ZT-webzine: Could you please present you and the band for those who don't know you?

Barney: We are Nervecell, a death/ thrash metal band based in Dubai, U.A.E. We have been around for 7 years and have just released our new album “Preaching Venom” which hit the stores on April 1st. Nervecell is a 4 piece band and we have members from different parts of the world (Jordan, Lebanon/ Syria and Portugal/India) but we are all based in Dubai. For those of you who have not heard of us until now you will soon as we are planning on doing a Middle East tour later this year and soon we will all see you in person!

ZT-webzine: How come you named the band "NERVECELL"?, what's the story behind that name?

Barney: The name basically expresses this feeling of being trapped with no escape, its something I taught of when going through this feeling of being helpless and frustrated with everyone and everything getting on your nerves. Its that state of mind where you are basically about to explode and collapse when your all alone and there is no one there to help you but just yourself to overcome it.

ZT-webzine: When did you start recording ’Preaching Venom’? . How did you develop the songs, what inspired you? Have been any difficulties when you were writing those songs?

Rami: We started recording October 2008 and we’ve been writing the songs in a span of 3 years. Lots of the songs are actually older than that but we’ve developed them and made alotta changes. Well me and Barney structure the songs and accordingly work with the rest in the band. It’s a really natural process, lots of influences I guess inspires us. Each band member puts his style and influence and we basically work on those ideas until we get the right feel to the song. We didn’t have any difficulties really, we just took our time and I think it brought good results at the end

ZT-webzine : How are fans responding to the new material? Are the fans enjoying the new songs in concerts?

Barney: Well so far we have got great feedback from the fans worldwide, its really cool to see kids ask us how they can get the new album even before the album was officially out..haha, but yeah after we released the album we debuted on the Virgin charts at number 20 which was really awesome seeing that we were the only metal band among all the other commercial artists.
We have played a few of the new songs in our Australian tour and at Dubai Desert Rock in March 2008 and the response was 3 MOSH PITS!!!, so I guess they like it.

ZT-webzine : Let's talk about your songwriting .what's the kinds of your lyrics?

Barney: Corruption, Injustice and human fallibility.

ZT-webzine : How do you think the band has evolved musically and personally?

Barney: Musically we have come a very long way, we are constantly learning of each other and we keep trying to pursue our goal of writing pure music while maintaining the Nervecell sound.

Rami: Well musically the band evolved within time really, we all have our musical influences and we just write music naturally and keep learning from each other. On a personal level we’ve all been friends for a really long time. I’m friends with James and Barney way before joining the band, and that’s really cool as we all gelled together on a personal level as well on a musical level.

ZT-webzine : What are the various band members into when not touring, rehearsing, and recording music?

Barney: I work 5 days a week so that takes up a lot of my day time, when not doing anything band related Im either watchin movies, working out in the gym, chilling out to some tunes, hanging out with my girlfriend and the bandmates or the occasional night out for a round of drinks.

Rami: I’m either hanging out with my girl, bandmates or friends, so that’s what I do really, other than that I watch TV and surf the internet.

ZT-webzine : Who are your main influences and what albums made the biggest impact on your life?

Rami: There’s loads really. Bands that influenced me are Slayer, Megadeth, Sepultura, Pantera, Testament, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, Death, Symphony X, Yngwie Malmsteen, Dream Theater, Evergrey, Joe Satriani and many others. Albums that made the biggest impact in my life are Pantera “Vulgur Display of Power”, Slayer “South of Heaven”, Sepultura “Arise”, Death “Symbolic”, Symphony X “Divine Wings of Tragedy” and many more.

Barney: Early death metal bands are a huge influence on me, bands like Bolt Thrower, Entombed, Dismember, Pestilence, Morbid Angel, Carcass, Death etc..
As far as albums go, the early Sepultura, Slayer and Testament albums made me want to learn the guitar and play extreme music.

ZT-webzine : Which shows have marked your mind the most?

Rami: Desert Rock Festivals 2005 and 2008 in Dubai and Metalstock Festvial 2007 in Australia

ZT-webzine : You will play at this year "CASA Gateways Festival"so what do you think about it ? what's your feeling when you will play here in morocco ?

Rami: I’m really excited to be playing in Morocco for the first time ever, I have Moroccan friends who told me about the metal scene over there and I’m really hyped up to play for the metal fans over there. It will be awesome to play along so many bands especially Behemoth as I’m a huge fan for a long time.

Barney: We are expecting a great show as we know the metal heads out there are eager for this Festival as we are. Nervecell are glad to be on the bill and we will not disappoint. Looking forward to meeting the people in your beautiful country.

ZT-webzine : Do you have any more plans for the future, any more tours, albums or DVDs ?

Rami: We just released our album “Preaching Venom” this April and we are planning to play Casa Gateways Festival 2008 in Morocco and Metal Healing Festival 2008 in Greece. We are working on a European tour this summer also.

Barney: We definitely want to do a Middle East tour, something that has never been done before you know. This is at the end where we are based and so we would like to let everyone here know that metal music is alive and well in the Middle East and give them something to be proud about. We have been doing this for years so there is no way we are going to stop now. The time is NOW and we are representing metal music from the Middle East to the entire world. We hope to successfully promote our new album “Preaching Venom” by playing shows every where we can for at least the next 2 years.

ZT-webzine : if you could delete one historical event from the history of the last 50 years, which one would you choose ?Can i know your comment about the war on Iraq ? if you have been in the place of Bush what you would do ?

Rami: Damn, there’s a lot of events that I wish that never happened, but in short, I would wish that no wars would have ever occurred anywhere in the world. Regarding the war in Iraq, I think it’s very wrong and it’s heartbreaking to see people in Iraq dying and many suffering because of it. If I was in Bush’s place I would be very ashamed.

ZT-webzine : Why do you think so much violence occurs in the Middle East?

Rami: When there are invasions and occupations in Middle Eastern countries from other nations there will be retaliation and resistance, which is an ongoing struggle for freedom basically. Simply, there would be no violence if there are no such invasions, occupations and wars.

ZT-webzine : Is there anything we've not mentioned that you'd like to add?

Rami: I think you got it all buddy! Cheers

ZT-webzine : Thanks a lot for your time in answering these questions.

Barney: Anytime bro, looking forward to meeting you in Casablanca.

Rami: You’re most welcome, thanks for ZT-Webzine for the interview.