http://myspace.com/carthagods
Last FM: http://www.last.fm/pt/music/Carthagods
Google Plus: http://plus.google.com/112434677604439474858
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKMx9F3mBXKS6K7BA57paoA
Carthagods (Full-Length Album - 2015)
Buy It:
Physically: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/carthagods
